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  #1   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 03:40
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
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Default Which foods can improve your gut bacteria?

Quote:
From the BBC
London, UK
30 January, 2017

Which foods can improve your gut bacteria?

Can what you eat change the bacteria in your gut for the better? Dr Michael Mosley has been finding out which foods and drinks can make the most difference.

The gut microbiome - the diverse community of bacteria that inhabits our intestines - is a hot topic in science right now.

Almost every day we come across headlines claiming that it has the power to influence our health in new and surprising ways, whether it's our weight, our mood or our ability to resist infection.

Unsurprisingly, given this explosion of interest in our inner ecosystem, our supermarket shelves and pharmacies now stock an array of probiotic products - products containing live bacteria and yeasts - that claim to be able to influence our gut microbiome for the better. But is any of this actually possible?

To find out, Trust Me, I'm A Doctor set up an experiment in Inverness with the help of NHS Highland, 30 volunteers and scientists around the country. We split our volunteers into three groups and over four weeks asked each group to try a different approach that, it's claimed, can boost gut bacteria for the better.

Our first group tried an off-the-shelf probiotic drink of the type found in most supermarkets. These drinks usually contain one or two species of bacteria that can survive the journey through our powerful stomach acid to set up home in our intestines.

Our second group tried a traditional fermented drink called kefir which contains an array of bacteria and yeast.

Our third group was asked to eat foods rich in a prebiotic fibre called inulin. Prebiotics are substances that feed the good bacteria already living in our guts, and inulin can be found in Jerusalem artichokes, chicory root, onions, garlic and leeks.

What we found at the end of our study was fascinating. The group consuming the probiotic drink saw a small change in one bacteria type known to be good for weight management, bacteria called Lachnospiraceae. However this change wasn't statistically significant.

But our other two groups did see significant changes. The group eating foods rich in prebiotic fibre saw a rise in a type of bacteria known to be good for general gut health - something that is in line with other studies.

Our biggest change, however, was in the kefir group.

These volunteers saw a rise in a family of bacteria called Lactobacillales. We know that some of these bacteria are good for our overall gut health and that they can help conditions such as traveller's diarrhoea and lactose intolerance.

"Fermented foods by their very nature are quite acidic and so these microbes have had to evolve in order to cope with these sorts of environments so they're naturally able to survive in acid," says Dr Paul Cotter from the Teagasc Research Centre in Cork, who helped with our analysis. "That helps them to get through the stomach in order to then have an influence in the intestine below."

So we decided to investigate fermented foods and drinks further - we wanted to know what you should look for when selecting these products to get the best bacteria boost.

With the help of Dr Cotter and scientists at the University of Roehampton, we selected a range of homemade and shop-bought fermented foods and drinks and sent them off to the lab for testing.

There were some striking differences between the products. While the homemade foods and products made by traditional methods contained a wide array of bacteria, some of the commercial products contained barely any.

"Typically, with commercial varieties, they would be subjected to pasteurisation after preparation to ensure their safety and extend their shelf life, which can kill off the bacteria, whereas that wouldn't be the case for the homemade varieties," says Dr Cotter.

So if you want to try fermented foods to improve your gut health it's best look for products that have been made using traditional preparation and processing, or make them yourself, to ensure you're getting the healthy bacteria you're after.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38800977
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 10:28
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Default

DH has become a big fan of kombucha. Our health store has a kombucha bar where we can get their own, low sugar, creations in various flavors. They have refillable "growlers" for economical mass consumption.

I do a lot of yogurt and sauerkraut, in recognition of my Scandinavian and German genetic heritage. Seems to agree with me!
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 10:45
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bluesinger bluesinger is offline
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Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
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Default

My most recent dietary change includes added probiotics.
I take a capsule every morning, but am uncertain whether this is still viable (or even if it ever was.)
Last week I bought a product called Gut Shot, meant to be used in swigs, not glasses full. It is mostly sauerkraut juice and added live probiotics. I took too much at once and had a very strong negative reaction, but that doesn't put me off it.
I also use small quantities of Organic Raw Kombucha Gingerade.

Recently (November 2016) gave up all cow's milk dairy products, including cheese. I eat chevre in small quantities and later may buy goat kefir. Not sure.

As a result of my recent changes I'm losing weight again, and it is fat. I can tell because my love handles are shrinking. Am now able to wear smaller panties.

I believe my body is struggling to normalize my gut microbiome. I'd like that to happen so will continue this n=1.
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  #4   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 11:53
Verbena Verbena is offline
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Quote:
Typically, with commercial varieties, they would be subjected to pasteurisation after preparation to ensure their safety and extend their shelf life, which can kill off the bacteria, whereas that wouldn't be the case for the homemade varieties," says Dr Cotter


"Which can kill off ..." LOL

Isn't that the whole point of pasteurization?

Unfortunately, I don't particularly like kefir. But I do make various fermented vegetables. The problem is remembering to eat them.
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  #5   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 14:31
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teaser teaser is offline
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I would have thought that we could trust the companies that added enough sugar to yogurt to make it comparable to ice cream to manage our gut bacteria for us. Huh.
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  #6   ^
Old Tue, Jan-31-17, 15:20
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by teaser
I would have thought that we could trust the companies that added enough sugar to yogurt to make it comparable to ice cream to manage our gut bacteria for us. Huh.




Oh, they will manage it, all right. Like an MBA.
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  #7   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 03:50
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Karhys Karhys is offline
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Default

This feels pertinent to me right now as I am actively trying to change my gut bacteria. I've been suffering severe chronic fatigue for about 7-8 months (it's something I've had before but it hit me HARD this time) and I finally found a GP a few months ago who is awesome. He immediately had me get my gut bacteria tested. Most people's aerobic bacteria is apparently 70-90% E.coli and less than 5% streptococcus. Mine is 81% streptococcus and only 18% E.coli. No wonder I'm sick, my gut can't actually deal with the food I give it!

He's put me on a protocol which involves alternating targeted antibiotics and targeted probiotics (particularly focusing on increasing the E.coli), along with various supplements, certain dietary restrictions ("no sugar of any kind, including fruit! It feeds the strep!") and other food recommendations. (He fully endorses LCHF and Paleo diets!) Normally I hate taking antibiotics but I know I need that strep to go and I trust him when he says he's seen lots of people improve significantly from this.
It's only been 4 weeks so far but I feel SO MUCH BETTER already. I can actually function in the real world again. I can work at my computer without collapsing. I can go out shopping or out to a cafe without having to come home and sleep for a week. I can eat a meal without feeling sick for 6-8 hours. I actually get hungry and actively want to eat, which I haven't felt in years. It has been really amazing.
It's also actually completely obliterated the constant anxiety that I've been feeling since I was TEN. LC improved that, but never got rid of it. But now it's just gone. I still have these habitual behaviours that I do because I'm expecting to feel anxious, but the anxiety doesn't come. I have this serenity and calmness that I don't think I've ever felt in my life. It's crazy and awesome. I'm now suddenly wondering how long my gut bacteria has been screwing up my life.

I'm expecting this protocol to take months and months to fully heal my gut -- I'm certainly not in a position to live a normal active life yet. But for the first time in a long time I feel like maybe I've gotten to the root cause of many of my chronic health conditions, and it feels like it will be possible to one day be a fully functioning human being.

Anyway, this lesson has really taught me that gut bacteria is clearly so much more powerful than we give it credit for! I am determined to take better care of mine from now on!
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  #8   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 07:04
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karhys
Anyway, this lesson has really taught me that gut bacteria is clearly so much more powerful than we give it credit for! I am determined to take better care of mine from now on!


That is really amazing. I am so glad for you.
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  #9   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 07:47
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Hiltm Hiltm is offline
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Curious - how does one go about testing gut bacteria? Stool sample? Needle? Breath?
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  #10   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 09:31
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Karhys Karhys is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WereBear
That is really amazing. I am so glad for you.

Thank you! I'm super excited about it all. I'm looking forward to just getting better and better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hiltm
Curious - how does one go about testing gut bacteria? Stool sample? Needle? Breath?

In my case, stool sample. I think that's the standard method for testing at the moment. (There are breath tests but I don't know that they're all that accurate?) There are lots of different companies that offer it. Some can do fairly basic tests (parasites only, for example) for quite cheap while some do much more expensive tests that identify pretty much everything. My doctor sent me to a place somewhere in the middle; he said you want to know more than just the parasites, but that there's no point doing the really extensive tests right now since we don't know what most of those bacteria actually DO for us, so it's more cost-effective to test the ones we know about and work on fixing them. YMMV.
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  #11   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 09:41
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bluesinger bluesinger is offline
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Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
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Location: Nevada Desert, USA
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Karhys
My doctor sent me to a place somewhere in the middle; he said you want to know more than just the parasites, but that there's no point doing the really extensive tests right now since we don't know what most of those bacteria actually DO for us, so it's more cost-effective to test the ones we know about and work on fixing them. YMMV.
Good to know. I wonder if there are home tests available for those of us working on our own to correct a possible imbalance. I do know that systemic corrections take much longer than one would think. I started last May when I had an emergency, and it has dragged on. But the changes I've made have cumulatively improved my overall health, and that is my goal. Being old and sick is not on my bucket list.
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  #12   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 14:20
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
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Default

More here:

Quote:
Can I alter my gut bacteria and improve my health?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/art...prove-my-health


... and the programme itself can be viewed here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08d6ctr
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  #13   ^
Old Wed, Feb-01-17, 21:55
Karhys's Avatar
Karhys Karhys is offline
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Posts: 324
 
Plan: Primal-ish
Stats: 172/158/132 Female 5'2"
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Progress: 35%
Location: Rural NSW, Australia
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesinger
Good to know. I wonder if there are home tests available for those of us working on our own to correct a possible imbalance. I do know that systemic corrections take much longer than one would think. I started last May when I had an emergency, and it has dragged on. But the changes I've made have cumulatively improved my overall health, and that is my goal. Being old and sick is not on my bucket list.


I am certain that there must be! Unfortunately I'm based in Australia so all my knowledge is local and not of much use to you. I think I remember SCD Lifestyle having some informative blog posts about different stool tests and their merits and deficits, although I think they were much more focused on finding parasites in the gut rather than testing the overall bacteria profile. (Although checking for parasites is important too! My doctor also checked that but I came up clear.) I am sure that if you do some web searches there will be plenty of people with more info available.
The more web searches I do on this stuff (now that I know what I'm looking for) the more and more I am finding people who are going through the same or similar things, and blogging and posting on forums about what has worked for them. Crowd sourcing this knowledge, as it were, since doctors are being so incredibly unhelpful. I'm very, very lucky to have (finally) found a GP who already has his finger on this pulse, but if I hadn't I think I would still eventually have found this path for myself through reading and experimenting on my own.

I definitely understand about not wanting to be old and sick! That's a big part of my goal too. I just turned 40 the other week and even with the chronic fatigue I'm overall healthier than I was at 20. I'm looking forward to continuing to solve my health problems so I can be even healthier at 60!
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  #14   ^
Old Thu, Feb-09-17, 19:32
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mike_d mike_d is offline
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Default

SIBO occurs when the bacteria in our gut get out of balance and overgrow.
The colon is not as clean as the small intestine and reflux, or backflow, of stool into the small intestine can colonize it with harmful bacteria.
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  #15   ^
Old Thu, Feb-09-17, 20:11
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Default

The guy from Gutsense has a program:

ColoRectal Recovery

His advice has always worked for me.
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