295: Your Fatigue Has Hidden Roots – with Martha Carlin

December 12, 2025 |

Are you constantly battling fatigue, brain fog, and persistent bloating? You might be dealing with a silent instigator: LPS endotoxins.

We recently dove deep into this topic with Martha Carlin, a pioneering microbiome researcher and founder of The BioCollective. Here’s what you need to know about this stealthy driver of chronic inflammation.

What is LPS?

LPS, or lipopolysaccharide, is an endotoxin—a component of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria in your gut. While these bacteria are normal, problems arise when they die and release inflammatory debris.

In a healthy gut, this isn’t a major issue. But if you have poor elimination or a leaky gut, this toxic debris leaks into your bloodstream.

Over time, your immune system stops recognizing it, causing low-grade chronic inflammation wherever it travels—in the brain, joints, or digestive system. This inflammation silently drives fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, and digestive distress.

What Your Poop Reveals

A stool test can analyze your microbiome and reveal if you have a high LPS load, giving insights into your immune burden and inflammatory state.

However, not all tests are created equal. Carlin sequenced her own sample and sent it to three different labs—all had different results. Pick one kit and stick with it to compare apples to apples.

Daily Toxins Fueling Inflammation

The first step to lowering your endotoxin load is removing the red flags from your daily life that feed bad bacteria:

Processed Foods & Sugar: Sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria that produce endotoxins.
Household Cleaners: Quaternary ammonium compounds in liquid soaps and laundry detergents damage your gut lining.
Tap Water: Our water systems now carry a toxic load of chemicals.

The Soil Connection

Your gut is an ecosystem that directly reflects our planet’s ecosystem. You cannot heal one without the other.

Our modern food system, reliant on chemicals like glyphosate, has decimated soil health. Glyphosate binds up minerals, meaning our food has less mineral density. When soil is stripped of microbes and minerals, the plants are less nutritious.

The chemicals we spray on farms don’t stay “out there.” They end up inside our bodies, damaging our gut lining and allowing endotoxins to flourish.

Healing is about supporting a food system that supports the soil and removing daily chemicals that disrupt our internal ecosystem.

In this podcast, you’ll learn:

What is LPS and how does it silently drive fatigue, bloating, and brain fog?
What your poop can tell you about your hormones, brain, and immune system
Red flags hiding in your daily routine—and how to shift them naturally
Why healing starts in the soil (and what that means for your plate)
How the microbes in your food, your gut, and your garden are all connected—and how eating for soil health supports your own