From Gut to Glow: The Real Impact of Your Microbiome

What if your fatigue, brain fog, skin flare-ups, or mood swings had something to do with your gut? In this episode of Thursday Tea with Sami, Dr. Samia Estrada welcomes Alicia Galvin, MEd, RD, IFNCP, Head of Scientific Affairs at Microbiome Labs, for a deep-yet-accessible conversation about microbiome health and why it matters for everyday life.

Together, we cover:

• What the microbiome is (and why it’s more than “just digestion”)
• How the gut connects to the brain, immune system, skin, and cardiovascular health
• The biggest misconceptions about bacteria and “cleanliness”
• How stress and sleep influence gut function
• Foods that support microbiome diversity (including a simple “30 plants per week” goal)
• Fermented foods + resistant starch (cooked-and-cooled carbs)
• Prebiotics vs probiotics vs postbiotics—finally explained
• What to look for when choosing a probiotic, including quality and research
• What makes spore-based probiotics different from traditional strains

Whether you’re brand new to the microbiome or ready to refine your wellness routine, you’ll leave with practical steps you can start right away.

Learn more: microbiomelabs.com

Transcript

Alicia Galvin (00:00)
So your microbiome is kind of like if you were to go to a concert.

You know, so if you go, let's say a symphony and you have your different players in the symphony, they're all there, they're all working together to create this beautiful music around the song, but they each are going to have a very specific role that they play within that symphony. So they play a different instrument, they have a different sheet music, they might be playing different tones or different paths of the music than the person sitting next to them.

Samia (00:41)
Welcome to Thursday Tea with Sami, your sip of wellness and mental health. I'm your host, Dr. Sami Estrada, every week we gather here for thoughtful conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and what it really means to live well in everyday life. Before we begin, a quick note.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical or psychological care. Listening does not create a therapeutic relationship, and the views shared by my guests are their own, and everyone's experience is different. Please seek personalized care from a qualified professional. Now grab your favorite cup of tea or whatever brings you comfort.

And let's get into today's conversation.

Samia (01:45)
Hello everyone and welcome back to Thursday Tea with Sami your sip of wellness and mental health. I'm your host, Dr. Sami Estrada. I'm so glad that you're here today. Today's conversation is one I've really been looking forward to because we are diving into a topic that touches so many aspects of our health, often without us even realizing it. We're talking about the microbiome.

When people hear gut health, they often think about bloating or they think about digestion. But the truth is that the microbiome impacts our energy, our mood, our skin, our immune system, and so many more things. And today we're going to unpack what that microbiome health really looks like. And we're gonna do it in a way that's approachable, a way that's practical and grounded in science.

I am thrilled to welcome Alicia Galvin today, who comes with a wealth of experience in integrative and functional nutrition. Alicia's a registered dietician and head of the scientific affairs at Microbiome Labs, where she helps bridge cutting edge research with real world wellness applications. Alicia, welcome to Thursday Tea with Sammy. I'm so happy you're here today.

Alicia Galvin (03:01)
Thank you, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Samia (03:03)
Thanks. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you because I think it's so important and I'm, you know, I'm a little bit of a nerd when it comes to these things. So it's to me, it's really exciting and I'm hoping that it'll be just as exciting for our listeners. But before we dig into the microbiome, I'd love to hear about your story. If you could share a little bit about your background and how you started your journey as a registered dietitian and

what led you into integrative and functional nutrition.

Alicia Galvin (03:35)
I'm happy to. So I was always an athlete when I was in ever since I can remember middle school, high school, I ran track and cross country. And one of the things that my coach was always very, he would drive home to us and he was always very keen on was the importance of nutrition and how that impacts your performance. So

From a very early age, I was very interested in nutrition and just how what you put in your body, how that affects how you perform. And I could see the difference between days that I would fuel appropriately or weeks that I would fuel appropriately and how that impacted my performance. And then on weeks that I didn't, how that also impacted my performance. So I was always interested in nutrition and just the world of food and...

You know food being that information that feeds our functions of our body. So I always knew that I wanted to become a registered dietitian. And then as I went through my training in dietetics, I wanted to find my tribe of who was really using that true food as medicine approach. And that's when I discovered this world of integrative and functional nutrition and more of that root cause, you looking at what's the root cause of different

conditions and disease states and you know how can we really move our health forward and our wellness forward using food as medicine and so that's when I did additional training after my dietetics training I did additional training specifically in an integrative and functional nutrition and as part of that a big topic that we learn about is the gut and the importance of gut health and our gut really being the core of our health because

80 % of our immune system is in the gut. We have this entire system called the microbiome, which I know we'll be diving into today that also influences our health. And so for me, it was sort of this whole other world of, my gosh, gut health. And so I decided I wanted to focus my practice in GI health and in gut health and around the microbiome. And so I, again, just dove into the research and did the trainings. And then I practiced as a dietitian in my own private practice for ⁓

over 12 years and then I found myself with an opportunity to educate other clinicians and found myself to Microbiome Lab. So that's a little bit of my journey and it's been, I just love the world of GI health and I love the microbiome. It's just, I feel like such a nerd when I dive into that. It's a treat for me to talk about it and it's a treat for me to learn about it. And so I just, I've really enjoyed my journey thus far.

Samia (05:58)
Thanks

Yes, what a beautiful journey. And it is so interesting. It's amazing. And I think sometimes people don't realize how much what we put into our body can affect not only our health, but even our mental health, the way that we think, our cognitive clarity, everything, our immune system. Like you said, there's so many things that are affected by that. And I'm really interested. You mentioned that

Alicia Galvin (06:22)
Mm-hmm.

Samia (06:25)
You started out with a private practice and then you transitioned. What inspired that transition into a more research-focused role for you?

Alicia Galvin (06:34)
Mm-hmm. You know, I love I love working one-on-one with people and for me it was a joy to Have someone come to me and then to kind of work through the puzzle. I'm also I love puzzles I love crosswords and jigsaw puzzles and I'm just I'm a puzzle person So for me it was okay. How do we put how do we fit together all the pieces together in order to create this picture and to decide? Okay, what's the next step? How do we intervene from a diet lifestyle? nutraceutical standpoint to start to

Samia (06:46)
That great.

Okay.

Alicia Galvin (07:02)
you know, help you feel better and start to improve your quality of life. And so, you know, doing that for years and for me, I then thought, well, but this is just me doing, I can only do so much if I'm doing one-on-one. So, you know, I then shifted to the teaching aspect and teaching clinicians because then if I could teach what I know to a clinician who then has a hundred or 200 or 300 patients,

then I'm making much more of an impact being the teacher and the mentor. And so I did quite a bit of that and I still have a platform, an educational platform that I use to teach other clinicians as well. So I just felt like in order to get the message out and to be more effective at a bigger level and to help more people, being able to mentor and teach other healthcare practitioners was the route that I wanted to take. And now being at Microbiome Labs, we can do that at even a bigger scale.

and with our teaching and our education.

Samia (07:55)
Yes.

Wow, it's amazing how that has grown. That's really good. And I think everybody needs to have this information. So I'm so glad that you're spreading the message. Yeah. Well, I know that there's going to be a lot of listeners who are newer to this topic. So let's start with the basics. Can you tell us a little bit what exactly is the microbiome and why should the average person care about it?

Alicia Galvin (08:00)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, happy to.

Yes, it's a great

question because I think we hear about this a lot and I think even in our, like when you look at the search terms for microbiome, the number of people searching microbiome on Google and the different search engines, it's exploded over the last few years. But I don't know that we always understand, but what does that mean when we say microbiome? So your microbiome is kind of like if you were to go to a concert.

You know, so if you go, let's say a symphony and you have your different players in the symphony, they're all there, they're all working together to create this beautiful music around the song, but they each are going to have a very specific role that they play within that symphony. So they play a different instrument, they have a different sheet music, they might be playing different tones or different paths of the music than the person sitting next to them.

while they're all together working together, they're each doing a different function. And that's kind of what our microbiome does. We have a microbiome made up of lots of different players. We've got viruses, we've got fungi, we've got bacteria, we have archaea. We have all these different little organisms in these different players that each have a very unique and specific role that they play within our microbiome. So the microbiome is technically

the symphony. It's the players, but it's also the theater of activity of all of what they do and the different, you know, byproducts that they produce and how they interact with each other and the role that they're playing. And that whole symphony of activity is what constitutes our microbiome. And that's what then influences our overall health. Now, what's interesting is, you know, usually when we think about the microbiome, we think about those in the gut, which is true. Most of our little organisms that are living in and around us.

reside in our colon, which is our large intestine. That's where the largest density of microbes are. But we have other microbiomes. We have a skin microbiome. We have a lung microbiome. We have a vaginal microbiome for the ladies who are listening. We have bacteria and organisms living all over us. We have an oral microbiome. The second largest is your oral microbiome. So in each of these different regions, depending on where they're living on

body, there's going to be a little bit different composition. So it's like different symphonies playing different music with different players all throughout our systems. And there's a reason for that. It's because each of the systems have a specific purpose of what they're supposed to be doing. So like your lung microbiome is going to function differently than your gut microbiome because obviously you have different organ functions. So I think that's one thing too, is that we actually are more bacteria and

Samia (10:42)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (11:02)
microbiome than we are human, which is when you look at the number of cells and the amount of DNA, we're actually more bacteria than we are human, which I think is a fascinating little statistic to keep in mind.

Samia (11:14)
That is fascinating. you mentioned that there are so many people that are searching Google and other search engines for microbiome. And I know sometimes with that, there can also be some misinformation or some misconceptions about the microbiome.

In your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that you see about gut health, especially the idea that it's just about bloating or that it's just about this or that and how we can think about the microbiome differently?

Alicia Galvin (11:46)
Yeah, yeah. So I think one of the biggest things I would also just call out and just in general myth is when we think about bacteria, think automatically some of us, maybe not all of us, but I think some of us have an idea that, bacteria are bad or we need to get rid of all the bacteria. And actually it's a very small percentage of bacteria and viruses and fungi that are really problematic. For the most part, the majority is actually.

pretty benign and are there for a purpose and can actually help us with our immune system. So, you know, that's one thing I would say just as a general myth is, you know, don't be afraid of bacteria. Don't be afraid of your kid going out and playing in the dirt and coming in and maybe not washing his or her hands immediately. Don't be afraid of the dog licking, you know, your face or your kid's face. I mean, there's actually research that the more exposure you have to sort of these

Samia (12:23)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (12:35)
all these different kind of dirtier, dirtier, you know, environmental elements that actually the stronger the immune system and the more robust in diversity we have with our microbiome. And that translates to sometimes better outcomes with some of the immune imbalances. So, you know, I think that's one thing is just don't be afraid of getting dirty. Don't be afraid of your kids getting dirty because that actually could be helpful. Now, obviously within reason, like you don't want them playing in areas where there's, you know, true contamination like dirty water or, know,

Samia (12:43)
you

Alicia Galvin (13:04)
other elements that could be really problematic and carry parasites and stuff. But in general, play outside, get outside, get exposure. We don't have to be so worried about ⁓ always washing our hands and using it to microbial soaps and sanitizers because that actually can be more harmful in some cases. So I would say that's another thing that I would keep in mind. And then the other element that might open up a whole can of worms is

I think there's this idea that, if you're suffering with bloating or constipation or diarrhea, just eat healthier. Just eat healthier and it'll solve everything. And I think that that's, for a lot of people, depending on what your diet is like before you try those changes, maybe that'll help. But there are some conditions that sometimes that doesn't always translate just eating healthier, eating more fiber. And so that sometimes might warrant a little bit deeper digging. ⁓

because I've had my clients, I've had patients come to me and clients come to me who they're like, I was having all these GI issues and I'm eating healthier, but I'm still having GI symptoms. And then, you you have to look a little bit deeper. So, yeah.

Samia (14:05)
Yes,

good. I'm glad that you mentioned that because I imagine that that's the case for a lot of people and when all they hear is eat healthy and that's not working, they can feel really alienated like nobody really understands what's going on. Yeah, thanks for sharing that. And I also really appreciated the piece that you talked about with

Alicia Galvin (14:19)
Yeah, for sure.

Samia (14:26)
getting dirty and letting a dog lick your face and letting the kids play outside. Because one of the questions I was going to ask you is how early do we start shaping our microbiome? But it sounds like from birth, right? We start shaping it. And I never mentioned this to you before, but back in the day when I was younger, I used to

Alicia Galvin (14:39)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Samia (14:51)
run a daycare and I worked in an infant toddler center and so I worked with kids all the time and I noticed that right away that the kids that were allowed to be kids, know, to play in the dirt, to play on the floor, to do this, to do that, hardly ever got sick. But the ones that the parents took more care of them, making sure that they were always clean and covered up and, you know, don't get dirty and this and that, those were the kids that inevitably got sick more often.

Alicia Galvin (15:14)
Thank you.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's you your you build up your immune system has such a big it's so heavily influenced by your microbiome health and so I think again There's always gonna be balance and I think as a parent you always try to do the best thing for your kids and have their best interests at heart but I think It's okay to let your kids eat something off the floor, you know If the food dropped on the floor like it's okay to let them eat it or if you know Yeah, they're digging in the dirt. So I think yeah, we just need to

Samia (15:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (15:46)
be open to the possibility that sometimes those things are actually beneficial.

Samia (15:50)
Yes, definitely. And that also makes me curious thinking about where we are now in our culture and technology and all of that. I know that kids don't get out as much as they used to because now there's so much more technology and kids are playing video games or watching TV or on a tablet or...

Are we seeing, and I don't know if this is something that you have looked into, but do you think there's a change in our microbiome based on the fact that we're not spending as much time outdoors?

Alicia Galvin (16:18)
Definitely. there's even some strains that they've done research on that are no longer present in a westernized microbiome, but they are present in different cultures, for example, down in South America. And I think that brings up something too that is interesting is that depending on your environment, that your microbiome will change. So someone living in Italy is going to have a very different microbiome than someone living in

the US who's going to also have a very different microbiome than someone living in Papua New Guinea who's going to have a different microbiome from someone living in Morocco. So I think that's what's really also quite interesting and very cool is that your microbiome is influenced heavily by your environment. So and your lifestyle and your diet and your physical activity and your sleep and your cultural influences and the spices that you eat. so

Samia (16:44)
next.

Alicia Galvin (17:10)
across the world and also within different races. have different, there's different microbiomes and there's different shifts that happen. So I think that that's really a very powerful consideration. And so, yes, I think that as we industrialize and as we modernize and as we get away from being outside as regularly and we move to being more indoors in front of computer screens and not having some of that just.

Samia (17:16)
next

Yes.

Alicia Galvin (17:35)
living life naturally and I think it does. It influences our diversity, the number of species, who's there. So it's gonna look very different from our grandparents or great-grandparents.

Samia (17:46)
Yes, but I think the good news is that we know it can change, right? So if we see that something's not working, we can absolutely make a change and we're going to see that change. It's going to happen. It's not like we're stuck with that microbiome.

Alicia Galvin (17:56)
Yep. Yep.

Yeah, superficially, you know, at a high level, your microbiome can change very quickly within about three days. You know, so if you change your diet and you start eating differently, you can actually start to change your microbiome within about three days. You can start to see shifts. And so, and then the consistency. So how consistent are you with those changes? That's also over time going to make an impact. So it's about consistency. It's about what you're doing on a regular basis. That's what's most important. Obviously we all go through phases of, you know, needing to,

Samia (18:05)
and

Alicia Galvin (18:26)
Maybe we eat differently or maybe we're not outside as much, especially if it's wintertime and it's freezing cold versus in the summertime when you can be out all the time. So I think, yes, even if you have had situations or events that influence your microbiome in maybe a less positive way, doesn't mean that it's all doom and gloom. You can make changes. You can do things that actually help your microbiome.

Samia (18:49)
Yes, absolutely. I think we notice those changes almost immediately. And I don't know if everything's 100 % related to the microbiome, but just to give an example, the last couple of days were really busy at work. And so I had a whole day where I didn't really do much but sit in front of the computer. And then yesterday when I finished my work, I was finally able to go out for a walk. And I was feeling really fatigued and down and just like, ugh, you know?

Alicia Galvin (19:16)
Mm-hmm.

Samia (19:16)
I

went for my walk and it just completely changed the way that I felt. know, all of a sudden I have more energy and I feel good and I'm in a good mood and it just made all the difference in the world. And the opposite was true around the holidays, you know. I think...

Most people, and not everybody certainly, but most people will agree that around the holidays we sometimes eat more things that we're not used to eating regularly, right? There's so many more get togethers and gatherings and potlucks and treats and all this and all that. And then around that time, you you start to change the things that you're eating from your regular routine and you can almost immediately feel the change in your body as well.

Alicia Galvin (19:57)
Mm-hmm.

Samia (20:00)
and not only in your body, but in your mood and in the way that, you know, that you, even the way that you think, the clarity of thinking and all that changes. Yeah, wow. And so I know that many people struggle with things like fatigue and brain fog, skin issues, mood changes, without even realizing that the gut might be involved, right? Could you walk us through maybe some common everyday symptoms that

Alicia Galvin (20:03)
Mm-hmm.

Yep, absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Samia (20:27)
might be related to microbiome that maybe we don't even realize?

Alicia Galvin (20:31)
Yeah, so what's interesting and very cool is you have these what are called gut organ axes. So we have like the gut lung axis, we have the gut brain axis, we have the gut heart axis, we have the gut vaginal axis. So if you think about any organ in your body or any, you know, kind of area that, you know, it's going to be touched by the gut.

and our microbiome and there's gonna be a direct communication. Again, you think about all those different players in the symphony, you have all these different players that are gonna in some way interact or influence some of these other organ systems within our body and that can make a big impact. So essentially, I think about like the skin, the gut skin access. if you, I mean, I think the obvious symptoms that usually people think about are your gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation.

Samia (20:56)
this.

Alicia Galvin (21:22)
But things that would maybe be less obvious would be, yes, having mood imbalances or mood swings, having skin irritations, skin that's maybe red, or if you're having eruptions or breakouts, those can definitely have an impact or be impacted by the microbiome. Our respiratory health.

and our lung health is actually, know, the health of our microbiome is very influential on our lung health. I mean, I would say it can be just about anything that, you know, same with heart health, know, and with, you know, heart health as well, you know, that's another area that there's a huge emerging body of research that's correlating how our gut microbiome influences our cardiovascular health, our metabolic health, you know, our, you know, how our...

Samia (21:53)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (22:09)
our blood sugar and our metabolic health outcomes, you that has an influence on the, you know, our microbiome has an influence on that. So, I mean, I would say the question would almost be more, what does not have, what's not, what can't be tied to the microbiome? Yeah. But I think that's encouraging because I think if you are dealing with all of these, like a whole cluster of all these different symptoms or these different kind of,

Samia (22:19)
Right. Yes, it sounds like everything is affected by it.

Alicia Galvin (22:36)
things that you're trying to figure out and you're trying to feel better. think what's nice is to recognize that, if I work on my gut health and I work on my microbiome, how many of those things will actually improve without me having to do multiple different interventions on multiple different symptoms? Maybe it's just a matter of improving gut health and just kind of seeing how much of it improves and then going from there. So there's a lot that can, a lot of things can be helped by just working.

Samia (23:04)
Yes, definitely. Okay, so let's say if we turn it around then and ask the question from the opposite end, from your perspective, what does a healthy microbiome actually feel like in day-to-day life?

Alicia Galvin (23:17)
Yes, so

one characteristic of a healthy microbiome, you want lots of diversity. So if you think about just a rain forest, you know, think about a rain forest and just how diverse all the different plants and all the different organisms and you have the different animal and you just, it's a whole ecosystem that's very resilient and

Samia (23:34)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (23:38)
as long as man doesn't come in. But you have a rainforest that's very lush, it's very vibrant, it's living, there's a lot going on there. know, diversity is going to be very key. Versus if you think about like a desert, which isn't very vibrant, it's pretty barren, you only have a few different species that can actually survive some of those high heat temperatures. Or if you think about Death Valley, where essentially nothing's going on there, not as vibrant, not as rich.

Samia (23:46)
Yeah.

this.

you

Alicia Galvin (24:05)
And so that diversity of the number of different types of species is going to be really critical. So you want to support your microbiome diversity. That's, would say, number one. There's research that supports longevity and health span related to how diverse your microbiome is. So I'd say that's definitely number one. Secondly is you want to have the right types of microbes there. So just having a lot of microbes doesn't mean that they're all necessarily the right

that should be there. As an example, a rainforest is not going to do well in a desert and vice versa. Totally different environments, totally different organisms. So you might have all the different rainforest elements, but if it's in desert, then you're not going to have that kind of environment that you're really achieving. I'd say who's there, how many are there, like those are two very key elements that you want to be making sure that you're encouraging. And then I would say the third

Samia (24:33)
Right.

Alicia Galvin (24:58)
of what constitutes a healthy microbiome would be, we have some very specific species of bacteria that are, kind of call them the Instagram influencers, because they make up a very small percentage of our total microbiome, but they have a disproportionately large influence on the health of our microbiome. And those species are called our keystone species. So some of your listeners might be familiar with acromansia, mucinophilia.

We also have the calabactrum presnitzide. Those are, I'd say, the two big famous ones that everyone talks about and everyone's always trying to achieve. So, you know, they belong to this group of bacteria that are called our keystone species, and they are very influential and supportive of our overall health. So we absolutely want to try to encourage those species, and we want those to be present in a healthy microbiome. So I'd say, you diversity, the right composition, and then

presence of keystone species would be the top three elements that you would want for a healthy functioning microbiome that's going to be doing more work for you to support your overall wellness and health ⁓ and ensure that everything's kind of working the way that it should.

Samia (26:05)
Yes.

Okay, I love the way that you You help us have that visual image, right? Like The the keystones are the influencers that helps me at least and I'm sure the listeners to get a much better idea of how they work and How important they are in our system? Yeah Well, let's talk lifestyle

Alicia Galvin (26:23)
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Samia (26:28)
I

know in your work found that the worst to shape the microbiome are things like maybe stress or lack of sleep or things like that.

Can you explain a little bit how these things might affect our microbiome, how our lifestyle choices might affect our microbiome?

Alicia Galvin (26:47)
Yeah, you know, it's and I think when I say this, think again, everybody we're all doing their best, right? Like we're all going to, you know, none of us goes out and starts today going, I want to feel stressed today or I'm going to try to go for a poor night's sleep. So I think, you know, what I'm about to say is, is also acknowledging that sometimes, you know, we try our best and, and, you know, we're doing what we can and but, but yes, I think

Samia (26:54)
Yes.

Right.

Alicia Galvin (27:10)
it's super important to factor in how do we then manage that and are there things that we can do to help improve sleep hygiene? What factors do you have to control? What can you control? What are you able to control? So with stress, maybe it's working to reframe things or maybe you take a pause a few times a day for a couple minutes and do box breathing because

Stress is one of the things that can absolutely just, you can have the best diet in the world. You can do the right level of exercise. You can drink the cleanest water. You can take the right supplements. But if you're stressed all the time, your microbiome will feel that. And so it's really all these things coming together because one of the things when we're stressed is ⁓ we have a hormone called cortisol that gets released. Cortisol is our kind of our fight or flight.

hormone, it's produced by the adrenal glands and so when we are we have a big presentation or we have a deadline at work or we have something stressful going on in our personal lives or you know whatever that might be what happens is we get into this fight-or-flight mode which your body doesn't know the difference between a stressful day at work and you having to run from a tiger. It's gonna respond the same way.

But when cortisol is released, and especially when cortisol is elevated, what it does is it actually kicks off this loop of events that are connected between our brain and our gut. And it can influence our gut health and actually worsen some of the linkages in our gut and can lead to things like leaky gut, which some of you may be familiar with, but leaky gut is essentially when those little

I call them kind of like little shoelaces that keep our intestines and the cells nice and tightly linked up together. If those start to loosen, just like if you were to start loosening your shoelaces, your shoe falls off, well, things can start to break down when you start to have those linkages ⁓ because it means that our immune system gets hyper stimulated. And when we get in a hyper stimulated immune system, it can lead to more inflammatory situations. So essentially it's this big loop that

can happen and as part of that it will affect our microbiome. So as much as we can manage our stress, as much as we can kind of take a pause, take a breath, reframe, know, box breathing is great because it helps shift us into more of that rest and digest and out of fight or flight mode, it's a way to kind of trick our brain into thinking like, okay, let's move into relaxation. So, you know, stress management techniques are super important.

for us all to try to find a way to do that. And then sleep. So again, there's many reasons why people may not be getting the best sleep each night, but you know, what can you control? You're limiting your electronics before bed, making sure that the room is at a nice cool, you know, kind of on the cooler side. We tend to sleep better when it's a little bit cooler. If you need a white noise machine, I know I sleep with a white noise machine. I cannot sleep without my white noise machine. ⁓

Samia (30:09)
Okay.

Alicia Galvin (30:10)
something like that, know, drinking chamomile tea before bed, having also a ritual where, you know, if you're very busy at work or if you have, you know, you've got kids and your evening is absolute chaos and you're trying to get dinner together and it's just, you know, the chaos that happens between like 4.30 and 7.30 every evening, you know, finding a way to sort of transition into like, okay, I'm transitioning from the day.

Now I need to have maybe it's 10 or 15 minutes of just that transition time before you go to bed so that you can wind down. Maybe it's taking a bath. Maybe it's listening to gentle calm music. Maybe it's having, you know, your tea, like maybe have a tea ritual. So I think finding ways to trigger your brain to signal, okay, we're going to bed, we're winding down and then going to bed at a decent hour.

Samia (30:50)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (30:59)
And then one thing that also affects sleep that people may not realize is making sure that your blood sugar is very balanced throughout the day. So your sleep quality is dependent on the minute you wake up and what you're eating and how often you're eating and how steady your blood sugar is during the day. If you're going really long periods of time without eating or if you're eating mostly refined carbohydrates and you're not eating enough protein and fat.

your blood sugar can kind of go up and down, up and down, or it might not stay steady, and that can actually impact your sleep quality at night. So I would say another big thing that I would talk to people about when we were trying to improve their sleep was making sure that blood sugar stays steady during the day, because again, if you're not sleeping, your microbiome is going to also be affected by that. And there are studies that show a direct connection between our microbiome shifts and the quality of our sleep as well. So I would say that's kind of a lesser

thought of element that you can do during the day that you have some control.

Samia (31:57)
Okay, wow, those are some excellent tips. A lot of what you talked about are things that I talk about with my clients as well, because those are things that also affect our mental health. you know, we talk a lot about managing stress. We talk a lot about sleep. I never really connected it with the microbiome in the way that you just did, but that's really interesting information. And when you started to talk about the leaky gut, it sparked a question in my head.

How would one know if they have a leaky gut? Are there signs that we can say, hey, maybe something's going wrong here?

Alicia Galvin (32:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

yeah. mean, again, it kind of goes back to the gut being the core of your health. I mean, we've seen, you know, the scientific technical term is intestinal hyperpermeability. So it's a hyperpermeable state of your intestinal lining. you know, immune system challenges, digestive challenges, things like bloating and gas, but also mood imbalances, mood swings.

Skin eruptions, skin, I mean a lot of the same stuff that I was mentioning before that you know what's a sign that your microbiome is maybe off. There are going to be a lot of the same things with your intestinal lining because one of the things that really drives a healthy intestinal lining is your microbiome. Your microbiome will secrete, you know if you have a healthy microbiome it's going to secrete different byproducts that help to keep those shoelaces nice and tight. They're called ⁓ short chain fatty acids, butyrate being

Samia (33:04)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Alicia Galvin (33:26)
big one that plays a role in keeping the integrity of those tight junctions. So they're really going to go hand in hand. If you have a microbiome that's off, more than likely it's going to start to affect the integrity of that lining. And so then you're going to kind of have that impact on your intestinal health. So I'd say they're going to be pretty much the same elements.

Samia (33:46)
Yes, okay, And we talked about lifestyle and I think there's a lot of things that we can do Whatever's under our control to affect our lifestyle in a positive way to also affect our microbiome in a positive way. From a nutrition standpoint, what would you say are some of the foods that truly support a diverse and resilient microbiome?

Alicia Galvin (34:07)
Fiber is number one. And it's not just the amount of fiber that you eat, it's the diversity of the different types of fiber that you eat. So I always would tell people, you know, I think we always hear this idea of like, eat the rainbow. So they're like, okay, well, I'm gonna go out and get my red and orange and yellow, green, blue, purple food. But if you're eating the same...

Samia (34:09)
Okay.

Alicia Galvin (34:25)
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple food over and over, that's actually not going to be as beneficial as if you ate 15 different green foods that week and then you ate 12 different purple and then you ate five different, you know, like, it's about the diversity across the board of all the different types of foods that you consume versus the quantity. I mean, obviously quantity is important.

and we do have a certain fiber goal that we need to try to meet, which is between 25 to 35 grams of fiber, depending on if you're male or female, which a lot of us struggle to do. But I would say that the different types are super critical. So my rule of thumb for people is try to get 30 different types of plants every week. So, you know, one thing you can do is, you know, just kind of count up in your day, you know, or in your week, how many different types of

plants have you consumed? That can be fruit, that can be vegetables, that can be your whole grains, your nuts and seeds, your beans or legumes. So looking at how many different plants am I consuming and am I meeting 30 different ones each week? And so I would say that's one goal. The other thing I would say is I would have people, when they go to the grocery store, if they're grocery shopping online, because I know some of us now we do grocery shopping online, or if you go to the grocery store.

you know, kind of look in the produce aisle and in the challenge I would give my clients would be try to pick two new things that maybe you hadn't eaten in a while or you didn't eat last week or if you're a big smoothie person or if you do, you know, stir fries or whatever, you know, if one week you did broccoli, onions, celery and carrots, then the next week do the same thing, make a stir fry or make a smoothie, but just choose different things to put in it so that

I have found that sometimes the challenge that people have with their cooking and with what they're planning to do is it's sometimes more of the process of it of You I'm in the mode of doing a smoothie I'm in the process of making a stir-fry or a one-pot meal and you don't have to change your process like that can stay the same but just choose different things to put within that process so that it's just easy you're not having to change what you're doing so that would work well and it would encourage that diversity of the different types of

fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds that people would choose. And then by doing that, you're supporting your microbiome health. And then of course, I can't leave that topic without talking about fermented foods, because fermented foods are so wonderful. there's lots of different ways that you can incorporate them into your day to day. know, sauerkraut dressings and blending, putting sauerkraut on a salad is kind of that vinegar element, that kind of tangy element.

using kefir if you're able to do dairy, bringing kefir into the picture with your smoothies or with if you're cooking something or blending, or even drinking. I my son loves kefir. So fermented foods are so highly nutritious and they're really wonderful food sources for our microbiome.

Samia (37:17)
Wonderful. Thank you. And I really appreciate how you talked about the process of cooking because I know a lot of people get stuck in this is all I know how to do and getting something new scares me. But if you get something new and keep the same process, that might feel a little bit easier to do and a little bit more familiar.

Alicia Galvin (37:35)
Yeah,

yeah. One other thing that I would tell people is, you know, roast a big pan of vegetables every week. And so, you know, maybe one week you're doing and changing the color. like sweet potatoes are great, especially if they, you cook them and then if you allow them to cool and then you eat them cold, cooked and cooled potatoes, cooked and cooled starches, like cooked and cooled rice, cooked and cooled pasta.

cooked and cooled beans, that cooling process actually creates a certain type of fiber called a resistant starch. And those are really helpful for our gut microbiome. And so sometimes you don't even have to heat, like throw those roasted vegetables onto your salad or just eat it cold. Don't worry about trying to heat something up. You're actually doing your microbiome a favor if you're eating some of these things cooked and then cooled because that resistant starch provides a really unique.

prebiotic element for our microbiome that isn't present when that food is warm or when it's cooked. So you know think even the way that you're eating your food you could eat this have the same food just eat some warm and eat some cool and you're gonna get different fiber diversity depending on the way that you're consuming it.

Samia (38:42)
Okay, that's really good information to know. Great. And I think that opens up for a whole set of new dishes, if people are used to having their food hot, how could you use it cold? it just opens up a whole new video. Yes.

Alicia Galvin (38:55)
Yeah, make a pasta salad, make a potato salad with your cooked pasta.

And you're doing your microbiome a favor. It's really nice to have that diversity.

Samia (39:05)
Wonderful. Now let's talk on the flip side. Are there any habits or any foods that you commonly see disrupting your health, especially in busy adults?

Alicia Galvin (39:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, so definitely your highly processed foods, know, your highly sweetened foods. So, you know, your chips and cakes and cookies and, you know, all the usual suspects. Those are not going to be doing your microbiome any kind of favor. I would also say your artificial sweeteners. So there's research around like aspartame and sucralose and some of these different artificial sweeteners that can shift our microbiome.

in a negative way. that's also an element that, you try to stay away from some the artificial chemical non-nutritive sweeteners as much as possible. I mean, obviously if you get, you know, a little bit in every now and then, that's not going to make a huge deal, but we just don't want to be consuming them on a regular basis or as part of your regular daily diet because that will have a negative impact on your microbiome. And then I would say, you know, high, you know, fried foods, you know, your fried chickens, your

French fries that are fried because when a food is fried, it creates these little ⁓ components, these chemicals called AGEs, which stand for Advanced Glycation End Products. And those come from when a food is cooked at really high heat temperatures, like a frying in an oil that maybe is less healthy for us. Those are more detrimental to our microbiome and really not great for our overall health in general.

So I'd say, you it's gonna be your usual suspects that you would wanna probably try to avoid. hear about it being not so great for our overall health, definitely not gonna be helpful for our microbiome health versus if we're trying to aim more for whole foods on a regular basis. Now, obviously, you know, everybody, we try our best. Sometimes we get busy. So the occasional, it's not gonna be a huge deal. We just don't wanna be making this a habit of every day or multiple times a week and just.

having it as a staple in our diet, we wanna try to make that more the exception not the rule.

Samia (41:02)
Okay, Are there any other types of cooking that are not good? You know, like you mentioned frying, are there any other methods of cooking that are not as great for our microbiome?

Alicia Galvin (41:13)
So the frying is definitely, I would say, number one. I would say depending on what grilling meats, again, there can be some of that advanced glycation end products that are produced. But one of the ways that you can get around, or at least you can mitigate some of that, is what kind of spices you're using to marinate the meat and then what foods you're consuming along with that protein.

So, you know, marinating the meat in something that has like a garlic, like it's part of a garlic rub, or consuming that alongside some of your cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. There's been some research that actually kind of how you food combine can be helpful to mitigate some of the effects of those ages. So I'm not saying don't grill, because I think we all love a good grilled something, you know, whether it be vegetables or meats or fish or whatever.

Samia (42:01)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (42:04)
I just think it's, you know, make sure that you're pairing that with like your high quality spices, know, whole food vegetables, you know, you're getting a salad along, like just make sure that you're eating it alongside something that's very healthy to kind of mitigate some of those things. but I would say those are going to be, you know, your two main, I would say the biggest area. mean, things like sauteing and, and baking and roasting and, all of that is generally pretty, pretty fine to, to pursue.

Samia (42:04)
Yeah.

Okay. And you mentioned grilling meat. Is the same true for grilling vegetables? Or is that a completely different category? Okay. Okay, good to know. All right, good. You know, one thing I really appreciate about your work is the emphasis on microbiome health.

Alicia Galvin (42:36)
Not as impactful, so it's mostly going to be your meats.

Samia (42:48)
but beyond digestion, Can you help our listeners understand how the microbiome might affect areas like skin health, vaginal health, cardiovascular health, and immunity? Just in general, what do we see with our microbiome health?

Alicia Galvin (43:01)
Yeah, so I'll use your gut brain as just an example. And this, would say, kind of elements of this are true for other organ axes. So when we have different microbes and bacteria and fungi and all these different organisms that are living in our gut, they, as I mentioned, they, if you think about them as players in a symphony, they're going to be playing different songs. They're going to be giving, you know, when they play something, you give off a sound, you give off music.

Samia (43:04)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (43:28)
there's a note that gets played. With the microbiome, it's the same thing. When they're doing their activities, they give off different byproducts, primarily short-chain fatty acids as a result of fermenting fiber. So when we eat fiber, bacteria eat that, and then they give off these byproducts. But they can give off other elements too. There's a wide range of many different types of products that these bacteria can produce as a result of their activity and just going about their day.

Samia (43:28)
Yeah.

you

Alicia Galvin (43:53)
So depending on who they are and what they're doing, these little byproducts can actually attach to receptors in our gut, or in some cases, they can actually get through the gut and they can get into our blood circulation. And if you think about it, there's little signalers. So when they attach to our gut on receptors, or if they get into our blood, then those can go through and they can trigger a whole set of chain reactions that then influence our brain health. It affects how our brain functions or it affects the

our mood via maybe the immune system or these different signals. So I would say kind of the easiest way to say it is that our microbiome, depending on who's there and what they're doing and what they're giving off, those little signals then go to different areas of our body that have an influence on the immune system or different functions within that organ that then respond to those signals. So it's like it's just kind of shooting off these different communications.

from our gut that are going to these different areas of our body and then those areas of our body respond as a result of those signals. And so that's how we kind of have these gut organ axes and how our things like our brain can then reply or respond to something that's happening in our gut, which you maybe some of you have heard, but you know, our gut is sometimes referred to as our second brain because there's so much bidirectional back and forth communication that

between our gut and our brain. But then we have similar elements of like our gut and our skin and our gut and our lung and gut and heart. And it's really through these signals that our bacteria give off as a result of their daily activities. It is, it truly is so connected. Like you really, you can't really look at anything in isolation. They're all gonna be connected together.

Samia (45:28)
It's amazing how our body works. Everything is connected to everything else. Everything's a chain reaction.

Yes, yeah. And here's where a lot of people get confused. Prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics. Can you break down what each one does and whether people actually need them or need to get them externally?

Alicia Galvin (45:50)
Yes.

Yes, love the question, because it's confusing. So a probiotic by kind of the simplistic definition is it's a living organism that produces some kind of benefit to the host. So basically, it's a living organism inside of you that is benefiting you in some way. And it has to be alive, and it has to be doing its job alive. And it has to be a benefit to you. So that's a probiotic. And that can be sometimes a yeast, sometimes it's a

bacteria generally it's going to be one of those two. Those are the two big ones. So that's what a probiotic is. It's a living organism that benefits you. A prebiotic is a food or precursor substance that the probiotic eats to then do those activities. So it could be a fiber, ⁓ certain fiber, not all fiber, but some specific fibers are

deemed as being prebiotic. So when you eat an onion or when you eat an apple or when you eat an artichoke or garlic, you're consuming very specific types of prebiotic fibers in those foods that are going to be the fuel sources and they're going to feed the probiotics. Some prebiotics are things like fish oil, which isn't a fiber, but it has some prebiotic elements that help to feed and influence the activity of the probiotic.

⁓ polyphenols, which are all the colorful elements within all of our different foods, our oranges, our blueberries, our beets, all those beautiful colors. Those are pigments and polyphenols that are very efficient, very anti-inflammatory. And those are also sometimes prebiotics for our bacteria. So really a prebiotic is going to be anything that is just feeding our probiotics. Now a postbiotic,

is going to be, it's not alive. It could be maybe part of the cell membrane, like the little outer portion of the bacteria or the probiotic. It could be maybe a byproduct that that probiotic's producing, like a short chain fatty acid. So a postbiotic is gonna be something related to the probiotic, but it's not alive. And in some cases, it could even be a probiotic that has been what's called heat killed.

So it's not alive, but it still confers some benefits. So a post-biotic is still beneficial. It's beneficial for overall health. It's beneficial for overall wellness. It's beneficial for you as the host, but it's not alive. It's a component generally of a probiotic. And so those are now kind of catching a wave. Like those are becoming a little bit more mainstream and more widely known because they're very resilient. They're very stable. They don't have to be alive. So that's what a post-biotic is.

Samia (48:27)
Got it. Okay. That makes sense. And in your view, what separates an effective probiotic from one that's mostly marketing? Because I know there's a lot of marketing around probiotics. And I think for the average person, it's really hard to know like, what should we be putting in our bodies? And what should we not?

Alicia Galvin (48:36)
Mm-hmm.

There is.

It is.

It is so, I know, it's a very, it's a huge market. It's very confusing. You walk into your local health food store or your local pharmacy and you're gonna have probably at least an aisle or two aisles dedicated to probiotics. And that can be very overwhelming. So I would say kind of the things that you wanna factor in when you're looking at a probiotic is number one, what's your purpose? Why are you taking it? Because just as if you were to go shopping for a dog, if you're in the market for

a chihuahua because you want the chihuahua to do, you you want a chihuahua for whatever reason that you want the chihuahua for, you have a very specific reason for why you're choosing a chihuahua, you're not going to go and choose a lab or a sheepdog because that's not going to fit the criteria for function of what you're expecting with a chihuahua. Well, probiotics are the same way. And one of the things that makes them different is the strain. So we have

probiotic strains, which usually are indicated at the end of the name of the probiotic. And it's usually some combination of letters and numbers. Sometimes it's just numbers, sometimes it's just letters, but there's usually like a strain name that's next to the probiotic. So if there's a company or if you see a probiotic that doesn't have that, I probably would forego it because you want to know what you're searching. Like you don't want to show up and say, I just want a dog. Like I just want a dog.

Samia (50:06)
it.

Alicia Galvin (50:06)
Well, who

knows what you'll end up with? You know, they might bring you out a golden retriever when you're hoping for a poodle and that's going to be a disappointment. So it's the same thing when you're shopping for a probiotic. You want to make sure you have the strain and you're very specific because these strains will do different things. Some probiotics are more geared for, you know, helping with digestive functions. Some probiotics are more geared for helping with our mood. Some are more geared for helping with our skin. Some are more geared for helping with like if you're on an antibiotic and it's more helpful for antibiotic, you know, related symptoms. So, you know, the

the purpose of why are you going to search for it. Just be very mindful and clear of that and look for that strain. You also want to, if you're able to see if there's any research associated with that particular probiotic finished product, some companies now, not a lot, there's not very many doing this, but some companies will test their finished good, their finished formula.

and we'll run that finished formula through clinical trials or through research to see does this combination that we've put together in this product that we're selling, does it actually do what we think it will do? Does it actually show efficacy? Does it actually help with different symptoms or do we see improvements in wellness and quality of life? And so I think if you're able to find that out, that's also just a very key thing to factor in because it's gonna be

really important because then you know that that product is more than likely going to be efficacious. And then the last thing I would say, and sometimes you don't always know this necessarily, is just if you're not working with a healthcare provider, if you're just there trying to find something, ideally because the definition of a probiotic is that it's alive, you want to have a probiotic that you're taking that when you ingest it, it's going to survive your digestion and it's going to make it to your gut.

Samia (51:45)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (51:53)
I would say typically your refrigerated probiotics, I'm not saying they're all not going to make it, but if you think about it, your body temperature is 98.7. So if you have a probiotic that has to live in refrigeration to survive, then what happens when you put it in a 98.6 or 98.7 body temp? know, survivability is important, making sure that it's really

Samia (52:03)
Right.

this.

Alicia Galvin (52:15)
alive and that it's working and that it has that strain. I'd say those are a few elements that you want to factor in when you're choosing a probiotic.

Samia (52:22)
Okay, that's really interesting. I never thought about that with the refrigerated probiotics. I'm glad you brought that up. And you mentioned the the strain, so the letters and the numbers after the name or just letters or just numbers. Is there anything else that consumers should be looking for in a label?

Alicia Galvin (52:28)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Great.

So quality testing, you definitely want to be looking at quality testing. Does it have any kind of third party certifications? Or in some cases, the different companies will do third party. And maybe it's not necessarily displayed on the label. But you can always ask that if you're working with a health care practitioner. But I'd say the quality of that particular, if they have any kind of quality icons on their label, just

for certified GMP or USP, those kinds of things. You just want to make sure that you're getting a quality product.

Samia (53:14)
Yeah, I found it interesting when you were talking earlier that not all companies test their product to see if their combination is actually doing what they expect it to do. ⁓ I think the thought or the expectation that I had was that most if not all companies would do that, but not all of them do. And I know that microbiome labs,

Alicia Galvin (53:20)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Samia (53:36)
has a unique approach of testing their finished formulas, right? Why is this important? And what does this tell us about that ingredient, something that's different than just testing the ingredients only?

Alicia Galvin (53:40)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right. So one of the interesting things about probiotics is that sometimes like if you're just going off of the research of maybe this particular strain or like we know this particular strain does this. What's interesting though is that sometimes you might have two strains that do very different things or maybe do something similar and the research shows that they do those very well when they're individual. But then what happens when you combine them together? Sometimes that actually changes their functionality. So we can't always assume that

these individual strains that they're going to work in the same way when they're put together in a formula. And so sometimes that will lessen their efficacy. Sometimes it'll, you know, kind of, in some cases it may enhance it, but I'd say in the most most of the time you'll see like it'll actually impact the function of it. So the benefit of then having a finished product

formula that's tested is then you can see, okay, we've taken these different strains and we put them together in one formula. Does it still do what we think it should do? And so that's one of things with microbiome labs of what we do with like, especially our Megaspore, which is, you know, at the time of this, you know, 10 clinical research trials and others that are, you know, animal or in vitro, we have quite a bit of data on that particular formula. And then we have others.

of our products, probiotics and other probiotics that also have some finished product research to where we're actually looking at, okay, well how does this product perform as a whole? Both we have some randomized placebo control trials, but then we also have some just real world evidence trials that are kind of looking at how do these function in real world situations with real people under real life circumstances, because that's going to be more

you know, relevant, I think, for a lot of us. So that's how we, you know, what we really are proud of is our ability to, and the importance that we put on making sure that we're doing that with our products.

Samia (55:41)
Okay, what does the research look like when you are testing the product? Do you have a group that takes something different or doesn't take anything at all and then a group that does take it?

Alicia Galvin (55:51)
It completely

depends on the structure of the study. We have some studies that have been done in the past that were a little bit more controlled. And so those were a little bit more controlled. And then we have some that were compared against somebody taking a placebo. And then we have some that are really just real world, where it's just they take it, or then they stop taking it. And then how do their symptoms change? How does it compare against?

like some, we have one that's like on wearable data. So it's, it just really depends. We have a wide variety of different types of studies, but in all those instances, we're looking at those outcomes of kind of comparing a situation of what happens when somebody's taking this? Do we see improvements? Do we see changes in their wellness scores and their quality of life scores? Do we see changes in how much, you know, food they're able to consume? Is it helping with the amount of foods that they can tolerate if they were not able to tolerate before?

Samia (56:30)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (56:42)
So it just, I would say it just really runs the gamut and we've got quite the variety of different types of investigative research.

Samia (56:49)
Okay, and that's wonderful that you guys do so many different types of research

Well, I'm curious about something else. Can you explain, and this is something I know nothing about, can you explain what makes spore-based probiotics different from more traditional strains?

Alicia Galvin (57:06)
So I would say with spores one of the well a couple things with that one of them is Just how they work in our body and I'd say this is probably the biggest differentiator from from others is that When we take other probiotics usually with the way that they work is you take them for a period of time They're in your system But then they're really just there and they exist and they help They help with symptoms. They help with

whatever you're trying to achieve for the time that you're taking them. But then if you were to stop taking them, depending on what is going on with you, sometimes those symptoms may come back. And so it's really just efficacious as long as you're taking them. What the spores do and how they differ is that they actually recondition our gut ecology. So when I say that, I mean, when you're taking a spore,

the different byproducts that they give off, the way that they work within our gut, they're actually shifting and changing the environment. They're influencing other types of microbes that are there. They're helping with shifting some of our immune system elements. And there's a whole ecosystem shift and change. It's like if you were to go in and you're starting to plant a vegetable garden.

and you want to make sure that your vegetable garden is going to survive and it's going to be thriving and it's going to be beautiful. Well you're going to, you're not just going to start putting your seeds in a garden that's just bare dirt. You know, you're going to go in and you're going to work the soil. You're going to, you know, kind of take out some of the weeds. You're going to work the soil so that it's nice and loose and it's able to receive those seeds. So that's what the spores are doing. They're there to work that soil, work that environment to encourage

and elevate the other beneficial species to grow. And so because of that, because they work at a very different mechanism of action, they have a little bit deeper and longer lasting benefit for us with helping with those microbial shifts. So I'd say that's probably the biggest difference. The other thing I would say is just, know, spores are very resilient. You know, they survive our digestion very, very well.

⁓ There are definitely other probiotic strains that will also survive and so I'm not saying that, you know, spores are the only ones because they certainly are not the only ones that will survive digestion. There are other species that do, but I would say as a general rule of thumb spores are very resilient to survival of digestion and making it through to the colon and truly living up to that definition of what a true probiotic is, which it has to be alive. The other thing that spores are, part of how they are able to survive digestion

is they have kind of a two-phase life cycle. So they can actually remain dormant for centuries. So they can be dormant. They can be just kind of doing their own thing until the conditions are right for them to come out and proliferate. So that's also an element that helps to keep them very resilient is that biphasic lifestyle or biphasic life cycle.

so that they can stay dormant for years until the situation and the environment is right for them to come out and start to be active and then they come out and they're active. they're very unique in that way.

Samia (1:00:07)
Yes, super interesting. so when someone begins, you know, some people might never have thought about their microbiome, right? So when somebody begins to actually support their microbiome, whether it's through diet or, through supplements, what changes do people typically notice first?

Alicia Galvin (1:00:27)
So it depends. I would say sometimes people are gonna feel a difference immediately. They might start feeling improvements immediately, but sometimes people go through a little bit of a shift in their microbiome and sometimes that you might actually experience increased bloating, increased gas, maybe a little bit of constipation or diarrhea just as your system is kind of getting used to this new live and active element that you're bringing into your gut.

So I would say sometimes you can actually feel like almost you're feeling a little bit worse before you start feeling better. But then there's some people who, know, from the get-go, they start to see a difference and they'll feel better. I would say generally, kind of as a rule of thumb, you probably want to give it, you know, four weeks, about a month of taking whatever it is that you're taking before you make a real determinate decision around if you feel like it's right for you. Now again, that's a very general, general...

you know, of guideline, but you want to give it some time, you know, because it's going to take some time for that to shift and for that probiotic to kind of take action. So, but I'd say in general, you know, most probiotics you're going to kind of see something in about four weeks.

Samia (1:01:33)
Okay, so in general should we be taking probiotics throughout our life or only if we see symptoms that we're trying to improve?

Alicia Galvin (1:01:42)
You know, I think that is up to your health goals and like what you're trying to achieve. I mean, one of things that we do know is that, you know, the more diverse microbiome you have, longer the health span and the more higher quality of life. And we definitely know that probiotics are beneficial. Now, does everybody need a probiotic? I mean, depending on your diet and your lifestyle, I would say no. I mean, again, how stressed are you? What's your quality of sleep? How physically active are you?

Do you eat a wide variety of fibers or are you having to rely on a lot of processed foods? Are you exposed to lot of antimicrobial or antibacterial chemicals in your day-to-day life, whether it's at your job or at your home? What kind of water do you drink? So I would say that's kind of hard to answer because it's going to depend on your life and your inputs and what is kind of...

Samia (1:02:31)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (1:02:33)
what are you able to control and what can you not control? I mean, I think a probiotic is definitely not gonna take the place of all of the things that we just talked about with the encompassing of the holistic picture, but I think a probiotic can certainly be helpful to give you that support or to be a little bit of like that insurance policy that you need to have that just covers you in the event that you do kind of fall off track or you have a season of life that's more difficult for you to adhere to some of those lifestyle elements that we talked about. So I think that's how I would kind of view that.

Samia (1:02:40)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (1:03:02)
as more of an entrance policy.

Samia (1:03:04)
Yeah, it sounds like as with everything, it depends on the individual. Yeah, are there any individuals who should not take prebiotics or consult with a clinician before taking probiotics? ⁓

Alicia Galvin (1:03:08)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, I would

say again, this is going to be real, real dependent, but anybody who's like really severely immunocompromised probably should not take a probiotic. And that can be many. mean, again, you can check with your health care provider and see if you fit in that category. But yeah, anyone who's like just really severely immunocompromised definitely would want to run that past their provider. And of course, there's going to be other case scenarios where you may want to check. So I would say, you know, if in doubt, just run it past your health care practitioner.

to see if this is right for you would be probably the best thing. Because again, there's, like I mentioned, probiotics can be individualized. So what is going to be the best one for you? Maybe having somebody guide you through that would be helpful.

Samia (1:03:57)
Yes, okay, that makes sense. Good, okay. For listeners who maybe feel overwhelmed, This is a lot of information, especially for somebody who hasn't really heard about this before or has never really taken a deep dive like we've been doing on microbiome. What would you say are the top three

Alicia Galvin (1:03:59)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Samia (1:04:18)
tips that you can give them the top three habits that they can start today to support their microbiome.

Alicia Galvin (1:04:24)
Yes, I would say one is maybe, you know, if you've counted on your fingers and you're like, I am not reaching 30 different plants a week. Maybe you're only doing 20 or maybe you're doing 15 or maybe less than that. I would say try like make it a challenge for yourself to maybe add one, like just one new food, one new plant each week.

you know, try to do that because again, anything, any change over time, if you're consistent is going to make a big difference. Even if you don't feel like it's going to be, you know, even if you don't feel like it's a huge change, it actually can be. So maybe that can be like number one is, you know, looking at, take an inventory of how many plants you're eating and are you reaching 30? And if you are good for you and if you're not, then, you know, maybe just add one new element or one new food to your, your week. I would say the other thing would be definitely,

the stress. would say that's going to be a huge part. It's probably one of the most difficult things for us to sometimes be able to control because we, think we all handle stress very differently and there are different reasons for that. But one of the things that you can do is maybe even if it's just twice a day. So maybe when you first wake up or before you're going to bed or at some point during the day, like set your phone, set a timer for two minutes and just do some box breathing.

just slow, inhale, hold for, you know, I usually tell people inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and just do that really slow, methodic breathing a couple times a day for a couple minutes. You don't need any fancy gym equipment. You don't have to go anywhere. You just have to have a timer and just do your breathing. So I'd say like the food, the breath work, and then I would say, ⁓

Yeah, I mean, if you're able to take a probiotic, I think that's, like I said, it's the insurance policy. It's the thing that, you all the stuff that we talked about, if it goes completely awry and you're not able to adhere to it, it's that insurance policy that allows you to just know that you're taking something that's gonna support your gut health through those seasons of life. So I would say it would be a tie between that and then just, yeah, get dirty. Get outside as much as you can, get in the dirt.

enjoy nature. That's huge earthing. Anything that you can do to just be in nature, I'd say those would be, I would say that would be kind of another big thing. So food, stress, and then being in nature, getting dirty, and then to kind of top it all off if you feel like, if nothing else, take something that's your insurance policy.

Samia (1:06:34)
Yeah.

Yes.

Those are excellent tips. I love them. I love the being in nature, especially that's that's one of my favorite things. So, and I want to hear about you and what excites you. Is there anything that excites you about where microbiome research is headed now? I know that this is, you know, you and I talked about nerding out on this stuff. This is your area that you nerd out on. Is there anything that excites you?

Alicia Galvin (1:06:51)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I think what's really exciting is that just the amount of microbiome research and the fire that's been lit in just across all industries. think food industries, know, health industries, nutraceutical industry, like

I think just in general, again, same thing as when you look at the search terms, when you look at the research, like if you go into PubMed and get to Human Microbiome, you'll see that there's this curve of research that has also happened from in the last 10 to 15 years where the publications of microbiome and the influence of our microbiome on health has also done that same kind of skyrocket. So I think what's exciting for me is just general for the field is how

people are recognizing and there's this recognition around, the microbiome is actually like super important. Like really important for many different things. And so I think when there's that recognition and when the science is kind of catching up and there's these conversations that are happening, that's when there can be industry backing behind it and this acknowledgement that, okay, yeah.

Samia (1:08:04)
Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (1:08:21)
microbiome health is really important, so we need to take care of it. Like, how do we take care of it? And so that, for me, is just very exciting to see that there's this adoption around this conversation, and it's really picked up in the last, I'd say, five to 10 years. And I think it will only continue to increase and to continue to be a conversation. So I think being equipped with the information and the knowledge now can really make an influence on generations to come, you know, with my kids and my kids' kids.

I think that's really important.

Samia (1:08:47)
Yeah.

Yes, absolutely. It's one of those things where the more we know, the more we want to know, right? And the more curious we are, the more research there is. And the more research, the more we find out. And it's just this cycle. It's really exciting. Yeah. great. Well, before we wrap up, where can listeners learn more about you, the work that you're doing, the work at microbiome labs?

Alicia Galvin (1:08:53)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I mean definitely, you know, check out microbiomelabs.com. That's, you know, we have a lot of information resources there and so I'd say that'd probably be the best place if people are wanting to learn more about the microbiome. Check out our website.

Samia (1:09:13)
You know, all of that.

Perfect. Thank you. And one last thing if there's a message that you'd like to leave our listeners with Especially those just beginning their wellness journey. What would that be?

Alicia Galvin (1:09:36)
Oh, I would say number one, small changes over time with consistency are much more influential than big changes that you maintain for short period of time. So don't feel like, with all the information that we just talked about today, and just in general, I think we're bombarded in social media with all kinds of things. Like you're supposed to do saunas, you're supposed to do cold plunge, you're supposed to do hot cold, you're supposed to do all the biohacking, you're supposed to eat this way, you're supposed to work out. I mean, I think...

Samia (1:09:57)
Yes.

Alicia Galvin (1:10:01)
Anytime you get on social media, you're bombarded with a million different things of what you're supposed to be doing. And I think what you have to factor in is like, what is going to work for you and your life in this moment? And what are you capable of doing and controlling and maintaining? And if it's super small, even if it's, you're going to walk up and down the stairs two extra times that day, or like I said, you're going to add one new food to the week, or you're going to try to go to bed.

10 minutes earlier than you did, than you normally do. mean, those little small changes over time make a huge difference. So I think the biggest thing that I would say is you can't eat an elephant at once. You have to take it in bite-sized pieces. And so if you're just starting on your wellness journey or if you're trying to do things differently in this year, find the one to two things that you can do.

that you can be consistent with that are not overwhelming because then those little things will lead to another little thing, which will lead to another little thing. And before you know it, you'll have these habits that will change and shift over time. And you're going to be much more successful maintaining it and seeing those long lasting changes than if you try to do too much at once. So I would say that is kind of take away of, of pick the one thing and then be consistent with that.

Samia (1:10:59)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's such a great tip and so doable, like you were talking about all the things that we hear that we're supposed to do can feel so overwhelming. But just choosing one small habit to change or one small thing that you can do this week that can be different and going with that because that's doable. And that can lead to more consistent change. Yeah.

Alicia Galvin (1:11:32)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah, it sounds very simple

and not at all super fancy, but it's probably one of the most effective things you can do.

Samia (1:11:42)
Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Thank you for breaking things down for us. It's a complex topic in a way that, now we can understand it and feel more empowered. It just has been such a rich conversation. So thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Alicia Galvin (1:11:44)
Yeah.

of

Thank you, I'm happy to do it. Thank you so much for having me.

Samia (1:12:06)
We're so happy to have you and to our listeners. Thank you for spending part of your day with us If this episode resonated with you Be sure to share it with someone whom you love or who's curious about their health and don't forget to subscribe So you never miss an episode. I will be Adding all the information that Alicia talked about for microbiome labs

on the description of the episode, so feel free to look there if you want to get in touch or find out more about microbiomes. Until next time, take care of yourself, listen to your body, and keep showing up for your wellness. Thank you and see you next time.

Samia (1:12:53)
Thank you so much for tuning in to Thursday Tea with Sami, your sip of wellness and mental health. I hope that today's episode gave you a little inspiration in your journey. Remember, your journey to wellness starts here. I would love to hear from you. Drop me a comment letting me know how you liked this episode or what topics you want to hear more about. Until next time, stay well and keep being your best.