Episode 129
Melanie Keller:
The Autoimmune Link: How to Identify and Tackle the Root Causes of IBS with Melanie Keller, ND
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Melanie Keller, ND, a renowned expert in the treatment of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), to explore the autoimmune components of these conditions and discuss new, groundbreaking treatment methods.
First Aired on: Mar 4, 2024
Episode 129
Melanie Keller:
The Autoimmune Link: How to Identify and Tackle the Root Causes of IBS with Melanie Keller, ND
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Melanie Keller, ND, a renowned expert in the treatment of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), to explore the autoimmune components of these conditions and discuss new, groundbreaking treatment methods.
First Aired on: Mar 4, 2024
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
Understanding IBS and SIBO
- What is SIBO? Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth occurs when there is an excessive amount of bacteria in the small intestine, disrupting nutrient absorption and causing various symptoms.
- Symptoms and Forms of SIBO: Includes bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, and gas. Different gases produced in SIBO (hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide) lead to different symptom profiles.
Dr. Keller's Journey to Functional Medicine
- Inspired by her own health struggles and a passion for natural living, Dr. Keller's journey into naturopathic medicine led her to specialize in SIBO and IBS, becoming a pioneer in the field.
Treatment Approaches
- Dr. Keller emphasizes the importance of individualized treatment plans, addressing the root causes of SIBO and IBS rather than just the symptoms.
- Key Components of Treatment: Avoiding common triggers like low stomach acid treatments and probiotics, focusing on diet adjustments, and considering the unique needs of each patient.
The Role of Intuition and Energy in Healing
- Both the practitioner's and the patient's intuition play crucial roles in the healing journey, guiding treatment choices and adjustments.
- Energy work and understanding the energy of water and food can also contribute to healing, highlighting the interconnectedness of physical and energetic health.
Other Resources:
Connect with Melanie Keller
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:00:00] Welcome back to the inspired living with autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. And today we're joined by Dr. Melanie Keller ND, who is a leading global pioneer in the revolutionary treatment of IBS and SIBO with an astounding success rate of 90 percent and permanent results in 12 weeks or less.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Melanie is practicing precision medicine through SIBO solution. com [Page//00:01:00] and drmelanie. com. In today's conversation, we are talking about the autoimmune component of IBS and SIBO. Dr. Melanie explains just what SIBO is and how she creates individualized treatment approaches that work quickly and help break the all too common cycle of SIBO.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Melanie, welcome to the podcast.
Melanie Keller: Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited for our conversation. I always, I always have the best time with the podcast and I always learn stuff. And as I shared before we hit record, we really haven't covered in depth SIBO and or IBS. You know, they've been maybe little points in conversations.
Julie Michelson: So I'm excited to talk about that with you, but I would love to know how you came to functional medicine and specializing in SIBO. [Page//00:02:00] And I know you do other stuff and we'll hopefully have time at least to give a teaser for that as well. But, you know, tell me a little bit about your journey.
Melanie Keller: Well, okay. Well, I, I was the patient, you know, that's not uncommon, is it? Um, but I also grew up in like the pristine lifestyle in, in, in that sense. I grew up in Alaska with mountain spring water that we'd go fill the jugs. We were a commercial fishing family. So I was raised like. Forrest Gump style on Sam and this and Sam and that.
Melanie Keller: And so, um, the fact that I struggled with my health and particularly my bowel function, just putting it out there was that, you know, kind of shocked my mom. I was 16 years old and she's like, when was the last time you had a bowel movement? And that's one of the things that I like to kind of point out to people is that there seems to be a time when we stopped talking about this.
Melanie Keller: I'll say, when do we stop talking about our diapers? We [Page//00:03:00] know how our children are functioning from diapers. We know in the elderly, right. Diapers might come back into play. So it's this in between time. Right. So my mom was very comfortable talking to me, but I was just like, Oh, that's 16 year old, you know, it was just.
Melanie Keller: So embarrassed. And yet when I told her that it had been a significant amount of time, I mean, she almost fell over and she was on the phone because we're rural calling, uh, Juno to have things flown up in a little small plane. And of course, none of those items worked for me. So fast forward to naturopathic medical school.
Melanie Keller: My gastroenterology professor was on, uh, he had been writing his book and he comes back and there was about two paragraphs in his functional gastroenterology book about small intestine bacterial overgrowth. And I thought to myself, I, you know, it was one of those intuitive moments to where you just like something resonates with you is another term where you just [Page//00:04:00] go, that's me, you know, and here I had been sitting in classes when.
Melanie Keller: Other professors would say, do this, do that, use these herbs, increase flax, and I was doing all the things and it was actually making things worse. So when I read this pair, you know, this entry, I was like, this is it. And I actually. We have to do our internship, so I put in for a lottery to be with him and I won and then I just kind of stayed on as even a pseudo resident after school.
Melanie Keller: Um, and then I helped form the CBO center at the university. And I really just specialized in this because especially at the time, no one was really talking about it. And so I was talking to people from all over the world who just wanted to be, to feel normalized, you know, or just say, does this exist? And I'm here to say, yes, it [Page//00:05:00] absolutely exists and there is a way to handle it.
Julie Michelson: It is real. It is not imaginary. Let's dive in. So I'm so grateful because this is really a common issue with people, SIBO and IBS, and we can talk about it in any which way you'd like. Um, I, and I. I agree that, that I talk about poop every day. I train my clients. I'd say I draw them. I don't want pictures, but we need to be talking about
Melanie Keller: Please.
Julie Michelson: Um, and I think one of the issues is so, you know, we only know what's going on in our body and we don't, you know, we don't really consider is this optimal or not. And so if something's been a long term pattern, people just. Assume that's just the way their body works. Um, so what is SIBO? What are some of the symptoms?
Julie Michelson: Let's, let's talk a little bit more about it.
Melanie Keller: Okay. So it [Page//00:06:00] stands for S. I. B. O. small intestine. So that's the location. Bacterial overgrowth and there are the point is, is that we should not have very many bacteria in the small intestine. It doesn't take much to actually. Cross over into an overgrowth because this area should be nice and cleaned in a sense of its main job is to do nutrient absorption.
Melanie Keller: And then of course, uh, our neurotransmitters along with, you know, I'm, I'm summarizing here, but there it's got some serious jobs that it has to do. So it needs to not have any dust bunnies happening in this area. However, these bacteria are our friends. When they are in the right compartment, which is in the large intestine.
Melanie Keller: And so that's one of the things that I like to clarify for people as well is that this isn't an infection, this is, or these aren't bad. Um, it's that there's just too many of them and we just need to move them [Page//00:07:00] along so that they get into the right compartment. And there are different forms of how it presents as far as symptoms go, I assume you wanted to know that too, that we have, we are measuring for specific gases that are produced from that small intestine area and hydrogen is really a fuel source, but hydrogen is known as the, to produce the form of loose stool, diarrhea, uh, Perhaps it's some abdominal pain.
Melanie Keller: That's a bit more common in our site. Say people refer to hydrogen SIPO. Then we have methane and methane are tricky little buggers. They actually like to reverse our flow of our small intent of our entire colon. It's called reverse peristalsis. They also like to exponentiate our caloric. Intake. So for example, the person that's on that 1200 to 1500 calorie diet, yet they [Page//00:08:00] are putting on weight.
Melanie Keller: And, you know, so those microbes can exponentiate the calories, which were helpful for people when we were hunter gatherers, or even are still. And these microbes can actually be throughout the entire colon. So there are technically S I B O, or some people refer to methane, SIBO, but we also have a new term called intestinal methane overgrowth, which, you know, encompasses the entire tube, let's say, because methane can be present and affect us in the small intestine, but also in the large intestine. Then we also have cyhydrogen sulfite. So hydrogen sulfite is the stinky little bugger. And that is the one that's going to be producing that foul gas. I'll ask people, so is your stool or gas fragrant? And they'll kind of look at me like, hello? And I'm like, well, you know, sometimes it's, sometimes it's just windy.
Melanie Keller:[Page//00:09:00] And Sometimes it's silent, but deadly. So that's a, another specific microbe that is actually more leaning towards our diarrheal. So I said, hydrogen is a fuel source for hydrogen sulfide. They like five hydrogen. And, um, so that is really more predominantly this diarrheal, maybe additional abdominal pain, cramping.
Melanie Keller: Across all boards, we can hear the symptom of bloating, and I'll say that with capital letters and bold, um, whether people have visible distention, um, I've even had men say they feel nine months pregnant, or if it's just a sensation in their body, either like a water retention type sensation and, or they can feel six to nine months pregnant, but you just don't visibly see that distention.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: in the conversation? And again, I do [Page//00:10:00] like the bloating especially, I think is something that people tend to normalize. Um, or maybe, you know, just it's at the bottom of the list because maybe they don't really even know something can be done about it and, and that this isn't, um, you know, is there a time period because.
Julie Michelson: Life happens, things change, you know, so is there a kind of like a length of time where if somebody's had these kinds of symptoms? It's worth thinking about,
Melanie Keller: Well, because I, as you were speaking, I was thinking, you know, a little bit of bloating, transient bloating is normal. That's, that's what we're, that's, that's the prebiotics then turning into probiotic, right? Though these are our friends. Um, so you might have a little right after that particular meal or something that was maybe off your typical eating style.
Melanie Keller: You go to a restaurant, right? And you have it all. Um, so [Page//00:11:00] having a little bit of transient bloating is normal, um, potentially bloating around a woman's menstrual cycle can be normal. In fact, that's another thing that I'm asking somebody is like when they speak to me, you know, they'll say, Dr. Melanie, it's day blank of my cycle.
Melanie Keller: Such and such is happening because I'd really like them to be in tune with, with that component. Um, but it's a, it is a good question. I think that, like you say, it's been normalized. So that's the reason why I bring up the autoimmune component and let people know that it's, that there's testing for this.
Melanie Keller: In fact, interestingly, if I just spoke with someone yesterday who, because they've been with me for so long, they're like, Oh, we did that test, you know, whenever ago. And I'm like, No, it's actually relevant now. Um, because when you watch their movie, you see that in X amount of time ago, typically months, they had an incident.
Melanie Keller: And oftentimes people don't remember a food poisoning or they won't. Equated to a [Page//00:12:00] food poisoning. And that can be due to, well, my so and so also who ate there or with it or at the wedding didn't have it. And I'll agree with them. I'll say, yes, a hundred people who had the salmonella chicken at the wedding, 10 of them can have those autoimmune response.
Melanie Keller: So I understand why. So and so didn't have it as well. And at the time of that food poisoning, which is bacterial specifically, so gastroenteritis can be viral. And yet when we are talking about a bacterial gastroenteritis, they leave behind a toxin. And this toxin is what our immune system will cross react with and, and respond to our migrating motor complex.
Melanie Keller: And that is our cleaning wave of that small intestine. So it starts in the stomach and it goes through the small bowel. So if somebody has had [Page//00:13:00] this autoimmune reaction to that, I call it the light switch of that, you know, migrating motor complex, they could potentially have what I refer to as a skip in the record. And that skip in the record can then lead to the propensity to have an overgrowth because those bacteria can't whoosh on through to the large bowel where they're supposed to be. They just kind of get stuck, you know, and depending on the height or, you know, the number of that antibody tests, I can say it could be a little scratch.
Melanie Keller: Or it could be a groove. And if you have the groove in the record, perhaps you do have to have more things to do. I'll call them the, I'm putting them in air quotes, the SIBO rules or the SIBO diet or the whatever is out there because it might pertain to you. But then there's other people who, if they do not have this antibody or they do not have a significantly, you know, out of reference range antibody, those things may not pertain to them and they [Page//00:14:00] could be doing unnecessary restrictions, um, that we would really like to address.
Julie Michelson: I love that you brought that up, um, because especially in the autoimmune world, I think, you know, this over restriction, um, is an issue. And as somebody who has a, I have a restricted diet to when I, you know, to feel my best. Um, but I am always. Still, even at this point, reintroducing on occasion to see, can I expand out?
Julie Michelson: Because we want the most diverse. And so I love that you said that because especially, you know, when you are talking people that have gut symptoms, SIBO symptoms, you know, yes, we, we tend to need some kind of a restriction for some period of time. Um, and so, so how [Page//00:15:00] do you. I know you said, you know, story, listening to story, but if people, like you said, often aren't connecting the dots between, you know, oh, I had that incident and now I have this kind of chronic seeming thing, um, it, are you testing everybody and what is the antibody or like, what are you, what are you testing?
Melanie Keller: Sure. Um, there's a few things there that, uh, so this is technically a test for what we'll say for IBS. Um, I was actually at Cedars Sinai at a time when, and, and I. I prefaced by saying this because it's a specific food chain, Chipotle had another incident, okay, and I was there with the research team and they were all like, uh, you know, really kind of it and ironically excited, you know, in the sense that like saying, Hey, we have this opportunity to test for the, for if this was a bacterial.
Melanie Keller: Versus it ended up being viral. My point there being [Page//00:16:00] also is that many people will assume that because they're plant based, um, oh, I don't eat animal protein. So therefore I'm, you know, I don't have that problem. I'll say, well, I've eaten romaine lettuce in the last
Julie Michelson: was going to say, or cancel or I could like, there's a big list.
Melanie Keller: So then they'll kind of, you know, whoa. So back to the fact that this is really specifically treating IBS and it's very sensitive and specific for diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Melanie Keller: And diarrhea or mixed, um, so that's 1 component. I just wanted to clarify with the SIBO versus IBS. Then, because you have IBS, or that's where I call it the skip in the record then because we can reverse this then.
Melanie Keller: You have that propensity to SIBO, so that overgrowth, or people with IBS, if we look at a Venn diagram, it's around 60 to 80%, depending on the study, that actually have, that SIBO [Page//00:17:00] is the underlying reasoning for their IBS, because we do know that this is a diagnosis of exclusion. Now, if we have this blood test, though, this is what this research team is very passionate about.
Melanie Keller: And this of course is my interpretation. I am not speaking for them, but that they are saying, look, there's an extensive amount of workup that can be very expensive. And if you've seen a 20 something who's had three colonoscopies, there's a problem because they could take this blood test and they could have a simplified diagnosis right then and there and not have to go through this extensive and expensive algorithm.
Melanie Keller: Okay. That's how sensitive and specific this is. And while people will, I will say debate or, you know, have this, uh, research based opinion, uh, that you only test people with diarrhea or mixed, I test everyone. So that's [Page//00:18:00] to answer that question.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Melanie Keller: Now, the antibody that we're measuring is the toxin from the, from the bacteria.
Melanie Keller: There are five main culprits that release the same toxin. It's called cytolethyl distending toxin B with a little cape. And then we have vinculin and vinculin is this motor complex nerve. That's what I refer to as the light switch. In the migrating motor complex or this main action of motility. That's another thing I like to clarify for people too, is that this motility or GI motility does not equate to what comes out the form of our stool, right?
Melanie Keller: Because we'll have diarrheal patients say, don't stimulate my motility. And I'll explain to them, actually, we do want this part cleared out so that it then affects the large intestine component as to the form that comes out. I hope that.
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:19:00] And is that why you hear, I have seen and heard, you know, the, the constipation and diarrhea are not opposite ends of the spectrum necessarily. Right. So, um, cause we do tend to think, oh, constipation, slow, low motility, diarrhea, hyper motility. That's not the case.
Melanie Keller: Thank you. Yes. I want to say go motility go in the sense that we want, we want the right, you know, in between our meals. So when we finish eating, there's a specific time where this migrating motor complex is most active. And that includes not having a snack or technically anything caloric, whether it's gum or a tea or something.
Melanie Keller: This is really giving yourself a space after meals to allow this action to happen. And then it's most active while we're sleeping. So we all know how important sleep is, but yes, thank you for that. Is that we, we [Page//00:20:00] want motility motility is our friend. Um, and the form of our stool is, is different. Um,
Julie Michelson: Love that. So, so when you're working with people, you're doing, which I love because I do think there is test fatigue. Um, and the standard, if you have GI, anything is. You know, they're, they're going to scope you in one direction or another, or both,
Melanie Keller: Mm hmm.
Julie Michelson: um, and I think often people don't realize, like, they're looking for, you know, specific abnormalities and they're Not going to be catching the majority of what people are suffering with, you know, they're, um, I
Melanie Keller: Oh, yeah, that's correct.
Julie Michelson: get answers for things like discomfort, [Page//00:21:00] diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: All the things, um, unless somebody, you know, is diagnosed. I know my son was diagnosed from biopsy for celiac. So things like that, yes, we can eventually get to, to some answers there. But, um, when it comes to typically IBS, um, any, all, a lot of colitises and, and, um, SIBO, especially they're not, they're just going to say looks good.
Melanie Keller: Oh, good. Correct. However, if I'm working with somebody, it, it is And this is with all due professional courtesy and respect to our to our colleagues, but I am not spending an extended amount of time with somebody without considering. Then having a proper workup. Um, so for example, I was just thinking of someone where if my go to's that are, you know, people get results very quickly.
Melanie Keller: And if there's a hesitation there, or even as much as they want to use, you know, [Page//00:22:00] alternative, whatever the term is right that they, they want to have this. Um, I just had to explain to somebody recently. I said, look. The reason for the colonoscopy, and this was actually based on my intuition too, because I would have also gone, well, I guess we could go a couple or one more month or one more round or something.
Melanie Keller: But then this moment I thought, Oh, what they're looking for is microscopic. They're looking for microscopic colitis. And that I need to know as well. Right. I was like, we still need to identify that and treat that differently. That could be overlapping again, the situation, but it would be best, you know, so, or, and, or celiac.
Melanie Keller: So I am not one to immediately tell somebody to go gluten free if they're not gluten free. And I've had so many gastroenterologists thank me and even be surprised by that and say, wow, that's really astute of you to know that that shouldn't have been eliminated just as a. You know, without getting proper workup,
Julie Michelson: Gotcha. Yeah. I [Page//00:23:00] love that. And again, gut health, just like the rest, you know, there's often overlapping issues going on. And sometimes it's not, you know, we're not in the, you know, checking the box model. And so I love that you're like, no, actually I want to know all the things that are going on. Um,
Melanie Keller: yeah, on a case by case basis, right? If it's, if it's somebody on their intake where they say, I've had, I'll call it rocket, you know, they can eat anything they could do anything for a majority of their life. And then ever since it's typically a trip to somewhere or they don't necessarily know it was the 4th of July barbecue, but it's, it's ever since something that's when this blood test really comes.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That I just I think the more we get these tools that are and again noninvasive. I mean, what a what [Page//00:24:00] a gift for your patients to be able to get information quickly.
Melanie Keller: Right.
Julie Michelson: I don't know. So what, what is your, and I, I, I love, I'm going to highlight that, you know, the approach is individualized. This is why we have these conversations because we are all unique.
Julie Michelson: And, um, so that being said, are there certain, say somebody knows they have SIBO. I know a lot of people who have been treated for SIBO, um, without. Success. Um, you know, have done different protocols, different medications, different herbal, like you name it. Um, are there things that are, that are common that, you know, just.
Julie Michelson: You find in your experience don't work or you know what I mean? Like,
Melanie Keller:[Page//00:25:00] Uh, yeah, because that's, that's predominantly the people I see. Sometimes it's a joke of like, oh, I would love to have somebody who's new to this. Right? Because then they just get the fast track. Um, and, and it's really lovely. Uh, my assistant and I, we used to love seeing when people first came to see us versus, right?
Melanie Keller: When we're like, Oh, there's the real, you know, or they're just like, Hey, here I am. Um, Um, so yes, number one, this is what I'll say and, and I, I even get some eyebrow raises at, at events talking to colleagues that I'll ask that although want to pick my brain, right? The two questions I'll ask them, do you have them on any form of low stomach acid treatment?
Melanie Keller: Assumption, assuming, um, giving them betaine HCL a number one or, and, or apple cider vinegar, which is my biggest pet peeve having grown up in a dental family, they, they [Page//00:26:00] just, whoo, they came to see me at med school and saw those Bragg's drinks and they were like, they just cringed. They were like, I cannot believe this exists.
Melanie Keller: Um, so there's my opinion on that. Um, and. Because, as I mentioned, hydrogen sulfide likes 5 hydrogen, methane likes 4, and then I mentioned that hydrogen is this fuel source. So I'll tell patients hydrogen is like Pac Man pellets for Mr. and Mrs. Pac Man, and they will battle it out to get those pellets. They, and typically methane wins, but that is why you can see a methane dominant case with a presentation of diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: Ah,
Melanie Keller: So that's a big one. Well, I'll say, well, you're
Julie Michelson: not your favorite health crazes.
Melanie Keller: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: cider vinegar
Melanie Keller: you know,
Julie Michelson: cure all actually.
Melanie Keller: it's the pH. It's our enamel. I could go on and on
Julie Michelson: I use it in [Page//00:27:00] like. salad dressing sometimes or I cook with it.
Melanie Keller: As a, as a condiment, you know, as a,
Julie Michelson: What it's created for.
Melanie Keller: culinary delight. Yes. But as something we drink as a beverage. Maybe not so much. And I trust me, I've heard the life transforming stories. Um, I would also then, you know, of course my brain acknowledges that and says, great, you know, you're outside the
Julie Michelson: out of the curve.
Melanie Keller: or, um, how long did that last? Right. Because it's when somebody gets benefit from something and they continue to do it thinking that's indefinite. And then they can actually, they may not even know.
Melanie Keller: And that's where it's usually me working with a colleague, a nutritionist, somebody who's like, are you kidding me? I've been doing this for, you know, and they do look back and see that they've actually gotten worse. So that's number one. It's pretty significant. And then number two is, [Page//00:28:00] are they taking a probiotic? And this will surprise people. Um, and uh, even, even in particularly, are they taking in probiotic foods? Um, and so again, this is very individualized. However, I would rather remove any and all variables. So I do ask people to pause or ask them if they ever have ever paused. Um, and that can be dependent on their mindset and their training, you know, and they're in some levels programming, um, as to whether or not they can do that.
Melanie Keller: Um, I do have a client right now who thankfully they trusted me to take that pause and it. Significantly affected their sleep. And so the probiotic is back, but we know exactly what's going on. We know the benefits that that person is getting, and it's not affecting their other [Page//00:29:00] things we are accomplishing.
Melanie Keller: That makes
Julie Michelson: And I love that you said that because we're, we're discussing quote unquote good things, right?
Melanie Keller: Yeah, exactly.
Julie Michelson: so it's something that may be supportive for somebody who doesn't have SIBO or IBS, or maybe even someone who does, um, but that's where this across the board. Just because fermented foods could be healthy doesn't mean they're right for you right now.
Julie Michelson: And I love that idea of I think healing we need to kind of hold things a little lighter Which is hard to do sometimes when we have chronic conditions But when we can take that experimental Approach. It's it. That's typically where we find healing. And so I love that you're focusing on. It's not do don't, you know, it's like, okay, test see pause.
Melanie Keller: Or I watch people's body reaction, right? I'll say, if we were to [Page//00:30:00] pause all these things and I'll look to see how their body language is, and then I'll ask them, what do you feel of your list? Cause I mean, there can be some extensive supplement lists. I don't know what's going, doing what. And so then we'll discuss, Oh, well, if I could keep my this and that, and I'm like, why?
Melanie Keller: Because it helps me. It relaxes my muscle. And I'm like, great. I want you to know what you're investing in and what it's doing for you. And then I'll say, What about these things? And if they get this, I call it the shrug their shoulders and I'll go great. Let's just pause them because we can go shopping in them again.
Melanie Keller: They're high quality. They're great items. They're not expired. You know, we'll just put them on hold so that when we do bring them back into this fresh new system, it will be potentially more clear for you, you know, because not everybody. Know who's that vitamin D and vitamin A are cofactors for thyroid.
Melanie Keller: And what do you know? They could feel like they're actually taking thyroid medication when they're optimally absorbing [Page//00:31:00] those fat soluble vitamins and or taking them supplementally.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Well, and I love that the There's not enough conversation around foundational wellness, you know, and then people get so caught up and I read this article or I heard, I heard this podcast, right? I'm going to try this. I'm going to take that. I was one of those. And I always joke that my throw spaghetti at the wall approach to healing, you know, clearly I was supposed to continue on and, and.
Julie Michelson: You know, do what I'm doing now, because I shouldn't have healed with, you know, the, the disconcerted approach I was taking. Um, I got lucky. I got very lucky and, um, hopefully helping people do that in a, in a much more orchestrated way. For sure. Um, so I, I love the, so these are kind of behind the scenes.
Julie Michelson: Maybe people aren't actually thinking these things are [Page//00:32:00] treating their SIBO, but they're not realizing that these things could be feeding or fueling
Melanie Keller: Yeah, those are things that are fueling because when it also comes to the dietary, or I prefer to say like eating plans or food, um, I'll say, take all the things you've ever done and stack all the paper, you know, stack them like paper in the air and then throw it up into the air and pick the things that you like.
Melanie Keller: You know, I was a raw foodist for over a year, you know, there's little things that I've taken from every dietary. You know, specific thing that I've done that again, I'll just say it may or may not pertain to you. Is it in season? You know, I really wait for blueberry season to eat my blueberries or have them frozen, you know, they're There aren't things that we necessarily have to do.
Melanie Keller: Some things can be seasonal. Some things can even supplements can be on a pulse method. Um, so that's just where, cause again, I'm really speaking to people who already have pristine diets. They may be borderline having [Page//00:33:00] orthorexia to begin with. Um, I just had somebody messaged me, say, can I'm, I'm going on an anniversary trip this weekend.
Melanie Keller: I could, I maybe have a sip of wine. You know, cause I've read that if I
Julie Michelson: is the world going to stop
Melanie Keller: is my, and I'll say, you know, again, this isn't a doctor, you know, it's dependent on somebody's alcohol use. Right. But if they are rarely
Julie Michelson: Joy is also healing too,
Melanie Keller: you know, I'm like, you're going to that wedding, please have a sip of champagne and a bite of, of cake.
Melanie Keller: In fact, let's make that the goal,
Julie Michelson: like I'll pass on the cake because I have celiac and that it's just not worth it.
Melanie Keller: Well, and, but some people are going to these. I, you know, the gluten free, dairy free, vegan, they have the option and they'll still not have it,
Julie Michelson: right.
Melanie Keller: you see, and then I'll just say, but just be open to it if you would like to, if that's what's right for you, you know,
Julie Michelson: love that. I love that. What about [Page//00:34:00] food? Say somebody knows, you know, maybe they're in that. I call it the SIBO cycle because it so unfortunately often guys go see Dr. Melanie. If you want to get out of that cycle, um, you know, and you hear again, the list can be really huge. So are there things if somebody knows or even is strongly intuiting that they, they have or may have SIBO.
Julie Michelson: Are there, are there definite no no foods at least temporarily while they're healing?
Melanie Keller: yeah, and that's my opinion is, is the fermented, um, I'll point out yogurt, for example, um, because again, this just happened with somebody and, you know, And again, this is, this is getting a little, you know, into some research. I'll call it the debatable, but lactobacillus specifically we know is a disruptor.
Melanie Keller: Okay. And disruptor doesn't mean bad. It just [Page//00:35:00] means it's a disruptor, right? We can have political disruptors, social disruptors that are do intending good. Um, but it could be, uh, gosh, I don't know what's happened or quite frankly, um, I hear more often again, ever since I tried that cottage cheese, once I had the such and such, or I've gone down into even the specifics of an olive with a high powered getting on a private jet.
Melanie Keller: And he's like, Oh my gosh, it was the olives. And I was like, wow, even I was surprised, but they were that fine tuned know now, do they have to always limit? No, it was just in that moment. And then we were, um, I really worked specifically with people's epigenetics. So they were able to get in, you know, just kind of go, well, I bet this is what's going on.
Melanie Keller: And, um, but that was an interesting reflection. So, um, and again, I don't want people to get too, is this fermented? Is that, you know,
Julie Michelson: And [Page//00:36:00] olives can be really good for you. So we're not saying don't eat olives ever
Melanie Keller: These are very specific, unique, um, moments in time in somebody's journey. Um, but if that might, you might say, oh my gosh, that's maybe my journey, then that's who we're speaking to.
Melanie Keller: And then, yeah, that that's really the main thing. I actually, the other thing that I'll see people that are not doing very much of is having carbohydrates, hydrates, they've restricted their carbohydrates or their VOD, not, you know, what, whatever the. Um, and I think that's a really important thing is, um, in particular those with methane, if they are on a keto diet, methane loves fat, specifically saturated fat.
Melanie Keller: Um, so there, again, it really can be dependent on the person, but, and trust me, I sent somebody out the door after our first appointment saying, will you please go have some, some potatoes? In fact, there's a five guys that, [Page//00:37:00] keto diet and Intentionally making it that radical coming from me and so of course they went home and made their own and and yet, you know, he's a 20 something and he describes in this testimonial video.
Melanie Keller: He's like my body lit up. He's like, I felt like an 80 year old. In this 25 year old body and just a little bit of potatoes, because he said, he was like, I left that appointment and thinking I need a new doctor because this isn't what anybody else has said, has
Julie Michelson: Nobody else said, go eat carbs.
Melanie Keller: I I'm flying in
Julie Michelson: woman listening right now is like, Oh my gosh, did I just get permission to eat carbs?
Melanie Keller: Oh yeah. No, I've actually told a woman, I was like, look, or I've even been on a date where I'm like, ah, I'm not going to order the salad. I'm going to get the fries. Cause that's actually better for my system. Um,
Julie Michelson: I love the, you know, we need to remember that our body is giving us [Page//00:38:00] information. I can't tell you the amount of people that. Will tell me, you know, through conversation, eventually connect the dots that when I eat fermented foods, it makes my bloating worse, and it's like, well, but they read it was healthy, right?
Julie Michelson: So that, and, and so it's like, well, you know, if your body is telling you something, and you, you hear it, listen, um, yeah, so I love, I love that. So I'm guessing because, you know, You're healing oriented that you are saying SEPA doesn't need to be a cyclical issue that as soon as you stop treatment, your symptoms come back.
Melanie Keller: gosh, no. In fact, I, I will, and it's not me. I'm not trying to have this ego driven, but it's, it's my observation, right. That, um, I see people get results so quickly. In fact, [Page//00:39:00] Uh, last year, somebody, uh, happened to come and see me right at the holidays. And within four days, they were messaging, uh, in my private program, they had direct messaging access and they were like, my family thanks you. And so they were having this horrible constipation. Hadn't had, you know, we're talking days between bowel movements and within four days, they were having daily bowel movements. Now they signed up for a six month program with me. And yet within days, and not only did that maintain, you know, I mean, of course there was some, again, it was, was actually kind of deleting some of the files from other things that they heard and read and what they were exposing themselves to.
Melanie Keller: And then they kind of learned to, I don't want to say they have to lean on me, but that I can be the resource for them to check in on. Before they look to somebody else's experience or something, right? Because that's the [Page//00:40:00] value in hiring a coach or, you know, somebody who's really going to be specifically understanding you.
Melanie Keller: Um, so even for me, that was, you know, I would say that's maybe not typical, but it's not, not typical where I can see people get results within a couple of weeks, and then I like to. Educate them on the why so that they can get to know themselves and navigate it themselves. Now, do I have people who have been with me for years?
Melanie Keller: Yes, because they really like that. I know what I know. And, or one gentleman in particular has this positive skip in the record. He's a high level executive that just needs to be able to ask me, you know, I'm on retainer, you know,
Julie Michelson: I have, I have those clients as well. And they consider me part of their team. Like they just,
Melanie Keller: they got to run it by you.
Julie Michelson: yep, that's, and, and then there's always this, that the uplevel uplevel uplevel and, and the support that goes with it. So, um, you know, it's, [Page//00:41:00] it's different, a different personality style. For sure. I want to touch on almost like a teaser,
Melanie Keller: hmm. Okay.
Julie Michelson: because I would love to have you come back to talk to us again, a little more in depth about intuition and energy.
Julie Michelson: So you use your intuition in your work and you use energy in your healing modalities. So I want to just kind of, you know, people don't think, which is interesting because To me, gut is like, it's so obvious, but they don't think of, you know, using those modalities for healing gut.
Melanie Keller: Well, thank you for touching on that because I, I believe we are all intuitive. Um, I think that's part of doctor's gifts. You know, I say if we're told to give the diagnosis, but then also give three differentials. You know, what else do you think it could be? [Page//00:42:00] Um, but also that people who are finding us are intuitive in themselves, that they know that what, right.
Melanie Keller: I believe in your marketing. It's like, look, if you know that there can't, this doesn't have to be your end all be all diagnosis, then. I'm the person that, you know, you are drawn to. It's an energy. There's a pole. They somehow find you. They somehow are listening to this podcast right now. And then it's an energy exchange, right?
Melanie Keller: I can tell when somebody, um, you know, I often have people break down in tears when I tell them to kind of throw the dietary rules in the air. Um, and it's, it's like this aha moment in their body where they can be free for even just a moment and, and, and, or have that confirmation with someone. Then it goes even deeper when, um, I, I would say I was in the woo closet in the sense that I was just like, oh, wait a minute, this isn't evidence based and, and, and et cetera.
Melanie Keller: However, what I found in, in doing, um, a quick [Page//00:43:00] little Talk at a summit is that there is really profound evidence. In fact, especially during COVID, they did a lot of distance healing work and, uh, and, you know, it's often Reiki that they're, that they're testing, but, and there's, you know, double blinded, it's pretty profound how much information there is out there.
Melanie Keller: And then, of course, I can't help it. Acknowledge what I've witnessed now. I'm not putting any lean or spin or, or expectations into the energy work. I like to remain very neutral because even placebo is powerful as we know, but what's interesting to me is in getting people's feedback that they, um, That it's pretty remarkable.
Melanie Keller: I'll give a quick example of somebody that was not fully avoiding gluten. We had confirmation from the gastro that they were going to do a gluten challenge. And that can be up to the equivalent of a piece of like to use sprouted grain bread, two pieces per day for [Page//00:44:00] 21 days. And so we did this energy work around us and I asked them even kind of for that individual and their guides and what was needed for them.
Melanie Keller: And some very clear messages came through and I delivered these messages to this person who then utilize now, Julie, I was expecting to hear from this person within maybe the first. piece of bread or you know, like I was really not even the full piece of bread or etc because of their history and was almost like waiting right for the messages and they got through the challenge they got through the workup and they were negative but also.
Melanie Keller: That at least rules out the celiac, but they also didn't have the non celiac gluten sensitivity symptoms either, which even right now, even as I'm telling you, I'm blown away by it, you know, and I was like, well, can I really attribute that to any, like, my science brain was, On one hand, at the same time, [Page//00:45:00] my clinical observation was, yeah, this is what happened.
Melanie Keller: And even in my own health and something I was going through and the very, very stringent UCLA professor, you know, personalized specialist I was seeing tried and was like, okay, what are you doing? What is different? I know you're a naturopath, but there's more to it than that. So they had to go that far with me before I actually had my, my book from my energy work mentor with me that day.
Melanie Keller: And I was like, energy work. And her reaction was a little, Oh, and that, but she went, keep doing it.
Julie Michelson: Mm. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that you said it is true. Um, when it comes to energy work mindset, creating new neuro pathways, all the, like, we think of it as woo and new, and yet it's. really where medicine came from to [Page//00:46:00] begin with. It is the oldest practice of medicine and so important. And I used to, I joke, I'm like, gosh, I really wasn't a good coach.
Julie Michelson: I mean, people got results, but when I started, I had all the right components, but I, I was doing that work. Like I was getting to that work, right? Like I was starting with the food and the this and the, you know, and now I front load all of that. Why not make the healing faster, easier, better by working on that stuff in the beginning, identifying at least and opening that door in the beginning.
Melanie Keller: Oh, nice.
Julie Michelson: And so I love, I love that, you know, I, I understand the, especially, you know, Miss science based, the kind of like, Oh, I'm doing energy work now. And the best part is when, you know, the, the case study you just shared with us, where it wasn't even your [Page//00:47:00] expectation that they'd get through a challenge, um, because you weren't putting your stuff in there.
Julie Michelson: You were just. I'm just doing the work,
Melanie Keller: And now I get to, um, propose, um, actually propose this to one of our, uh, colleagues in looking at biological age, you know, I said, what if we can do this, you know, in terms of, And again, me, I like to isolate, but I was like, what if we only did energy work and how does our methylation and et cetera? So, yeah, I would love to chat more.
Julie Michelson: back and talk more about that, because. I really do that. That's such a. A powerful part of epigenetics. Yes. Lifestyle's huge. But it's also. Patterns and. And, you know, so I think we would have a lot to talk about about that and I know listeners would want to hear it and [Page//00:48:00] because, you know.
Julie Michelson: They're, they're trained. They get all kinds of stuff on here. And
Melanie Keller: Nice. Yeah. Lucky.
Julie Michelson: So here comes the question people tend to struggle with,
Melanie Keller: Okay.
Julie Michelson: is, what is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health? It could be anything.
Melanie Keller: I've been on a water kick. Um, and, and this. Even as I say it, but it's really important where we're sourcing our water. So I will simplify it and say that either we're drinking spring water, reverse osmosis with added, um, I really like to use specific electrolytes from seawater, um, so that's, that's one thing where I just like to ask people if they can either be mindful of their water, where is it sourced from, and what is their, um, You know, the frequency there, the amount that they're using, [Page//00:49:00] um, uh, that'll be a
Julie Michelson: not, I'm not supposed to, but also what are you drinking out of?
Melanie Keller: oh, gosh, yes, thank you. Um, and then again, we can expand on the energy. What's the energy of the water? Um, because we can also make adjustments to that.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Oh, I can't wait to dig in further. Dr. Melanie, thank you so very much for people that listen like I do, which is on the go. Where's the best place to find you?
Melanie Keller: Uh, I think Instagram, Dr. Melanie underscore ND. Um, there's also SIBO solution. com and intuitive edge doctor. com.
Julie Michelson: Love it. And we're going to dive further into that next time.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Thank you so very much. You gave us amazing gold today.
Melanie Keller: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
Julie Michelson: For [Page//00:50:00] everyone listening, remember you can get the transcripts and show notes by visiting inspiredliving. show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Melanie is practicing precision medicine through SIBO solution. com [Page//00:01:00] and drmelanie. com. In today's conversation, we are talking about the autoimmune component of IBS and SIBO. Dr. Melanie explains just what SIBO is and how she creates individualized treatment approaches that work quickly and help break the all too common cycle of SIBO.
Julie Michelson: Dr. Melanie, welcome to the podcast.
Melanie Keller: Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited for our conversation. I always, I always have the best time with the podcast and I always learn stuff. And as I shared before we hit record, we really haven't covered in depth SIBO and or IBS. You know, they've been maybe little points in conversations.
Julie Michelson: So I'm excited to talk about that with you, but I would love to know how you came to functional medicine and specializing in SIBO. [Page//00:02:00] And I know you do other stuff and we'll hopefully have time at least to give a teaser for that as well. But, you know, tell me a little bit about your journey.
Melanie Keller: Well, okay. Well, I, I was the patient, you know, that's not uncommon, is it? Um, but I also grew up in like the pristine lifestyle in, in, in that sense. I grew up in Alaska with mountain spring water that we'd go fill the jugs. We were a commercial fishing family. So I was raised like. Forrest Gump style on Sam and this and Sam and that.
Melanie Keller: And so, um, the fact that I struggled with my health and particularly my bowel function, just putting it out there was that, you know, kind of shocked my mom. I was 16 years old and she's like, when was the last time you had a bowel movement? And that's one of the things that I like to kind of point out to people is that there seems to be a time when we stopped talking about this.
Melanie Keller: I'll say, when do we stop talking about our diapers? We [Page//00:03:00] know how our children are functioning from diapers. We know in the elderly, right. Diapers might come back into play. So it's this in between time. Right. So my mom was very comfortable talking to me, but I was just like, Oh, that's 16 year old, you know, it was just.
Melanie Keller: So embarrassed. And yet when I told her that it had been a significant amount of time, I mean, she almost fell over and she was on the phone because we're rural calling, uh, Juno to have things flown up in a little small plane. And of course, none of those items worked for me. So fast forward to naturopathic medical school.
Melanie Keller: My gastroenterology professor was on, uh, he had been writing his book and he comes back and there was about two paragraphs in his functional gastroenterology book about small intestine bacterial overgrowth. And I thought to myself, I, you know, it was one of those intuitive moments to where you just like something resonates with you is another term where you just [Page//00:04:00] go, that's me, you know, and here I had been sitting in classes when.
Melanie Keller: Other professors would say, do this, do that, use these herbs, increase flax, and I was doing all the things and it was actually making things worse. So when I read this pair, you know, this entry, I was like, this is it. And I actually. We have to do our internship, so I put in for a lottery to be with him and I won and then I just kind of stayed on as even a pseudo resident after school.
Melanie Keller: Um, and then I helped form the CBO center at the university. And I really just specialized in this because especially at the time, no one was really talking about it. And so I was talking to people from all over the world who just wanted to be, to feel normalized, you know, or just say, does this exist? And I'm here to say, yes, it [Page//00:05:00] absolutely exists and there is a way to handle it.
Julie Michelson: It is real. It is not imaginary. Let's dive in. So I'm so grateful because this is really a common issue with people, SIBO and IBS, and we can talk about it in any which way you'd like. Um, I, and I. I agree that, that I talk about poop every day. I train my clients. I'd say I draw them. I don't want pictures, but we need to be talking about
Melanie Keller: Please.
Julie Michelson: Um, and I think one of the issues is so, you know, we only know what's going on in our body and we don't, you know, we don't really consider is this optimal or not. And so if something's been a long term pattern, people just. Assume that's just the way their body works. Um, so what is SIBO? What are some of the symptoms?
Julie Michelson: Let's, let's talk a little bit more about it.
Melanie Keller: Okay. So it [Page//00:06:00] stands for S. I. B. O. small intestine. So that's the location. Bacterial overgrowth and there are the point is, is that we should not have very many bacteria in the small intestine. It doesn't take much to actually. Cross over into an overgrowth because this area should be nice and cleaned in a sense of its main job is to do nutrient absorption.
Melanie Keller: And then of course, uh, our neurotransmitters along with, you know, I'm, I'm summarizing here, but there it's got some serious jobs that it has to do. So it needs to not have any dust bunnies happening in this area. However, these bacteria are our friends. When they are in the right compartment, which is in the large intestine.
Melanie Keller: And so that's one of the things that I like to clarify for people as well is that this isn't an infection, this is, or these aren't bad. Um, it's that there's just too many of them and we just need to move them [Page//00:07:00] along so that they get into the right compartment. And there are different forms of how it presents as far as symptoms go, I assume you wanted to know that too, that we have, we are measuring for specific gases that are produced from that small intestine area and hydrogen is really a fuel source, but hydrogen is known as the, to produce the form of loose stool, diarrhea, uh, Perhaps it's some abdominal pain.
Melanie Keller: That's a bit more common in our site. Say people refer to hydrogen SIPO. Then we have methane and methane are tricky little buggers. They actually like to reverse our flow of our small intent of our entire colon. It's called reverse peristalsis. They also like to exponentiate our caloric. Intake. So for example, the person that's on that 1200 to 1500 calorie diet, yet they [Page//00:08:00] are putting on weight.
Melanie Keller: And, you know, so those microbes can exponentiate the calories, which were helpful for people when we were hunter gatherers, or even are still. And these microbes can actually be throughout the entire colon. So there are technically S I B O, or some people refer to methane, SIBO, but we also have a new term called intestinal methane overgrowth, which, you know, encompasses the entire tube, let's say, because methane can be present and affect us in the small intestine, but also in the large intestine. Then we also have cyhydrogen sulfite. So hydrogen sulfite is the stinky little bugger. And that is the one that's going to be producing that foul gas. I'll ask people, so is your stool or gas fragrant? And they'll kind of look at me like, hello? And I'm like, well, you know, sometimes it's, sometimes it's just windy.
Melanie Keller:[Page//00:09:00] And Sometimes it's silent, but deadly. So that's a, another specific microbe that is actually more leaning towards our diarrheal. So I said, hydrogen is a fuel source for hydrogen sulfide. They like five hydrogen. And, um, so that is really more predominantly this diarrheal, maybe additional abdominal pain, cramping.
Melanie Keller: Across all boards, we can hear the symptom of bloating, and I'll say that with capital letters and bold, um, whether people have visible distention, um, I've even had men say they feel nine months pregnant, or if it's just a sensation in their body, either like a water retention type sensation and, or they can feel six to nine months pregnant, but you just don't visibly see that distention.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: in the conversation? And again, I do [Page//00:10:00] like the bloating especially, I think is something that people tend to normalize. Um, or maybe, you know, just it's at the bottom of the list because maybe they don't really even know something can be done about it and, and that this isn't, um, you know, is there a time period because.
Julie Michelson: Life happens, things change, you know, so is there a kind of like a length of time where if somebody's had these kinds of symptoms? It's worth thinking about,
Melanie Keller: Well, because I, as you were speaking, I was thinking, you know, a little bit of bloating, transient bloating is normal. That's, that's what we're, that's, that's the prebiotics then turning into probiotic, right? Though these are our friends. Um, so you might have a little right after that particular meal or something that was maybe off your typical eating style.
Melanie Keller: You go to a restaurant, right? And you have it all. Um, so [Page//00:11:00] having a little bit of transient bloating is normal, um, potentially bloating around a woman's menstrual cycle can be normal. In fact, that's another thing that I'm asking somebody is like when they speak to me, you know, they'll say, Dr. Melanie, it's day blank of my cycle.
Melanie Keller: Such and such is happening because I'd really like them to be in tune with, with that component. Um, but it's a, it is a good question. I think that, like you say, it's been normalized. So that's the reason why I bring up the autoimmune component and let people know that it's, that there's testing for this.
Melanie Keller: In fact, interestingly, if I just spoke with someone yesterday who, because they've been with me for so long, they're like, Oh, we did that test, you know, whenever ago. And I'm like, No, it's actually relevant now. Um, because when you watch their movie, you see that in X amount of time ago, typically months, they had an incident.
Melanie Keller: And oftentimes people don't remember a food poisoning or they won't. Equated to a [Page//00:12:00] food poisoning. And that can be due to, well, my so and so also who ate there or with it or at the wedding didn't have it. And I'll agree with them. I'll say, yes, a hundred people who had the salmonella chicken at the wedding, 10 of them can have those autoimmune response.
Melanie Keller: So I understand why. So and so didn't have it as well. And at the time of that food poisoning, which is bacterial specifically, so gastroenteritis can be viral. And yet when we are talking about a bacterial gastroenteritis, they leave behind a toxin. And this toxin is what our immune system will cross react with and, and respond to our migrating motor complex.
Melanie Keller: And that is our cleaning wave of that small intestine. So it starts in the stomach and it goes through the small bowel. So if somebody has had [Page//00:13:00] this autoimmune reaction to that, I call it the light switch of that, you know, migrating motor complex, they could potentially have what I refer to as a skip in the record. And that skip in the record can then lead to the propensity to have an overgrowth because those bacteria can't whoosh on through to the large bowel where they're supposed to be. They just kind of get stuck, you know, and depending on the height or, you know, the number of that antibody tests, I can say it could be a little scratch.
Melanie Keller: Or it could be a groove. And if you have the groove in the record, perhaps you do have to have more things to do. I'll call them the, I'm putting them in air quotes, the SIBO rules or the SIBO diet or the whatever is out there because it might pertain to you. But then there's other people who, if they do not have this antibody or they do not have a significantly, you know, out of reference range antibody, those things may not pertain to them and they [Page//00:14:00] could be doing unnecessary restrictions, um, that we would really like to address.
Julie Michelson: I love that you brought that up, um, because especially in the autoimmune world, I think, you know, this over restriction, um, is an issue. And as somebody who has a, I have a restricted diet to when I, you know, to feel my best. Um, but I am always. Still, even at this point, reintroducing on occasion to see, can I expand out?
Julie Michelson: Because we want the most diverse. And so I love that you said that because especially, you know, when you are talking people that have gut symptoms, SIBO symptoms, you know, yes, we, we tend to need some kind of a restriction for some period of time. Um, and so, so how [Page//00:15:00] do you. I know you said, you know, story, listening to story, but if people, like you said, often aren't connecting the dots between, you know, oh, I had that incident and now I have this kind of chronic seeming thing, um, it, are you testing everybody and what is the antibody or like, what are you, what are you testing?
Melanie Keller: Sure. Um, there's a few things there that, uh, so this is technically a test for what we'll say for IBS. Um, I was actually at Cedars Sinai at a time when, and, and I. I prefaced by saying this because it's a specific food chain, Chipotle had another incident, okay, and I was there with the research team and they were all like, uh, you know, really kind of it and ironically excited, you know, in the sense that like saying, Hey, we have this opportunity to test for the, for if this was a bacterial.
Melanie Keller: Versus it ended up being viral. My point there being [Page//00:16:00] also is that many people will assume that because they're plant based, um, oh, I don't eat animal protein. So therefore I'm, you know, I don't have that problem. I'll say, well, I've eaten romaine lettuce in the last
Julie Michelson: was going to say, or cancel or I could like, there's a big list.
Melanie Keller: So then they'll kind of, you know, whoa. So back to the fact that this is really specifically treating IBS and it's very sensitive and specific for diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Melanie Keller: And diarrhea or mixed, um, so that's 1 component. I just wanted to clarify with the SIBO versus IBS. Then, because you have IBS, or that's where I call it the skip in the record then because we can reverse this then.
Melanie Keller: You have that propensity to SIBO, so that overgrowth, or people with IBS, if we look at a Venn diagram, it's around 60 to 80%, depending on the study, that actually have, that SIBO [Page//00:17:00] is the underlying reasoning for their IBS, because we do know that this is a diagnosis of exclusion. Now, if we have this blood test, though, this is what this research team is very passionate about.
Melanie Keller: And this of course is my interpretation. I am not speaking for them, but that they are saying, look, there's an extensive amount of workup that can be very expensive. And if you've seen a 20 something who's had three colonoscopies, there's a problem because they could take this blood test and they could have a simplified diagnosis right then and there and not have to go through this extensive and expensive algorithm.
Melanie Keller: Okay. That's how sensitive and specific this is. And while people will, I will say debate or, you know, have this, uh, research based opinion, uh, that you only test people with diarrhea or mixed, I test everyone. So that's [Page//00:18:00] to answer that question.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Melanie Keller: Now, the antibody that we're measuring is the toxin from the, from the bacteria.
Melanie Keller: There are five main culprits that release the same toxin. It's called cytolethyl distending toxin B with a little cape. And then we have vinculin and vinculin is this motor complex nerve. That's what I refer to as the light switch. In the migrating motor complex or this main action of motility. That's another thing I like to clarify for people too, is that this motility or GI motility does not equate to what comes out the form of our stool, right?
Melanie Keller: Because we'll have diarrheal patients say, don't stimulate my motility. And I'll explain to them, actually, we do want this part cleared out so that it then affects the large intestine component as to the form that comes out. I hope that.
Julie Michelson:[Page//00:19:00] And is that why you hear, I have seen and heard, you know, the, the constipation and diarrhea are not opposite ends of the spectrum necessarily. Right. So, um, cause we do tend to think, oh, constipation, slow, low motility, diarrhea, hyper motility. That's not the case.
Melanie Keller: Thank you. Yes. I want to say go motility go in the sense that we want, we want the right, you know, in between our meals. So when we finish eating, there's a specific time where this migrating motor complex is most active. And that includes not having a snack or technically anything caloric, whether it's gum or a tea or something.
Melanie Keller: This is really giving yourself a space after meals to allow this action to happen. And then it's most active while we're sleeping. So we all know how important sleep is, but yes, thank you for that. Is that we, we [Page//00:20:00] want motility motility is our friend. Um, and the form of our stool is, is different. Um,
Julie Michelson: Love that. So, so when you're working with people, you're doing, which I love because I do think there is test fatigue. Um, and the standard, if you have GI, anything is. You know, they're, they're going to scope you in one direction or another, or both,
Melanie Keller: Mm hmm.
Julie Michelson: um, and I think often people don't realize, like, they're looking for, you know, specific abnormalities and they're Not going to be catching the majority of what people are suffering with, you know, they're, um, I
Melanie Keller: Oh, yeah, that's correct.
Julie Michelson: get answers for things like discomfort, [Page//00:21:00] diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: All the things, um, unless somebody, you know, is diagnosed. I know my son was diagnosed from biopsy for celiac. So things like that, yes, we can eventually get to, to some answers there. But, um, when it comes to typically IBS, um, any, all, a lot of colitises and, and, um, SIBO, especially they're not, they're just going to say looks good.
Melanie Keller: Oh, good. Correct. However, if I'm working with somebody, it, it is And this is with all due professional courtesy and respect to our to our colleagues, but I am not spending an extended amount of time with somebody without considering. Then having a proper workup. Um, so for example, I was just thinking of someone where if my go to's that are, you know, people get results very quickly.
Melanie Keller: And if there's a hesitation there, or even as much as they want to use, you know, [Page//00:22:00] alternative, whatever the term is right that they, they want to have this. Um, I just had to explain to somebody recently. I said, look. The reason for the colonoscopy, and this was actually based on my intuition too, because I would have also gone, well, I guess we could go a couple or one more month or one more round or something.
Melanie Keller: But then this moment I thought, Oh, what they're looking for is microscopic. They're looking for microscopic colitis. And that I need to know as well. Right. I was like, we still need to identify that and treat that differently. That could be overlapping again, the situation, but it would be best, you know, so, or, and, or celiac.
Melanie Keller: So I am not one to immediately tell somebody to go gluten free if they're not gluten free. And I've had so many gastroenterologists thank me and even be surprised by that and say, wow, that's really astute of you to know that that shouldn't have been eliminated just as a. You know, without getting proper workup,
Julie Michelson: Gotcha. Yeah. I [Page//00:23:00] love that. And again, gut health, just like the rest, you know, there's often overlapping issues going on. And sometimes it's not, you know, we're not in the, you know, checking the box model. And so I love that you're like, no, actually I want to know all the things that are going on. Um,
Melanie Keller: yeah, on a case by case basis, right? If it's, if it's somebody on their intake where they say, I've had, I'll call it rocket, you know, they can eat anything they could do anything for a majority of their life. And then ever since it's typically a trip to somewhere or they don't necessarily know it was the 4th of July barbecue, but it's, it's ever since something that's when this blood test really comes.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That I just I think the more we get these tools that are and again noninvasive. I mean, what a what [Page//00:24:00] a gift for your patients to be able to get information quickly.
Melanie Keller: Right.
Julie Michelson: I don't know. So what, what is your, and I, I, I love, I'm going to highlight that, you know, the approach is individualized. This is why we have these conversations because we are all unique.
Julie Michelson: And, um, so that being said, are there certain, say somebody knows they have SIBO. I know a lot of people who have been treated for SIBO, um, without. Success. Um, you know, have done different protocols, different medications, different herbal, like you name it. Um, are there things that are, that are common that, you know, just.
Julie Michelson: You find in your experience don't work or you know what I mean? Like,
Melanie Keller:[Page//00:25:00] Uh, yeah, because that's, that's predominantly the people I see. Sometimes it's a joke of like, oh, I would love to have somebody who's new to this. Right? Because then they just get the fast track. Um, and, and it's really lovely. Uh, my assistant and I, we used to love seeing when people first came to see us versus, right?
Melanie Keller: When we're like, Oh, there's the real, you know, or they're just like, Hey, here I am. Um, Um, so yes, number one, this is what I'll say and, and I, I even get some eyebrow raises at, at events talking to colleagues that I'll ask that although want to pick my brain, right? The two questions I'll ask them, do you have them on any form of low stomach acid treatment?
Melanie Keller: Assumption, assuming, um, giving them betaine HCL a number one or, and, or apple cider vinegar, which is my biggest pet peeve having grown up in a dental family, they, they [Page//00:26:00] just, whoo, they came to see me at med school and saw those Bragg's drinks and they were like, they just cringed. They were like, I cannot believe this exists.
Melanie Keller: Um, so there's my opinion on that. Um, and. Because, as I mentioned, hydrogen sulfide likes 5 hydrogen, methane likes 4, and then I mentioned that hydrogen is this fuel source. So I'll tell patients hydrogen is like Pac Man pellets for Mr. and Mrs. Pac Man, and they will battle it out to get those pellets. They, and typically methane wins, but that is why you can see a methane dominant case with a presentation of diarrhea.
Julie Michelson: Ah,
Melanie Keller: So that's a big one. Well, I'll say, well, you're
Julie Michelson: not your favorite health crazes.
Melanie Keller: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: cider vinegar
Melanie Keller: you know,
Julie Michelson: cure all actually.
Melanie Keller: it's the pH. It's our enamel. I could go on and on
Julie Michelson: I use it in [Page//00:27:00] like. salad dressing sometimes or I cook with it.
Melanie Keller: As a, as a condiment, you know, as a,
Julie Michelson: What it's created for.
Melanie Keller: culinary delight. Yes. But as something we drink as a beverage. Maybe not so much. And I trust me, I've heard the life transforming stories. Um, I would also then, you know, of course my brain acknowledges that and says, great, you know, you're outside the
Julie Michelson: out of the curve.
Melanie Keller: or, um, how long did that last? Right. Because it's when somebody gets benefit from something and they continue to do it thinking that's indefinite. And then they can actually, they may not even know.
Melanie Keller: And that's where it's usually me working with a colleague, a nutritionist, somebody who's like, are you kidding me? I've been doing this for, you know, and they do look back and see that they've actually gotten worse. So that's number one. It's pretty significant. And then number two is, [Page//00:28:00] are they taking a probiotic? And this will surprise people. Um, and uh, even, even in particularly, are they taking in probiotic foods? Um, and so again, this is very individualized. However, I would rather remove any and all variables. So I do ask people to pause or ask them if they ever have ever paused. Um, and that can be dependent on their mindset and their training, you know, and they're in some levels programming, um, as to whether or not they can do that.
Melanie Keller: Um, I do have a client right now who thankfully they trusted me to take that pause and it. Significantly affected their sleep. And so the probiotic is back, but we know exactly what's going on. We know the benefits that that person is getting, and it's not affecting their other [Page//00:29:00] things we are accomplishing.
Melanie Keller: That makes
Julie Michelson: And I love that you said that because we're, we're discussing quote unquote good things, right?
Melanie Keller: Yeah, exactly.
Julie Michelson: so it's something that may be supportive for somebody who doesn't have SIBO or IBS, or maybe even someone who does, um, but that's where this across the board. Just because fermented foods could be healthy doesn't mean they're right for you right now.
Julie Michelson: And I love that idea of I think healing we need to kind of hold things a little lighter Which is hard to do sometimes when we have chronic conditions But when we can take that experimental Approach. It's it. That's typically where we find healing. And so I love that you're focusing on. It's not do don't, you know, it's like, okay, test see pause.
Melanie Keller: Or I watch people's body reaction, right? I'll say, if we were to [Page//00:30:00] pause all these things and I'll look to see how their body language is, and then I'll ask them, what do you feel of your list? Cause I mean, there can be some extensive supplement lists. I don't know what's going, doing what. And so then we'll discuss, Oh, well, if I could keep my this and that, and I'm like, why?
Melanie Keller: Because it helps me. It relaxes my muscle. And I'm like, great. I want you to know what you're investing in and what it's doing for you. And then I'll say, What about these things? And if they get this, I call it the shrug their shoulders and I'll go great. Let's just pause them because we can go shopping in them again.
Melanie Keller: They're high quality. They're great items. They're not expired. You know, we'll just put them on hold so that when we do bring them back into this fresh new system, it will be potentially more clear for you, you know, because not everybody. Know who's that vitamin D and vitamin A are cofactors for thyroid.
Melanie Keller: And what do you know? They could feel like they're actually taking thyroid medication when they're optimally absorbing [Page//00:31:00] those fat soluble vitamins and or taking them supplementally.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Well, and I love that the There's not enough conversation around foundational wellness, you know, and then people get so caught up and I read this article or I heard, I heard this podcast, right? I'm going to try this. I'm going to take that. I was one of those. And I always joke that my throw spaghetti at the wall approach to healing, you know, clearly I was supposed to continue on and, and.
Julie Michelson: You know, do what I'm doing now, because I shouldn't have healed with, you know, the, the disconcerted approach I was taking. Um, I got lucky. I got very lucky and, um, hopefully helping people do that in a, in a much more orchestrated way. For sure. Um, so I, I love the, so these are kind of behind the scenes.
Julie Michelson: Maybe people aren't actually thinking these things are [Page//00:32:00] treating their SIBO, but they're not realizing that these things could be feeding or fueling
Melanie Keller: Yeah, those are things that are fueling because when it also comes to the dietary, or I prefer to say like eating plans or food, um, I'll say, take all the things you've ever done and stack all the paper, you know, stack them like paper in the air and then throw it up into the air and pick the things that you like.
Melanie Keller: You know, I was a raw foodist for over a year, you know, there's little things that I've taken from every dietary. You know, specific thing that I've done that again, I'll just say it may or may not pertain to you. Is it in season? You know, I really wait for blueberry season to eat my blueberries or have them frozen, you know, they're There aren't things that we necessarily have to do.
Melanie Keller: Some things can be seasonal. Some things can even supplements can be on a pulse method. Um, so that's just where, cause again, I'm really speaking to people who already have pristine diets. They may be borderline having [Page//00:33:00] orthorexia to begin with. Um, I just had somebody messaged me, say, can I'm, I'm going on an anniversary trip this weekend.
Melanie Keller: I could, I maybe have a sip of wine. You know, cause I've read that if I
Julie Michelson: is the world going to stop
Melanie Keller: is my, and I'll say, you know, again, this isn't a doctor, you know, it's dependent on somebody's alcohol use. Right. But if they are rarely
Julie Michelson: Joy is also healing too,
Melanie Keller: you know, I'm like, you're going to that wedding, please have a sip of champagne and a bite of, of cake.
Melanie Keller: In fact, let's make that the goal,
Julie Michelson: like I'll pass on the cake because I have celiac and that it's just not worth it.
Melanie Keller: Well, and, but some people are going to these. I, you know, the gluten free, dairy free, vegan, they have the option and they'll still not have it,
Julie Michelson: right.
Melanie Keller: you see, and then I'll just say, but just be open to it if you would like to, if that's what's right for you, you know,
Julie Michelson: love that. I love that. What about [Page//00:34:00] food? Say somebody knows, you know, maybe they're in that. I call it the SIBO cycle because it so unfortunately often guys go see Dr. Melanie. If you want to get out of that cycle, um, you know, and you hear again, the list can be really huge. So are there things if somebody knows or even is strongly intuiting that they, they have or may have SIBO.
Julie Michelson: Are there, are there definite no no foods at least temporarily while they're healing?
Melanie Keller: yeah, and that's my opinion is, is the fermented, um, I'll point out yogurt, for example, um, because again, this just happened with somebody and, you know, And again, this is, this is getting a little, you know, into some research. I'll call it the debatable, but lactobacillus specifically we know is a disruptor.
Melanie Keller: Okay. And disruptor doesn't mean bad. It just [Page//00:35:00] means it's a disruptor, right? We can have political disruptors, social disruptors that are do intending good. Um, but it could be, uh, gosh, I don't know what's happened or quite frankly, um, I hear more often again, ever since I tried that cottage cheese, once I had the such and such, or I've gone down into even the specifics of an olive with a high powered getting on a private jet.
Melanie Keller: And he's like, Oh my gosh, it was the olives. And I was like, wow, even I was surprised, but they were that fine tuned know now, do they have to always limit? No, it was just in that moment. And then we were, um, I really worked specifically with people's epigenetics. So they were able to get in, you know, just kind of go, well, I bet this is what's going on.
Melanie Keller: And, um, but that was an interesting reflection. So, um, and again, I don't want people to get too, is this fermented? Is that, you know,
Julie Michelson: And [Page//00:36:00] olives can be really good for you. So we're not saying don't eat olives ever
Melanie Keller: These are very specific, unique, um, moments in time in somebody's journey. Um, but if that might, you might say, oh my gosh, that's maybe my journey, then that's who we're speaking to.
Melanie Keller: And then, yeah, that that's really the main thing. I actually, the other thing that I'll see people that are not doing very much of is having carbohydrates, hydrates, they've restricted their carbohydrates or their VOD, not, you know, what, whatever the. Um, and I think that's a really important thing is, um, in particular those with methane, if they are on a keto diet, methane loves fat, specifically saturated fat.
Melanie Keller: Um, so there, again, it really can be dependent on the person, but, and trust me, I sent somebody out the door after our first appointment saying, will you please go have some, some potatoes? In fact, there's a five guys that, [Page//00:37:00] keto diet and Intentionally making it that radical coming from me and so of course they went home and made their own and and yet, you know, he's a 20 something and he describes in this testimonial video.
Melanie Keller: He's like my body lit up. He's like, I felt like an 80 year old. In this 25 year old body and just a little bit of potatoes, because he said, he was like, I left that appointment and thinking I need a new doctor because this isn't what anybody else has said, has
Julie Michelson: Nobody else said, go eat carbs.
Melanie Keller: I I'm flying in
Julie Michelson: woman listening right now is like, Oh my gosh, did I just get permission to eat carbs?
Melanie Keller: Oh yeah. No, I've actually told a woman, I was like, look, or I've even been on a date where I'm like, ah, I'm not going to order the salad. I'm going to get the fries. Cause that's actually better for my system. Um,
Julie Michelson: I love the, you know, we need to remember that our body is giving us [Page//00:38:00] information. I can't tell you the amount of people that. Will tell me, you know, through conversation, eventually connect the dots that when I eat fermented foods, it makes my bloating worse, and it's like, well, but they read it was healthy, right?
Julie Michelson: So that, and, and so it's like, well, you know, if your body is telling you something, and you, you hear it, listen, um, yeah, so I love, I love that. So I'm guessing because, you know, You're healing oriented that you are saying SEPA doesn't need to be a cyclical issue that as soon as you stop treatment, your symptoms come back.
Melanie Keller: gosh, no. In fact, I, I will, and it's not me. I'm not trying to have this ego driven, but it's, it's my observation, right. That, um, I see people get results so quickly. In fact, [Page//00:39:00] Uh, last year, somebody, uh, happened to come and see me right at the holidays. And within four days, they were messaging, uh, in my private program, they had direct messaging access and they were like, my family thanks you. And so they were having this horrible constipation. Hadn't had, you know, we're talking days between bowel movements and within four days, they were having daily bowel movements. Now they signed up for a six month program with me. And yet within days, and not only did that maintain, you know, I mean, of course there was some, again, it was, was actually kind of deleting some of the files from other things that they heard and read and what they were exposing themselves to.
Melanie Keller: And then they kind of learned to, I don't want to say they have to lean on me, but that I can be the resource for them to check in on. Before they look to somebody else's experience or something, right? Because that's the [Page//00:40:00] value in hiring a coach or, you know, somebody who's really going to be specifically understanding you.
Melanie Keller: Um, so even for me, that was, you know, I would say that's maybe not typical, but it's not, not typical where I can see people get results within a couple of weeks, and then I like to. Educate them on the why so that they can get to know themselves and navigate it themselves. Now, do I have people who have been with me for years?
Melanie Keller: Yes, because they really like that. I know what I know. And, or one gentleman in particular has this positive skip in the record. He's a high level executive that just needs to be able to ask me, you know, I'm on retainer, you know,
Julie Michelson: I have, I have those clients as well. And they consider me part of their team. Like they just,
Melanie Keller: they got to run it by you.
Julie Michelson: yep, that's, and, and then there's always this, that the uplevel uplevel uplevel and, and the support that goes with it. So, um, you know, it's, [Page//00:41:00] it's different, a different personality style. For sure. I want to touch on almost like a teaser,
Melanie Keller: hmm. Okay.
Julie Michelson: because I would love to have you come back to talk to us again, a little more in depth about intuition and energy.
Julie Michelson: So you use your intuition in your work and you use energy in your healing modalities. So I want to just kind of, you know, people don't think, which is interesting because To me, gut is like, it's so obvious, but they don't think of, you know, using those modalities for healing gut.
Melanie Keller: Well, thank you for touching on that because I, I believe we are all intuitive. Um, I think that's part of doctor's gifts. You know, I say if we're told to give the diagnosis, but then also give three differentials. You know, what else do you think it could be? [Page//00:42:00] Um, but also that people who are finding us are intuitive in themselves, that they know that what, right.
Melanie Keller: I believe in your marketing. It's like, look, if you know that there can't, this doesn't have to be your end all be all diagnosis, then. I'm the person that, you know, you are drawn to. It's an energy. There's a pole. They somehow find you. They somehow are listening to this podcast right now. And then it's an energy exchange, right?
Melanie Keller: I can tell when somebody, um, you know, I often have people break down in tears when I tell them to kind of throw the dietary rules in the air. Um, and it's, it's like this aha moment in their body where they can be free for even just a moment and, and, and, or have that confirmation with someone. Then it goes even deeper when, um, I, I would say I was in the woo closet in the sense that I was just like, oh, wait a minute, this isn't evidence based and, and, and et cetera.
Melanie Keller: However, what I found in, in doing, um, a quick [Page//00:43:00] little Talk at a summit is that there is really profound evidence. In fact, especially during COVID, they did a lot of distance healing work and, uh, and, you know, it's often Reiki that they're, that they're testing, but, and there's, you know, double blinded, it's pretty profound how much information there is out there.
Melanie Keller: And then, of course, I can't help it. Acknowledge what I've witnessed now. I'm not putting any lean or spin or, or expectations into the energy work. I like to remain very neutral because even placebo is powerful as we know, but what's interesting to me is in getting people's feedback that they, um, That it's pretty remarkable.
Melanie Keller: I'll give a quick example of somebody that was not fully avoiding gluten. We had confirmation from the gastro that they were going to do a gluten challenge. And that can be up to the equivalent of a piece of like to use sprouted grain bread, two pieces per day for [Page//00:44:00] 21 days. And so we did this energy work around us and I asked them even kind of for that individual and their guides and what was needed for them.
Melanie Keller: And some very clear messages came through and I delivered these messages to this person who then utilize now, Julie, I was expecting to hear from this person within maybe the first. piece of bread or you know, like I was really not even the full piece of bread or etc because of their history and was almost like waiting right for the messages and they got through the challenge they got through the workup and they were negative but also.
Melanie Keller: That at least rules out the celiac, but they also didn't have the non celiac gluten sensitivity symptoms either, which even right now, even as I'm telling you, I'm blown away by it, you know, and I was like, well, can I really attribute that to any, like, my science brain was, On one hand, at the same time, [Page//00:45:00] my clinical observation was, yeah, this is what happened.
Melanie Keller: And even in my own health and something I was going through and the very, very stringent UCLA professor, you know, personalized specialist I was seeing tried and was like, okay, what are you doing? What is different? I know you're a naturopath, but there's more to it than that. So they had to go that far with me before I actually had my, my book from my energy work mentor with me that day.
Melanie Keller: And I was like, energy work. And her reaction was a little, Oh, and that, but she went, keep doing it.
Julie Michelson: Mm. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that you said it is true. Um, when it comes to energy work mindset, creating new neuro pathways, all the, like, we think of it as woo and new, and yet it's. really where medicine came from to [Page//00:46:00] begin with. It is the oldest practice of medicine and so important. And I used to, I joke, I'm like, gosh, I really wasn't a good coach.
Julie Michelson: I mean, people got results, but when I started, I had all the right components, but I, I was doing that work. Like I was getting to that work, right? Like I was starting with the food and the this and the, you know, and now I front load all of that. Why not make the healing faster, easier, better by working on that stuff in the beginning, identifying at least and opening that door in the beginning.
Melanie Keller: Oh, nice.
Julie Michelson: And so I love, I love that, you know, I, I understand the, especially, you know, Miss science based, the kind of like, Oh, I'm doing energy work now. And the best part is when, you know, the, the case study you just shared with us, where it wasn't even your [Page//00:47:00] expectation that they'd get through a challenge, um, because you weren't putting your stuff in there.
Julie Michelson: You were just. I'm just doing the work,
Melanie Keller: And now I get to, um, propose, um, actually propose this to one of our, uh, colleagues in looking at biological age, you know, I said, what if we can do this, you know, in terms of, And again, me, I like to isolate, but I was like, what if we only did energy work and how does our methylation and et cetera? So, yeah, I would love to chat more.
Julie Michelson: back and talk more about that, because. I really do that. That's such a. A powerful part of epigenetics. Yes. Lifestyle's huge. But it's also. Patterns and. And, you know, so I think we would have a lot to talk about about that and I know listeners would want to hear it and [Page//00:48:00] because, you know.
Julie Michelson: They're, they're trained. They get all kinds of stuff on here. And
Melanie Keller: Nice. Yeah. Lucky.
Julie Michelson: So here comes the question people tend to struggle with,
Melanie Keller: Okay.
Julie Michelson: is, what is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health? It could be anything.
Melanie Keller: I've been on a water kick. Um, and, and this. Even as I say it, but it's really important where we're sourcing our water. So I will simplify it and say that either we're drinking spring water, reverse osmosis with added, um, I really like to use specific electrolytes from seawater, um, so that's, that's one thing where I just like to ask people if they can either be mindful of their water, where is it sourced from, and what is their, um, You know, the frequency there, the amount that they're using, [Page//00:49:00] um, uh, that'll be a
Julie Michelson: not, I'm not supposed to, but also what are you drinking out of?
Melanie Keller: oh, gosh, yes, thank you. Um, and then again, we can expand on the energy. What's the energy of the water? Um, because we can also make adjustments to that.
Julie Michelson: I love it. Oh, I can't wait to dig in further. Dr. Melanie, thank you so very much for people that listen like I do, which is on the go. Where's the best place to find you?
Melanie Keller: Uh, I think Instagram, Dr. Melanie underscore ND. Um, there's also SIBO solution. com and intuitive edge doctor. com.
Julie Michelson: Love it. And we're going to dive further into that next time.
Melanie Keller: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Thank you so very much. You gave us amazing gold today.
Melanie Keller: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
Julie Michelson: For [Page//00:50:00] everyone listening, remember you can get the transcripts and show notes by visiting inspiredliving. show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
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Melanie Keller
Dr. Melanie Keller ND, is a leading global pioneer in the revolutionary treatment of IBS/SIBO with an astounding success rate of 90% and permanent results in 12 weeks or less. Her innovative & successful treatment is what has garnered recognition in top-tier media outlets such as Forbes Health, Well+Good and ABC's "The List TV." Her innovative way of thinking and providing clarity in application are at the forefront of her precision medicine approach to health and well-being. When Melanie is not providing top-notch quality care, you can find her consulting 7+ figure businesses, clear channeling and upleveling with energy work. To learn more about how Dr. Melanie can get your health and quality of life back, visit sibosolution.com or drmelaniend.com
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