Citrobacter is a bug you’ve probably never heard of, but it’s found in the human intestine and almost everywhere else including water, wastewater, soil, etc.

One particular strain called Citrobacter freundii is often the cause of opportunistic infections mostly causing abnormal inflammatory changes in the intestinal tract.

It also affects the biliary (liver and gallbladder area), urinary, and respiratory tracts, and can enter the blood of patients with weakened immune systems.

I’ve seen this bad bug show up a handful of times in client stool tests – it’s not one of the most frequently detected bad bugs I’ve seen in my practice.

That said, Dr. Omar Amin, one of the world’s leading parasitology experts reported finding Citrobacter in 25% of samples in a study conducted at his laboratory.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration:

“Citrobacter freundii is another opportunistic pathogen, but also is a resident of the human gastrointestinal tract. This pathogen can be isolated from various types of foods, including meats, spices, and freshwater fish. Some foodborne outbreaks have been linked to enterotoxigenic?C. freundii; patients typically exhibit diarrhea. This pathogen may also produce a Shiga-like toxin and produce hemolytic uremic syndrome.”

A lot of gobbledygook in that last paragraph, but what they’re basically saying is that Citrobacter can be very toxic and cause urinary tract as well as intestinal problems.

According to Dr. Alex Vasquez:

“Gut-derived neurotoxins from bacteria and yeast may contribute to autistic symptomatology, and case reports have consistently demonstrated that excess absorption of bacterial metabolites can alter behavior in humans and result in acute neurocognitive decline and behavioral abnormalities in children. Hydrogen sulfide, produced by intestinal bacteria such as Citrobacter freundii, is a mitochondrial poison and is strongly associated with disease activity in ulcerative colitis.”

Vasquez’s paragraph is worth breaking down into layman’s terms as it helps enforce how some bad gut bugs can lead to symptoms elsewhere in your body.

What he’s saying is that toxins from various bad gut bugs can leak through into your bloodstream (where they can overwhelm your liver’s detoxification capacity).

If your liver can’t filter these toxins out, they enter general circulation. Once in general circulation they can act as neurotoxins.

Neurotoxins have the ability to cause mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, headaches, muscle pain, memory, focus, concentration loss and foggy thinking.

There’s also a school of thought, and a growing body of evidence, that along with other neurotoxins such as pesticides and mercury, they may also lead to serious conditions such as multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease), Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Vasquez also mentions mitochondria, which are present in most cells in your body. They’re like little cell engines and their job is to make energy from the sugars, proteins and fats you eat.

Citrobacter produces hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic to mitochondria and may compromise the ability of your cells to make energy properly. The resulting symptom you’d be most likely to experience is fatigue.

But given that every process in your body requires energy, mithchondrial poisoning from bad bugs in your gut could theoretically lead to any or every symptom you can think of.

Is it any wonder we’re so anal about investigating and optimizing your digestive health?

Getting Yourself Tested

If you’ve found this article because you’re experiencing certain symptoms and you’re looking for reasons for those symptoms, I recommend you either arrange a consultation with a Hompes Method practitioner or order a comprehensive digestive health check-up package.

Testing through our facilities carries several advantages over testing through the standard medical route:

• The laboratories we use employ different methods and technology.
• The labs possess more expertise in their staff than standard medical labs.
• As a result, they find more bad bugs.
• They understand the role of a much larger range of bad bacteria, toxins and parasites in creating symptoms, so these findings are not overlooked as they may be in standard tests.
• When they find bad bacteria, they also run sensitivity tests to determine which pharmaceuticals will be most effective in treatment programmes.
• The tests also look at whether you are digesting food properly.
• They also check your good bug levels.
• You also get information about whether your intestine is damaged.
• You do not need a doctor’s prescription or recommendation to take the test.
• The tests can be done in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
• As well as stool tests, you can also run urine tests for urinary tract infestations.
• You can also access skin, vaginal and mouth swab tests to check for bacterial and fungal organisms in these areas of your body.
• Drinking water tests are also available for the detection of bad bugs and toxins.