"ION*Gut Health is a gut-strengthening, brain-boosting mineral supplement sourced from 60-million-year-old soil that naturally supports microbiome balance. The active ingredient, Terrahydrite®, has been shown to support the integrity of tight junctions in the gut lining, even in the face of damage from toxins such as glyphosate. ION*Gut Health goes beyond other supplements to support your wellbeing at a foundational level. By laying that foundation with ION*Gut Health, you aren’t just supplementing; you're supporting. Here is a link to their excellent research articles - we suggest reading them all!
- Terrahydrite is the primary healing component of this product. This is also known as Aqueous Humic Substances with 4% Fulvic Acid. Upon first reading this seemed like a pretty boring thing to me because Humic and Fulvic Acid are notorious for detoxing heavy metals and are naturally found in Shilajit, Moomiyo, and soil. As "Terrahydrite" implies, Terra = earth, Hydrite = hydrated... this is a hydrated soil product.
- One study shows that it increases Lysine production in the gut - Lysine supplements are generally sourced from Corn which can be allergenic, GMO and/or chemical-ridden so gut production is more ideal than supplementation when possible. Lysine is an essential amino acid that cannot be produced by the body so this is otherwise impossible. What this supplement does, though, is increase the health and number of gut bacteria which produce Lysine. In cats especially, but in all animals, this improves immune health, increases red blood cell production, decreases or eliminates symptoms of herpes, offsets excessive levels of arginine which inflames mucous membranes (thus causing symptoms such as cold sores, warts, shingles, etc)
- Their studies show, as stated above, that they improve tight junctions in the gut lining... they actually improve tight junctions everywhere that it's important. Here's what that means:
The tissues of the gut, nose, kidney's, areas of the liver, blood-brain barrier, etc are permeable. They must be capable of allowing nutrients to pass through them and back, but restrict pathogens, parasites, protozoa (etc) from passing through and infecting the body. This requires a very specific balance of permeability. Too permeable and you have leaky gut, increased risk of infection, pH imbalances, dementia, etc. Too little permeability and you may end up with nutritional deficiencies, pH imbalances, etc. The junctions must be "tight" but at a Goldie Lox point. This supplement assists in achieving that... here are some specific examples:
- Studies show that Ion Biome decreases transmission of pathogenic bacteria through the blood-brain barrier. This could reduce dementia caused by periodontal disease, meningitis, e.coli and streptococcus, all of which are known to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
- Studies show that Ion Biome decreases transmission of pathogenic bacteria through the gut, nose and kidneys. This could reduce systemic infection from Salmonella, Flu, Colds, E.Coli, Listeria, COVID, Clostridium, etc.
- Studies show that damage caused by Glyphosate (pesticide) is significantly diminished when Ion Biome is used regularly. Under normal conditions, Glyphosate is known to cause Fatty Liver Disease (at very low dose), Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (liver cancer), Obesity, Fatigue, Abdominal Swelling, Enlarged Spleen, Jaundice, Type II Diabetes, Elevated Cholesterol, Sleep Apnea, Hypothyroidism, Swelling of the veins in the Esophagus, Liver Failure, Confusion. Research shows that Glyphosate causes the development of fatty liver disease in rats in levels above 0.01ppb. KnowYourPetFood.org tests on kibble show that the lowest level found in kibble is 16ppb and the highest level is 552ppb. To be clear, this is the amount found in each GRAM of food.... so a 50lb dog consuming 552ppb would usually be consuming 175,000ppb+/day of Glyphosate.
- Ion Biome was found to reduce injury to permeable tissues caused by Gluten. This would improve tolerance of gluten and/or repair damage caused by it.
- Ion Biome was found to regulate the permeability of the Renal Proximal Tubules in the kidneys... the kidneys must filter toxins, moderate minerals which regulate pH, reclaim vital nutrients (calcium, sodium, chloride, glucose, amino acids, bicarbonate, citrate, triglycerides and water) and ultimately create homeostasis in the body. When these tubules have poor TEER (trans-epithelial electrical resistance - or trans-endothelial electrical resistance) they allow for an imbalance that cascades into damage to the blood, bones, and ultimately every organ. Ensuring tight junctions in the kidneys is imperative to maintaining whole body health.
As you can see, this supplement is best used for PREVENTION of issues, rather than treatment. Obviously, once a pathogen has already passed through the permeable walls, or a deficiency/toxicity has already occurred it's hard to prevent symptoms and damage. However, starting the supplement after infection or imbalance could help to prevent worsening illness or imbalance so I wouldn't forego it because it's too late, either.
Through state-of-the-art scientific cell culture studies and compelling unpublished clinical observations of people who use ION*Gut Health, they know that by keeping the gut healthy and functioning optimally, which can protect the gut from gluten and other chemicals
The gut lining is a barrier, our first line of defense, working to protect our bloodstream (and the rest of our body) from toxic substances such as glyphosate, gluten, and other foreign particles. But just as importantly, it functions to allow the passage of beneficial nutrients. Preserving the integrity of this barrier is key to health.
Instead of feeding your microbiome with various bacterial strains, ION*Gut Health works via carbon-based redox signaling to maintain tight junction integrity in the epithelial layer of the gut lining. ION*Gut Health primarily functions as a signal, not a nutrient. It provides a framework of communication for the gut bacteria, because of the ancient soil/bacteria carbon molecules it is derived from which, when stabilized, contain the same carbon-based redox signaling molecules produced by gut bacteria.
This directly affects mitochondrial redox signaling with a differential response - improves healthy cell longevity and increases apoptosis (cell death) in unhealthy cells.
ION*Gut Health helps maintain communication channels between our microbiome, the cells that line our intestines, and other parts of the body.
Humic substances/ lignite and coal are related in that they both contain carbon. Humic substances/ lignite begins as an accumulation of partially decayed plant material, or peat. Burial by other sediments causes compaction. Thus, humic substances/ lignite is a complex of trace minerals and carbon family molecules from ancient composted soil, naturally rich in a variety of humic substances. If geological events cover the material with layers of rock, then lignite would eventually form coal. Brown coal is further down the scale of compression and metamorphosis than our source, and this is an important difference between various materials in the humate category.
The gradient from peat moss to humus, to leonardite, to lignite, to coal contains a spectrum of compounds, and the metamorphosis of carbon materials from peat soils to humic substances to fossilized soil to lignite to coal takes millions of years. The pressures and extended time that form coal create unique chemical reactions that create aromatics, some of which are carcinogenic.[1] The source, the location in geological strata, the possible exposure to Mesozoic volcanic ash, and countless other variables determine the quality and safety of the source. We have concluded that the best way to test the efficacy and safety of a product is regular cell culture studies on the product in question, in this case, ION*Gut Health.
We take the safety of our product very seriously and mass spectroscopy shows our US source of humic substances/lignite to be a very pure source. Our Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Team does regular testing for bacterial contamination, heavy metals, and overall product composition and strength. In compliance with California’s Prop 65 legislation, we test ION*Gut Health for levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. In addition, we continue to exceed all industry standards in the dietary supplement field with our own multi-specialty basic science laboratories onsite.