https://www.whatisepigenetics.com/d...ene-expression/

Okay, so how do I get all the good species of bacteria inside of me? I think I've got a bad set.

I remember when complex carbohydrate was a phrase used in place of starch. Because everybody used to know excess starch was bad for you, so they needed a new term. Now it's moving over to mean fiber etc. I've even seen it used to describe fruit, as if sugars are complex...

I don't currently need much help digesting plant fibers.

I think they should continue to look for ways to make a plant based diet as healthful as possible, since so many people are likely to continue eating one.

You eat them.

Dr. Pearlmutter's book, Brain Maker, is a good place to start.

Fecal Transplant

I'm re-watching the Dr. Gominak video that I linked in the other thread. She's discussing the needs of the microbiome. We're living on the cutting edge of science, so we don't know so much.

Dr. Gominak says that you need to get your Vitamin D levels above 40 so that the gut bugs can live happily. You also need to supply B-50 or B-100 for 3 months, but continuing too long or too high a dose can cause problems.

She's not a microbiome specialist, but has learned a lot from her medical practice.

It can be a lifesaving procedure if you need it. Fortunately, most of us can tolerate a slower fix.

Thanks for the link, I'm going to watch it. Never heard that about Vit D.

(That's a dusty journal you've got there! Is your plan still "LC gut healing"? If so, how is it going?)

Question about fecal transplant: why would the small amount of transplanted donor fecal matter bacteria take over an environment that is already dominated by the recipient's bacteria?

Who's to say whether the donor's or recipient's bacteria are stronger and will come dominate?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4438885/

Weight Gain After Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
CASE REPORT
A 32-year-old female with recurrent CDI underwent FMT at our center. She had initially presented several months previously with a 2- to 3-week history of diarrhea and abdominal pain after antibiotic treatment for bacterial vaginosis and exposure to a family member who had CDI. She was treated empirically for CDI by her primary care physician with a 10-day course of oral metronidazole with only partial improvement. Her diarrhea and abdominal pain escalated after completing the metronidazole treatment, and her stool tested positive for Clostridium difficile toxin polymerase chain reaction (PCR). She was treated with a 14-day course of oral vancomycin. Testing done around the same time showed Helicobacter pylori infection (positive fecal antigen). Nausea and abdominal pain persisted after treatment of the CDI, so the H. pyloriwas treated with a course of triple therapy (amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitor). Her abdominal pain and diarrhea escalated again a few weeks later, and her stool tested positive for C. difficiletoxin PCR. She was treated with a 12-week tapering course of oral vancomycin with improvement, but diarrheal symptoms recurred again within 2 weeks of completing the course, and she was prescribed a course of rifaximin with Saccharomyces boulardii. Around this time, she underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which showed persistence of H. pylori infection. She had no significant past medical history and had always been of normal weight. Review of systems was positive for diarrhea, and there was frustration over her ongoing diarrheal symptoms. Her weight before FMT was stable at 136 pounds (body mass index of [BMI] 26). Physical examination was unremarkable.
After extensive discussion, the patient elected to undergo fecal transplant. As per the patient's request, her 16-year-old daughter was chosen as the stool donor. At the time of FMT, her daughter's weight was ∼140 pounds (BMI of 26.4), but it increased later to 170 pounds. Her daughter had no other health problems, and screening for human immunodeficiency virus 1 and 2, syphilis, and viral hepatitis A, B, and C, C. difficile, Giardia lamblia, and routine stool culture for enteric pathogens were negative. The patient was retreated for H. pylori with quadruple therapy (metronidazole, tetracycline, bismuth, and proton pump inhibitor), and the FMT was performed 2 weeks later via colonoscopy. A total of 600 cc of the suspension of donor stool in sterile water was infused through the colonoscope starting in the terminal ileum. The colon and the terminal ileum appeared normal at the time of the procedure. She improved and did not suffer a further CDI recurrence after FMT.
The patient presented again 16 months after FMT, and reported an unintentional weight gain of 34 pounds. She weighed 170 pounds and had become obese (BMI of 33). She had not lost any weight over the months she was being treated for CDI. She had been unable to lose weight despite a medically supervised liquid protein diet and exercise program. Her serum cortisol and thyroid panel were normal. She has continued to gain weight despite efforts to diet and exercise, and at 36 months post-FMT her weight was 177 pounds (BMI of 34.5). She has also developed constipation and unexplained dyspeptic symptoms.
Go to:
DISCUSSION
Our patient reported unintentional rapid weight gain after FMT. There are several possible contributions to the weight gain, including the resolution of CDI (with subsequent increased appetite) and concurrent treatment of H. pylori. There is a known association between H. pylori treatment and weight gain, especially in children, thought to be due to restoration of ghrelin levels after eradication of the bacteria [1]. However, it is notable that she was never obese prior to FMT, and that the stool donor similarly experienced significant weight gain, raising the possibility that the obesity was at least in part a consequence of FMT. The hypothesis of FMT triggering or contributing to obesity is supported by animal models demonstrating that an obese microbiota can be transmitted [2]. An important limitation in our case is that the microbiome sequencing comparing the patient and the donor is not known.
With the occurrence of weight gain after FMT in this case, it is now our policy to use nonobese donors for FMT. The untoward consequences of using nonideal FMT donors are important, because patients may prefer to use a family member rather than an unrelated or unknown stool donor due to the perception that these sources are safer. However, studies have shown that FMT using a frozen inoculum from unrelated donors is effective in treating relapsing CDI [3]. In addition, most “professional” stool donors for FMT are selected on the basis of good health, including a normal BMI. This case serves as a note of caution when considering the use of nonideal donors for FMT, and we recommend selecting non-overweight donors for FMT.

But the donor daughter wasn't obese at the time of the donation.

And the patient underwent myriad different treatments.

It's impossoble to identify a cause here.

Maybe they both went on low fat diets after the operation.

Kefir (homemade) the only sure way I know of, but it can take weeks or months of drinking some daily. I have the details here somewhere? Milk Kefir Unleashed | Fusion Teas -- Dr. Perlmutter author of "Grain Brain"

Fecal donation--- a good reason to bring back natural birthing.

If by natural you mean out the, ahem, usual exit, definitely agree. I was offered a scheduled C-section for my last child after having some really really big babies. Told doctor I didn't need that, just a scheduled induction to keep baby from getting any bigger. Nothing natural about that, but it safely got the job done plus those bacterial benefits of that style of exit. So yes, sometimes I think C-sections might be getting used when maybe they didn't need to be. On the other hand they can be life-saving at times, and it's a tough judgment call for everyone involved deciding if VBAC afterward is safe, etc. My neighbor's child got stuck sideways inside her, no way that baby was getting out on its own. VBAC worked once after that then was no longer safe for her. Bummer about the loss of bacterial opportunity plus who really is choosing C-section for convenience reasons? I wonder about that because the recovery is so much harder. Maybe some people are but not the ones I've met. Also I wonder if all those bacteria get wiped out if the child receives antibiotics in a case where they're clearly needed?

There is a method of innoculating the babies after a c-section to get the same effect. Just not sure the docs are doing it. I learned of it too late--like 10 years too late after 2 c-sections for medical reasons. Doc recommended c-sections to prevent palsey issues as my babies were quite big. A nine pound bundle is nice to hold though.

The recovery time of both methods are not without issues. Each can have its comp lications.