I wrote this on FB 5 or 6 years ago.
I have a few Lyme patients that follow my ramblings so here is one for you.
It is known that the bacteria in our GI tract make most of our B Vitamins. The phylum most responsible for this is the Firmicutes and they make about 75% of our B Vitamins. Some of the bacteria in this phylum include Lactobacillus, Listeria, Enterococcus, Clostridia, Staph, and Strep. We have a lot of these bacteria, more than any other. If your calcium levels are high, you may not have enough Firmicutes. A rule of thumb is the fatter you are, the more Firmicutes you have. Unfortunately, the bigger you are, the more undesirable Firmicutes you have. For a long time now, I have suspected that Lyme patients have a big increase in Enterococcus and a decrease in Lactobacillus. This could be explained by manganese availability and pH variation of the GI tract where Enterococcus likes a much higher pH than Lactobacillus. What you see is the pH from food intake AND pathogens affecting what bacteria grow. So if we have a GI pathogen putting out a certain pH, then eating a different pH food will help some of the other bacteria but it won't necessarily stop that pathogen from affecting that region of our GI tract. As Lactobacillus levels go down, so does the hydrogen peroxide they produce. This allows other bacteria to increase, like Proteobacteria and the yeast Candida.
Proteobacteria include E coli, H pylori, Pseudomonas, and several other bacteria that become pathogens in higher numbers. Many of these bacteria love sulfur so the more meat you eat, the more of these you have. They also produce tryptophanase, Tryptophanse breaks down tryptophan and tryptophan availability is a major problem for Lyme patients. One of the by-products of tryptophan breakdown is ammonium and by losing a hydrogen at a higher pH makes it ammonia. I believe Lyme patients have too many Proteobacteria.
Actinobacteria come from the soil and are both good and bad. The good, they make a lot of antibiotic chemicals that decrease unwanted pathogen growth. The bad, some can be pretty bad pathogens. I believe Lyme patients have increased bad Actinobacteria like Mycobacterium and less good Actinobacteria like Streptomyces. A note on Actinobacteria, they make Vitamin B-6 which is needed as a cofactor with potassium to make tryptophanase. Each phyla makes products that affect the other phylas. The Actinobacteria act as a buffering agent to maintain pH. Too many would allow increased Enterococcal growth. One way to slow down Enterococcal growth is to make more ammonia which means more Proteobacteria.
The Bacteroidetes make tryptophanase and some are pathogens. They like a higher pH like Enterococcus and some of their bacteria include Prevotella, Bacterioides, and Porphyromonas. Many of these help break down the cellulose in plants. Some of these are manganese oxidizers so when manganese goes down, so do they. So when Borrelia robs us of our manganese, we decrease our bacteria for plant breakdown and increase Enterococcus.
All of these changes in our GI tract alter B Vitamin production. A major issue becomes tryptophan and tyrosine availability. Tyrosine can be made from phenylalanine (if you have enough BH4) and tryptophan is used up making niacin. It takes 60 mg of tryptophan to make 1 mg of niacin. When you have a lot of tryptophanase producing bacteria in the GI tract, tryptophan becomes scarce. Niacin is so important because without enough of it, some bacteria increase their virulence and pathogenicity. Without enough niacin, we can have neurological issues, arthritis, and higher cholesterol among other things. Does this sound familiar? To increase niacin production, our body increases streptococcus levels and at some point, they are pathogenic and this depletes more of our immune resources. Eating foods high in tryptophan and tyrosine can be beneficial in the short term because of deficiency, but doing this increases our already skewed assortment of GI bacteria. It's a Catch 22 that must be navigated carefully.
I have a few Lyme patients that follow my ramblings so here is one for you.
It is known that the bacteria in our GI tract make most of our B Vitamins. The phylum most responsible for this is the Firmicutes and they make about 75% of our B Vitamins. Some of the bacteria in this phylum include Lactobacillus, Listeria, Enterococcus, Clostridia, Staph, and Strep. We have a lot of these bacteria, more than any other. If your calcium levels are high, you may not have enough Firmicutes. A rule of thumb is the fatter you are, the more Firmicutes you have. Unfortunately, the bigger you are, the more undesirable Firmicutes you have. For a long time now, I have suspected that Lyme patients have a big increase in Enterococcus and a decrease in Lactobacillus. This could be explained by manganese availability and pH variation of the GI tract where Enterococcus likes a much higher pH than Lactobacillus. What you see is the pH from food intake AND pathogens affecting what bacteria grow. So if we have a GI pathogen putting out a certain pH, then eating a different pH food will help some of the other bacteria but it won't necessarily stop that pathogen from affecting that region of our GI tract. As Lactobacillus levels go down, so does the hydrogen peroxide they produce. This allows other bacteria to increase, like Proteobacteria and the yeast Candida.
Proteobacteria include E coli, H pylori, Pseudomonas, and several other bacteria that become pathogens in higher numbers. Many of these bacteria love sulfur so the more meat you eat, the more of these you have. They also produce tryptophanase, Tryptophanse breaks down tryptophan and tryptophan availability is a major problem for Lyme patients. One of the by-products of tryptophan breakdown is ammonium and by losing a hydrogen at a higher pH makes it ammonia. I believe Lyme patients have too many Proteobacteria.
Actinobacteria come from the soil and are both good and bad. The good, they make a lot of antibiotic chemicals that decrease unwanted pathogen growth. The bad, some can be pretty bad pathogens. I believe Lyme patients have increased bad Actinobacteria like Mycobacterium and less good Actinobacteria like Streptomyces. A note on Actinobacteria, they make Vitamin B-6 which is needed as a cofactor with potassium to make tryptophanase. Each phyla makes products that affect the other phylas. The Actinobacteria act as a buffering agent to maintain pH. Too many would allow increased Enterococcal growth. One way to slow down Enterococcal growth is to make more ammonia which means more Proteobacteria.
The Bacteroidetes make tryptophanase and some are pathogens. They like a higher pH like Enterococcus and some of their bacteria include Prevotella, Bacterioides, and Porphyromonas. Many of these help break down the cellulose in plants. Some of these are manganese oxidizers so when manganese goes down, so do they. So when Borrelia robs us of our manganese, we decrease our bacteria for plant breakdown and increase Enterococcus.
All of these changes in our GI tract alter B Vitamin production. A major issue becomes tryptophan and tyrosine availability. Tyrosine can be made from phenylalanine (if you have enough BH4) and tryptophan is used up making niacin. It takes 60 mg of tryptophan to make 1 mg of niacin. When you have a lot of tryptophanase producing bacteria in the GI tract, tryptophan becomes scarce. Niacin is so important because without enough of it, some bacteria increase their virulence and pathogenicity. Without enough niacin, we can have neurological issues, arthritis, and higher cholesterol among other things. Does this sound familiar? To increase niacin production, our body increases streptococcus levels and at some point, they are pathogenic and this depletes more of our immune resources. Eating foods high in tryptophan and tyrosine can be beneficial in the short term because of deficiency, but doing this increases our already skewed assortment of GI bacteria. It's a Catch 22 that must be navigated carefully.
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