August 28, 2021

While recently in Los Angeles at the Ancestral Health Symposium, I had the pleasure of a long, sunshine walk with several of the speakers and presenters. Perhaps you already heard my chat that I recorded with Chris Kelly as part of that trip. 

But I also met a couple of new friends who are real ninjas when it comes to something called “IBD” (inflammatory bowel disease).

On my left side during the walk was Andrew Kornfeld ([email protected]), who holds degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology from UC Santa Cruz and is an award-winning educator, organizer, and published author. Andrew has Crohn’s disease, and over the course of a decade and a half has developed a tailored and evidence-based protocol that allowed him to achieve robust, lasting clinical remission from his IBD. Andrew founded IBDCoach so others with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis could benefit from the strategic lessons and research he has conducted in his personal pursuit of health.

And on my right side was Amy Loftus ([email protected]), who holds a B.A. in Biological Anthropology and an M.A. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley, and works alongside Andrew to run the operations and educational arm of IBDCoach. Amy combines her decade of K-12 classroom teaching experience, her work as a software engineer at a Silicon Valley health tech startup, and her years as an IBD spouse to empower IBDCoach members and their families with the resources they need to achieve their remission goals.

Founded in 2019, IBDCoach is the brainchild of Andrew and Amy, who are on a mission to change healthcare by tackling inflammatory bowel diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in a capacity never attempted before. In their program, members work to achieve long-lasting remission through immersive science education, community support, and a unique form of health coaching that emphasizes strategic, patient-driven, and patient-empowered actions. IBDCoach is the first program of its kind to provide comprehensive scientific information in one accessible location as an essential adjunct to standard medical care. Initial results from dozens of clients are highly positive including amelioration in symptoms and disease activity, reduced inflammatory markers, lifelong friendships formed, and lives changed for the better. The founders of IBDCoach, Andrew Kornfeld and Amy Loftus, have both personal and professional experience with inflammatory bowel diseases.

If you or someone you know is struggling with inflammatory bowel disease, you can check out Andrew and Amy’s work at ibd.coach.

In this episode, you'll discover:

-Andrew and Amy's experiences with IBD…07:00

• Rapé contains nicotine
• Nicotine for someone with Crohn's disease is problematic (Andrew has Crohn's)
• Opposite is true for ulcerative colitis; nicotine acts as a “protective”
• Amy does not have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); unique perspective
• Amy got involved with IBD treatment by way of marriage to Andrew
• Amy's background in anthropology steered her in the direction of an “ancestral approach” to IBD treatment
• Andrew nearly died because of his IBD
• IBD is different from IBS
• IBD is a highly lifestyle-based condition
• Andrew discovered a systems-based lifestyle approach that incorporates concepts like neuroplasticity, ancestral health, and first principles into designing a personal protocol that ultimately saved his life

-Predisposing factors that may make someone susceptible to IBD…13:30

• No distinct genetic component
• Distinctive markers in the microbiome
• BGF podcast with Lucy Mailing:
  • Is A Ketogenic Diet Bad For Your Gut, Should You Eat Resistant Starch, How Exercise Changes Your Gut Bacteria & Much More With Lucy Mailing.
• Diet feeding inflammatory microbes
• IBD is not a traditional auto-immune condition
• Overreaction in the lamina propria
• Pathogenesis: how the disease begins
• People with IBD react to things like leaky gut

-How IBD causes drastic consequences to health and the body…17:40

• Vitamin IVs to bypass the gut to get proper nutrients are an option
• Treatments today are very quick to remove parts of the body, like the colon
• The colon is host to the gut microbiome; someone whose colon has been removed won't have a traditional microbiome
• In most cases of ulcerative colitis, the entire colon is removed

-The best test to determine if you have or potentially have IBD…20:55

• Most tests are more interesting than actionable
• Microbiome isn't the most important thing to test right off the bat
• Over 200 genes implicated in predisposition of IBD
• High stress or traumatic life events often are a precursor to IBD
• Stress response causes or intensifies IBD
• Cortisol is a resource-driven hormone
• Don't need to fight off microbes, digest food, reproduce if running away from a UCLA frat boy

-3-step model to treat IBD:

-Step 1: Reduce inflammation…26:11

• • Science is not in harmony with clinical practice
  • Most common mechanism to treat IBD is to block cytokines; TNF-A
  • IBD has microbiome imbalances, barrier issues, and inflammation
  • Three-step model to treat IBD
    1. Stop inflammation
    2. Look at the microbiome
    3. Repair the barrier
  • Peptides as potential treatments
    • TB-500
    • BPC 157
  • Turmeric with Bioperine (active component of black pepper); black pepper extract increases absorption of turmeric
  • Ginger is very helpful
  • Quercetin is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
  • Supplements will be of little help if you're not eating and living right

-Step 2: Nourish the microbiome…33:10

• • IBD and IBS are two different conditions
  • Diet is a crucial factor
  • Andrew looks at probiotics as a pandora's box
  • Probiotics (use code BEN15 to save 15%) work better on ulcerative colitis rather than on Crohn's
  • Visbiome (new name for VSL 3)
  • E. coli nissle (hard to get)
  • Bacillus Coagulans
  • Best to get probiotics from fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. until the issue is really understood

-Step 3: Repair the barrier…39:24

• • Phosphatidyl Choline from Quicksilver Scientific (use code GREENFIELD10 to save 10%)
  • Dr. Goodenowe and Ben's Prodrome Scan test results
  • Breaking Alzheimer’s by Dr. Goodenowe
  • The most powerful way to repair the barrier is to stop the inflammation and nourish the microbiome
  • Certain carbohydrates feed the microbiome; transformed into short-chain fatty acids like butyrate that then feed colonocytes and enterocytes
    • Colonocytes are the cells of the large intestine
    • Enterocytes are the cells of the small intestine
  • Barrier begins to repair, known as deep mucosal healing
  • Glutamine is more helpful for Crohn's disease; in the small intestine
  • Glycine
  • Colostrum may be helpful for those with milk sensitivities
  • SBI Protect: Serum-derived Bovine Immunoglobulin

-How neuroplasticity affects causes and treatments for IBD…45:10

• People become their own teachers vs. taking marching orders from doctors, websites, etc.
• Esalen Institute 
• Cultivate the innate sense of healing within one's self
• Andrew's thesis was on how psychedelics induce neuroplasticity
• Microdosing For Sports Performance, Microdosing Stacks With Psychedelics & Plant Medicines, The Best Microdosing Protocols & Much More With James Fadiman.
• Psychedelics don't cause neuroplasticity; lowers barriers of resistance to allow changes to the brain

-How the IBD coach program works…48:36

• Three-part program:
  1. Educational experience—re-learning biology
  2. Workshops hosted by IBD experts, microbiome, diet, and nutrition
  3. Building a community of people with IBD
• Giving people with IBD access to expertise to enable people to achieve what they cannot achieve on their own

-Biggest mistakes people make when diagnosing or treating IBD…50:00

• A tenuous relationship with food
• Thinking there's a silver bullet or quick fix to the condition

-The best diet when you have IBD…52:07

• Specific Carbohydrate Diet is the closest to a compatible diet for IBD
• How You Can Stop Digestive Problems, Gas And Bloating From Controlling Your Life, with Steven Wright
• Molecular herbalism approach to food:
  • Evolutionary Herbalism: Part 2 – The Fascinating Science, Spirituality & Medicines Of The Plant Kingdom With Sajah Popham.
  • Evolutionary Herbalism: Part 1 – The Fascinating Science, Spirituality & Medicines Of The Plant Kingdom With Sajah Popham.
• BGF podcast with Paul Chek on intuitive eating
  • The 3 Key Steps To Intuitive Eating, Ego Dissolution, Raising & Educating Children In A Modern Era & More With Paul Chek.
• Shameless plug: Andrew says that he can eat everything in the Boundless Cookbook
• Move away from dogma when it comes to what to eat and what not to eat

-Using HRV tracking to consume food wisely…59:36

• Driven by Doug Brackmann
• Driven: Understanding and Harnessing the Genetic Gifts Shared by Entrepreneurs, Navy SEALs, Pro Athletes (& Maybe You), with Dr. Doug Brackmann.

-The epidemic in America that misses the front page news…1:03:15

• The prolific rise of chronic disease conditions

-And much more!…

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

– Andrew Kornfeld and Amy Loftus:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• IBDCoach

– Podcasts:

• Is A Ketogenic Diet Bad For Your Gut, Should You Eat Resistant Starch, How Exercise Changes Your Gut Bacteria & Much More With Lucy Mailing.
• Microdosing For Sports Performance, Microdosing Stacks With Psychedelics & Plant Medicines, The Best Microdosing Protocols & Much More With James Fadiman.
• How You Can Stop Digestive Problems, Gas And Bloating From Controlling Your Life, with Steven Wright
• Evolutionary Herbalism: Part 2 – The Fascinating Science, Spirituality & Medicines Of The Plant Kingdom With Sajah Popham.
• Evolutionary Herbalism: Part 1 – The Fascinating Science, Spirituality & Medicines Of The Plant Kingdom With Sajah Popham.
• The 3 Key Steps To Intuitive Eating, Ego Dissolution, Raising & Educating Children In A Modern Era & More With Paul Chek.

– Books:

• Boundless Cookbook by Ben Greenfield
• Breaking Alzheimer’s by Dr. Goodenowe
• Driven by Dr. Doug Brackmann

– Other Resources:

• Rapé
• Turmeric With Bioperine
• Ginger
• Quercetin
• Probiotics (use code BEN15 to save 15%)
• Visbiome
• Mutaflor (E. Coli Nissle) Probiotic
• Bacillus Coagulans
• Quicksilver Scientific Phosphatidyl Choline (use code GREENFIELD10 to save 10%)
• Glutamine
• Glycine
• Colostrum
• SBI Protect
• TB-500
• BPC 157
• Dr. Goodenowe
• Lamina Propria

Upcoming Events:

• Join me and my wife Jessa at The Gathering. Click here to grab one of the very limited spots we have open to the public for The Gathering (October 7-9, 2021).
• Las Vegas Keto Expo (October 15-16, 2021). Ben will be speaking at the Las Vegas Keto Expo along with 13 other keto experts. The first 300 guests to register here will get a free drink chip for the poolside party and a free t-shirt.
• Keep up on Ben's LIVE appearances by following bengreenfieldfitness.com/calendar

Episode sponsors:

–Ra Optics: Purchase a pair of Ra Optics Day and Night Lenses to optimize sleep quality, energy, levels, and health in the modern, electrically-lit world. Receive 10% off your order when you order through my link.

–Paleo Valley Beef Sticks: 100% grass-fed AND grass-finished. Keto friendly and higher levels of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Receive a 15% discount on your order when you go to paleovalley.com/ben

–Kion Oregano: One of the best oregano oils I've ever been able to hunt down. When you use my link, you’ll also get 10% off your first purchase.

–Organifi Green Juice: Now you can get all your healthy superfoods in one glass…with No Shopping, No Blending, No Juicing, and No Cleanup. Get a 20% discount on your entire order when you use discount code BENG20.

Got a question for me or Andrew and Amy about this episode? Leave a comment below, and one of us will reply!