36 Comments

Thanks for this summary. My PhD is focused on sulfides role in the gut. We recently started a tx company surrounding this idea. I would be interested in chatting

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Aug 16Liked by Chris Masterjohn, PhD

Finally, some sanity in the whole H2S / diarrhea issue! In late 2021, I tested high on the new TrioSmart SIBO breath test for H2S. I tried the low sulfur diet, but it made me feel a lot worse (nausea & vomiting). Nothing I tried helped my D except eating decent portions of animal protein/fats with very low carb (supposedly a wrong dietary choice for H2S SIBO). Maybe some of us have very minor ETHE1 polymorphisms that don't cause problems until later in life? Can't wait to learn more!

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Didn't some study suggest desulfovibrio was likely the main cause of Parkinson's? Seems like sulfur is some central issue in modern health problems.

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author
Aug 15·edited Aug 15Author

If you have a question about a study, link to it please.

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Aug 16Liked by Chris Masterjohn, PhD

Besides the article I just linked in that other reply, apparently manganese toxicity looks a lot like Parkinson's:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515672/

You previously wrote that manganese toxicity is CoQ10 deficiency:

https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/manganese-toxicity-is-a-coq10-deficiency

And you also wrote that CoQ10 deficiency is sulfur toxicity:

https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/coq10-deficiency-is-sulfur-toxicity

So I thought perhaps similar symptoms implies similar causes, and seeing you mention H2S and gut bacteria here reminded me of that study that noted a weirdly dangerous H2S bacteria in PD, seemingly a hint that sulfur is involved in both.

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author

Virtually everyone has H2S producing microbes in their gut.

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Sorry, here is what I was thinking of:

https://www.sciencealert.com/parkinsons-may-be-caused-by-a-common-aquatic-bacterium

The actual study:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1181315/full

"Fecal samples of ten PD patients and their healthy spouses were collected for molecular detection of Desulfovibrio species, followed by bacterial isolation"

...

"Statistical analysis revealed that worms fed Desulfovibrio bacteria from PD patients harbored significantly more (P<0.001, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test) and larger alpha-syn aggregates (P<0.001) than worms fed Desulfovibrio bacteria from healthy individuals or worms fed E. coli strains. In addition, during similar follow-up time, worms fed Desulfovibrio strains from PD patients died in significantly higher quantities than worms fed E. coli LSR11 bacteria (P<0.01). These results suggest that Desulfovibrio bacteria contribute to PD development by inducing alpha-syn aggregation."

I guess I misunderstood it, it's not necessarily that this single bacteria is the single cause of Parkinson's, but it's still interesting that this specific H2S bacteria is apparently more dangerous in PD patients.

Seeing your post today on H2S clearance, I started to wonder if Parkinson's is at least partially a result of insufficient H2S clearance.

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80% of the healthy spouses had it, so there's no evidence of a difference between PD and controls.

Feeding worms the bacteria is quite different from having the bacteria in a human colon.

So I think it deserves more research but I wouldn't consider this finding very indicative of a conclusion about human PD.

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So an over abundance of hydrogen sulphide producers in the gut matters less than the bodies ability to clear it.

So would clearing hydrogen sulphide appropriately self correct the microbiome?

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author

Hypothetically it could.

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Thanks Chris, for people with persistent Candida issues, history of acne, eczema etc. are those considered app issues and debugging the energy problems the way to go?

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author

If you’re paying attention to it it is almost by definition an app issue.

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Thanks Chris,

Have you had any experience yet working with people who were “damaged” by pharmaceuticals, persistent symptoms after benzodiazepines use for example?

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I have had some success with helping post-Cipro folks walk, haven’t worked on post-benzo.

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Sep 7Liked by Chris Masterjohn, PhD

Wow that’s amazing! Please write about them if you can!

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So if I have pretty severe Methane SIBO with constipation (per Pimentel's Trio Smart breath test), can only eat 5 foods, anti-microbials and antibiotics haven't worked and need glycine to be able to digest food and sleep - how does Hydrogen Sulfide come into play? What about people who are "negative" for H2S SIBO but might have a genetic issue?

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author

It might not, or you might have much more methane than H2S. Generally they are thought to have opposite effects on gut motility.

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And I'm extremely sensitive to foods high in sulfur / oxalates

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author

Well you have something going on with sulfur but it isn't necessarily directly driving the gut motility issue.

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How does an average person decide if this is an important pathway to delve into?

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author

The forthcoming guide will make it clear.

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Just want to clarify one point you make. You seem to assume that IBS always creates diarrhea. This is not always the case. I’ve had IBS for decades now and I do not have IBS that causes diarrhea. In fact, I usually have the opposite problem and there seems to be a minority of people diagnosed with IBS that do not have the classic form that causes diarrhea. So, stating that IBS is associated with accelerated transit time is incorrect. It would depend on what form of IBS you have. Many of us, seem to have a slower system that doesn’t seem to function properly and then will cause spasms when the body is full and needs to empty. You might want to clarify your statements regarding IBS. For those of us suffering from it and not exhibiting the typical symptoms, your statements are a bit confusing and if someone with IBS with constipation tried to correct it, then these ideas could make their IBS worse.

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author

I reread the beginning and realized there was one sentence that did say IBS is associated with accelerated transit time, despite the sentence right before it saying that H2S is associated with IBS with diarrhea and not IBS with constipation. I changed that to be clearly saying IBS-D is associated with accelerated transit time.

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Aug 16Liked by Chris Masterjohn, PhD

Thanks. I know you are usually very thorough so I figured you'd want to clear that up. Thank you.

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H2S sibo, rosacea/histamine issues, and estrogen dominance. Oh and slow COMT so when I use natural antihistamines my serotonin goes up and also seems to back up estrogen and lead to ovulation/pmdd craziness. When I take DIM then my mood tanks, serotonin goes low and I have a rosacea break out. When I take Ashwaghanda skin improves, mood is better, but then estrogen seems elevated. Very hard to improve things…

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author

Sounds like you're trying to treat a sulfur issue as if it's something else, and thus not fixing it, and creating lots of imbalances.

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New follower - any advice on how to treat the sulfur issue?

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author

Guide forthcoming.

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I can't even figure out what the sulfur issue is.

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For ETHE1 and SQOR, are you looking for specific mutations or if sequencing.com says Harmless under "your status" next to all of them then its probably not that?

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author

I don’t use sequencing’s assessment but it isn’t all genetic anyway you could simply be iron deficient as an example.

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I did check my ETHE1 status with sequencing.com -- I do have polymorphisms, but they must be minor.

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This is from your MTHFR protocol:

"The best supplement to take to support methylation is TMG, which usually comes in 500 mg capsules, although I'll be sending you an email soon about some alternatives."

I am little late. Can you tell me about the alternatives?

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author

The updated MTHFR protocol is under ebooks in the menu.

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I downloaded the ebook from menu this month (I guess it is already updated).

I think the email about alternatives was only meant for people who were subscribed at that time.

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What is the date of the email? I really have no idea what that was referring to.

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