You could be waking up at 3am with severe stomach pain, hives, or worse, and your doctor might have no idea why. In this episode of the Gut Check Project, Dr. Kenneth Brown and Eric Rieger break down one of the most under-diagnosed conditions in America: Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS), a red meat allergy triggered not by the meat itself, but by a single tick bite.
They're joined by Brian Allgaier, MD, a board-certified ER physician from East Texas who has AGS himself. He shares a firsthand account of how three tick bites quietly rewired his immune system and what happened the night his mother-in-law's beef stew sent him into the worst pain of his life.
If you spend any time outdoors east of the Rockies, this episode could change how you think about your gut symptoms forever.
Topics covered:
What alpha-gal syndrome actually is and why it's the only known sugar allergen. Why your blood type determines your risk (type B? You're probably safe). The Lone Star tick larvae you can't see that can still bite you. Why AGS is likely behind thousands of mystery GI cases going undiagnosed. Hidden sources of alpha-gal including porcine heart valves, Armour Thyroid, and pancreatic enzymes. Emerging treatments including acupuncture protocols and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The shocking 12.8x increased risk of coronary artery disease linked to AGS.

Links:
https://nypost.com/2019/07/17/house-orders-pentagon-to-reveal-if-it-turned-ticks-into-biological-weapons/
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4f9iRFDkG3K0sWy3VFHkfS?si=S6MGpLixTL6_xfYOXa9V2Q&nd=1&dlsi=49dcec44be6842b9
https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/12/8/ofaf430/8209804?login=false
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8729907/
https://vetmed.illinois.edu/i-tick/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/06/Steinke-et-al.-2015.pdf
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.121.316878

You bloat every day. You unbutton your pants after meals. You've been told it's "just IBS," just stress, just part of getting older - and you've been suffering for years. Here's the truth: bloating isn't normal. It's a signal.
In this episode, Dr. Kenneth Brown breaks down why up to 80% of people diagnosed with IBS may actually have something else entirely - small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) - and why gastroenterology has been getting this wrong for decades. You'll learn where gas actually comes from, the three conditions driving chronic bloating (IBS, SIBO, and functional constipation), the surprising link between food poisoning and lifelong gut issues, and why proton pump inhibitors may be making it worse.
Plus: the real problem with the low-FODMAP diet, why most SIBO treatment fails, how bloating-driven inflammation may be fueling dementia, and the natural and pharmaceutical protocols Dr. Brown uses to actually fix it - including the polyphenol research behind Atrantíl.
If you've been told your symptoms are "in your head," this episode is the one to share. All health begins and ends in the gut.

You’re not supposed to talk about this stuff…

So we did.

In this episode, we sit down with one of the top colorectal surgeons in the country and nothing is off limits.

We cover:

• How your body actually knows the difference between gas and disaster
• Why so many people are struggling to go to the bathroom (and doing it wrong)
• The real reason hemorrhoids are exploding in younger people
• The uncomfortable truth about habits no one wants to admit
• What doctors are seeing WAY more of right now… including cancer

And yeah…

we also went into the stories doctors usually only tell at dinner parties.

But underneath the humor is something serious:

👉 Colon cancer is rising.

👉 Younger patients are being diagnosed more than ever.

👉 And most people are ignoring the signs.

This episode will make you laugh…

…and then make you think twice about your health.

Share this with someone who “doesn’t like talking about this stuff.”

They probably need it the most.

What if your “IBS” diagnosis isn’t the truth… just a placeholder?

In this episode, Dr. Ken Brown breaks down a massively overlooked condition that could be behind chronic diarrhea, urgency, and gut dysfunction - bile acid malabsorption (BAM).

It affects millions of people, rivals conditions like celiac disease in prevalence, and yet… almost no one is testing for it.

You’ll learn:

• Why IBS is often a “trash can diagnosis”
• The real mechanism behind BAM (and why your body is working against you)
• How your gut’s “recycling system” can fail—and what happens when it does
• The 3 types of BAM (and which one most people fall into)
• Why traditional testing often misses it completely
• The simple, effective treatments that can change everything

If you’ve been told “everything looks normal”… but you know something isn’t right - this episode might finally give you answers.

👉 Because sometimes, it’s not your gut that’s the problem…

…it’s the diagnosis.

What if everything your doctor told you about cholesterol is based on corrupted science? In this episode of the Gut Check Project, Dr. Kenneth Brown and Eric Rieger dive deep into the emerging world of Lean Mass Hyper Responders (LMHR) - metabolically healthy people on ketogenic and carnivore diets whose LDL numbers look alarming on paper but may tell a completely different story in real life.

They break down a groundbreaking citizen-science study led by Dave Feldman and Dr. Nick Noritz that's challenging decades of lipid orthodoxy, explore why high LDL + high HDL + low triglycerides may not be the death sentence mainstream medicine makes it out to be, and share the story of a 53-year-old marathon runner with "normal" cholesterol who still ended up in the cath lab.

If you or someone you love has been told to go on statins, this episode is required listening.

Topics covered:

• The LMHR phenotype and what it means for keto/carnivore dieters
• Why Ansel Keys and the sugar industry shaped a generation of bad dietary advice
• Plaque progression, inflammatory markers (hs-CRP), and what actually predicts heart disease
• Why the Clearly AI cardiac scan study raised more questions than answers
• The difference between dangerous cholesterol and protective cholesterol

What if the most powerful tool to delay dementia isn’t a drug, a supplement, or even your diet… but a language?

In this episode of The Gut Check Project, board-certified gastroenterologist Dr. Ken Brown is joined by a special guest co-host his son Lucas Brown, a Division I athlete and aerospace engineering student for a fascinating deep dive into one of the most overlooked brain-health strategies we have.

Together, they unpack the surprising neuroscience behind bilingualism and multilingualism and why learning (and using) another language can delay the symptoms of dementia by 4–5 years.

Not prevent it.

Delay it.

And those extra years? They’re years of driving, independence, conversations, memories, and time with the people you love.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why speaking two languages can help your brain function longer even when dementia pathology is already present
• The concept of “cognitive reserve” and how multilingual brains literally reroute around damage
• The critical 13–30 age window for laying down powerful neural networks and why it’s never too late to start
• Why effort matters more than fluency (yes, even “bad” French or Spanish counts)
• How adding a third language may provide even greater protection
• Why language learning outperforms brain games, puzzles, and passive mental exercises

Dr. Brown explains the “linguistic paradox of dementia” how two people can have nearly identical brain scans, yet one is living independently while the other requires full-time care… simply because one speaks multiple languages.

This isn’t about perfection.

It’s about mental agility.

It’s about keeping the brain flexible.

And it’s about stacking the odds in your favor starting today.

If you care about your long-term brain health, your independence, or your future self…

this may be one of the most important episodes you’ll ever listen to.

🎧 Listen now and consider this your sign to start learning (or practicing) another language.

A Division I tennis player. An aerospace engineering major. One schedule. Zero margin for error.

Dr. Ken Brown sits down with his son, Lucas Brown, to talk about what it’s really like to compete at a top NCAA program while taking on one of the hardest majors in college. From pressure and fatigue to mindset, discipline, and why performance isn’t just physical, this episode goes beyond sports and grades into what it actually takes to operate at a high level every day.

No hype. No clichés. Just a real look at ambition, balance, and learning how to stay composed when everything is demanding your attention at once.

When pain won’t quit, you don’t just manage it—you heal it.

In this episode of The Gut Check Project, Dr. Arrash Kirkland—board-certified physiatrist, founder of Nobility Pain Management, and partner with LifeGenix Institute—joins Dr. Ken Brown and Eric Rieger to share how regenerative medicine is changing the way we treat chronic pain. From PRP and stem cell therapy to groundbreaking Discseel procedures, Dr. Kirkland breaks down how patients are skipping surgery, healing faster, and getting back to life. If you’ve been told pain is something you just have to live with—this episode will prove otherwise.

https://lifegenix.com/

https://nobilitypain.com/arrash-kirkland-md/

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