Sulfur, and Sulphate Reducing Bacteria – Another Piece in the Puzzle
One ‘new’ thing I stumbled upon recently is the importance of sulfur and sulphate reducing bacteria. I’d like to share it with you. I hope you find it as interesting as I do.
Sulfur is an essential mineral found primarily in proteins (sulfur containing amino acids like cysteine and taurine; found heavily in animal proteins) and in Alliaceae vegetables - garlic, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and a few others. Sulfur is also found in varying amounts in grains and nuts.
Source -
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/tator82/451998913/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Sulfur is an essential element in:
- Nerve growth
- Neurotransmitter inactivation
- Bone & cartilage growth
- Mucus production
- Detoxification
The big three that I’d like to focus on for this article are:
- Nerves & Neurotransmitters - proper nervous system function
- Mucus production - proper gut health & leaky gut
- Detoxification - proper elimination of toxic compounds
So if you don’t have enough sulfur in your body you can’t do the three things above, and that makes life tough. Why might you not have enough sulfur?
- Not eating foods that contain sulfur - probably not a problem for most people, but very restricted eaters, like autistic kids who only eat mac & cheese, might run into this
- Poor digestion - if you can’t effectively break down and absorb your food you could run into a sulfur deficiency. Of course we would expect to see this in the context of multiple other nutrient deficiencies.
- Sulfate reducing bacteria - my focus for this article
The problem with gut bacteria
If you’ve read much of my blog you know I’m a huge fan of good gut bacteria. They make health possible, and when they go bad they cause disease. But here’s a new twist.
Bacteria, especially Streptococcus, Enterococcus and Prevotella, can turn sulfur into hydrogen sulfide gas. Hydrogen sulfide gas smells like rotten eggs, is toxic to our nervous systems and our mitochondria.
So if we have a dysbiosis which contains a good deal of sulphate reducing bacteria, we have problems!
- Deficiency of sulfur which means
- Our nervous system doesn’t work properly - nerves can’t grow properly and neurotransmitters can’t be effectively broken down and removed meaning the levels of our neurotransmitters will be imbalanced, causing neurologic and behavioral issues.
- We can’t produce enough mucus to keep our guts healthy, meaning chronic issues with leaky gut.
- We can’t detoxify effectively - making people toxic (a whole host of problems) and chemically sensitive
- Excess hydrogen sulfide which is
- Toxic to our nervous system - double whammy when combined with sulfur deficiency
- Toxic to mitochondria - the energy producing parts of our cells. Leading to low energy in our cells and our bodies. Might lead to chronic fatigue like symptoms for some.
How do you know if you have this dysbiosis?
See more at :
Sulfur, and Sulphate Reducing Bacteria – Another Piece in the Puzzlehttp://www.aspirenaturalhealth.com/...e-puzzle-post-149-by-dr-tim-gerstmar-3262012/