Alex Mercer · April 30, 2026
Over the past fifteen years, low stomach acid has been one of the most overlooked patterns I see in clinical practice. Clients arrive complaining of bloating after meals, undigested food in stools, and that relentless heavy feeling that sits in…
Alex Mercer · April 29, 2026
Last spring, I finished a ten-day course of broad-spectrum antibiotics for a stubborn sinus infection. Within 48 hours, my gut was a mess. Loose stools, cramping, that hollow, unsettled feeling — I knew exactly what was happening. My microbiome had…
Alex Mercer · April 28, 2026
When Constipation Became My Own Problem to Solve After 15 years advising clients on gut health, I thought I had constipation figured out. Then a particularly stressful season of back-to-back clinic days, disrupted sleep, and travel caught up with me…
Alex Mercer · April 27, 2026
The first time I encountered a patient with SIBO — small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — I was three years into practice and genuinely puzzled. She had been told repeatedly that her bloating, cramping, and unpredictable bowel habits were simply IBS….
Alex Mercer · April 26, 2026
About three years into my clinical practice, I started keeping an informal tally. Of every new client who came to me with IBS, unexplained bloating, or a recent flare of inflammatory bowel symptoms, I asked them one question before we…
Alex Mercer · April 24, 2026
About eight years into my practice, I sat across from a client — I will call her Rachel — who had been following high-fibre dietary advice to the letter for six months. She was eating bran cereals, adding flaxseed to…
Alex Mercer · April 23, 2026
A few years into my practice, I started noticing a pattern. Clients would arrive clutching printouts from gut microbiome tests they had ordered online, convinced they had finally found the answer to their bloating, fatigue, or unpredictable bowel habits. Some…
Alex Mercer · April 22, 2026
The conversation almost always starts the same way. A new client sits down across from me — sometimes in my clinic, sometimes on a video call — and says something like: “My doctor thinks it might be IBS, but they…
Alex Mercer · April 21, 2026
A reader messaged me last week asking: “I bought three different enzyme supplements because nothing seems to work, but I don’t actually know what I’m taking or why. Am I just throwing money away?” That question landed because it mirrors what I encounter constantly in my experience — people purchasing digestive enzyme products based on … Read more
Alex Mercer · April 20, 2026
A glass of unsweetened milk kefir with a handful of raw garlic cloves left me noticeably less bloated within three days — a tangible reminder that certain foods work synergistically in ways others simply don’t. When people search for “probiotic fiber foods,” what they’re really after is something dual-purpose: foods delivering both active bacterial cultures … Read more