Michael briefly mentions Candida in the Gut Diet book but i would like more specific advice. Does anybody have this condition and have you any tips for me please.

Hi Garden girl – thanks for the info re Atlas – I may well try them and sorry for the delay in responding – I only just got the update one to this! And if it wasn’t for your post, I wouldn’t have known the ubiome results were there (no notification as you said) and of little use too to the lay person as you say. Not sure Michael should be giving them a mention…
Thanks for your help

I have problems getting to sleep and quality of sleep. I’ve read all the usual stuff about not using computers, exercising etc in the hours before bed.
I did 5:2 for a few months and lost weight, but my total cholesterol rose, so I have now altered things a bit.
I now follow the 16:8 fasting option starting late morning, as I am never hungry in the early mornings.
I need to further tweak this as I am an evening eater without an “off” switch. I am going to try really hard not to eat or drink, especially alcohol, after 7 p.m. That gives me several hours before bed. I will be interested to see if it improves my quality of sleep.

Thanks for responding Firefox7275 – appreciate your input.

So a properly balanced, very varied, nutrient dense diet is key in exercising for health.

The starting point is your detailed food and symptom diary (Clever Guts book p.187). Weigh and measure everything, or you cannot assess your true intake of any individual foodstuff, food type/ group or nutrient.

Supplements may also be of benefit, but any regime should be personalised and carefully targeted. Please discuss with a health professional who has access to your food diary and medical history.

Hope that helps!

Yes I take a sedating antidepressant: currently amitriptyline (100mg at night), but previously mirtazepine (45mg at night).

At times of great stress/ anxiety I am prescrined a very low dose beta blocker (propranolol 20mg as needed).

Depending on intensity daily formal exercise can be counter productive. The body needs time to repair and regenerate; failure to do this can lead to overreaching and even overtraining syndrome. Interestingly the symptoms may include sleep problems and low mood.

In addition exercise can substantially increase the need for every nutrient (vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, protein etc). Lastly we sweat out minerals/ electrolytes, including magnesium.

Thanks Firefox7275. Do you take antidepressants in addition to the lifestyle and diet approach? I have been very well on antidepressants for 4 years since my first anxiety/depressive episode but they seem to have suddenly stopped working. I exercise every day and have a reasonable diet, but wondering if taking the biome approach will help me in the long term.

If the damage done by antibiotics is irreversible then these lifestyle changes won’t have much impact.

The similarities included being moderate carbohydrate/ low grain/ no added sugars, nine servings of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables each day, plenty of other fibre and mineral rich foods (certain nuts, seeds, beans, lentils), live yoghurt and a freeze dried probiotic supplement (Lactobacillus, Bifida sp).

I enjoy traditional aged cheeses but was minimising saturated animal fats at that time, so not daily. No other fermented foods that I can remember. So overall a prebiotic rich but not probiotic rich diet.

Alongside that daily physical activity (easy pace walking) *very slowly* working up to four hours a week of moderate to intense formal exercise (various gym classes) I improved my physical and mental health enough to be able to work and study again.

I had many clients improve their mental health (most often depression and stress/ anxiety) through targeted diet and lifestyle modification, tho much less ‘hardcore’ than mine ended up!

I am convinced some of the improvements are to do with taking control/ ownership of our health, and gaining confidence/ self belief.

I have a number of chronic mental health conditions, including anxiety and insomnia. My work background is healthcare: first allied to medicine (pharmacy/ research labs), later retraining in lifestyle modification (physical activity/ nutrition).

The wholefood diet I planned for myself was not dissimilar to Clever Guts, tho there was more emphasis on foods supplying micronutrients lacking in the western diet and key in mental health. In particular long chain omega-3s and vitamin D (oily fish, organic eggs) and magnesium (various seeds, very dark chocolate/ cocoa).

Lastly I am not sure if you are being flippant or serious about your low mood, but evidence suggests that mild to moderate clinical depression can be treated with targeted diet and lifestyle choices.

In severe clinical depression the concensus of the medical profession is that prescription medication (with or without talking therapies and lifestyle modification) is required.

Interestingly gut dysbiosis has been linked to some disorders of mental health.

I haven’t read of any expert in the field recommending nothing but a short course of a probiotic supplement. Generally a properly balanced and *very varied* wholefood diet is advocated, loaded with prebiotic rich AND probiotic rich foods.

Other aspects of a healthy lifestyle also impact the gut flora, such as physical activity levels, alcohol intake, smoking, weight management.

Many health conditions can be prevented, treated or (occasionally) cured through targeted lifestyle modification. Over time this can reduce or eliminate the need for prescription medication.

It is well worth discussing your concerns and options with the prescribing doctor, your pharmacist, a registered dietician or other lifestyle healthcare professional.

Who are “they” and which specific probiotic are they recommemding?Which parasites have been diagnosed, and which drug have you been prescribed?

Have you read Dr Mosley’s ‘The Clever Guts Diet’ and/ or any of the other gut microbiome books written by experts in the field (Prof Tim Spector, Prof Rob Knight, Dr Blaser)?

Atlas Biomed Group Ltd

Hi GardenGirl can you post the web link for Atlas. I can’t find them. Many thanks.

I’m so confused and definitely need some help. So ive come acrossed some articles which state that antibiotics can potentially permanently alter beneficial bacteria after the course is done. https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/antibiotics-may-be-permanently-altering-our-friendly-gut-microbes this is just one. Now if this is true they tell you to just take a probiotic which in most cases is transient and doesn’t really colonize the gut. And also you’d only be supplying ten strains compared to hundreds that got destroyed during treatment. Is this true? I’m asking because I want to take antimicrobial s for parasites but I don’t want to permanently kill my good bacteria. So depressed right now..

I too was stung by the VAT & had to use normal post to return as the prepaid service is only available in the US. After a good 6 weeks I got the results (they don’t inform you, you have to login and check) which are SO detailed & scientific you would have to be qualified to understand them properly. I would avoid this company and use someone in the U.K. Read in today’s Guardian a journalist who used Atlas. I have looked them up £125, London based, more useful information ie easier to understand & they even tell you what you, as an individual , should eat more of.

I would like to sign up too!

Many thanks

Hi. Just wondering if anyone has had any improvement in anxiety and sleep problems by following the diet suggestions?

Thank for the link. Articles of that poor standard are best left unread. Note references to culinary trends and the author’s opinion, nothing about quantity of raw garlic.

‘Holes in the intestine’ would presumably be formally diagnosed during endoscopy (live) or post mortem (dead). Demonstrating cause-and-effect of a specific amount of a specific foodstuff requires many volunteers/ subjects, including healthy ‘controls’, and a long timeframe.

You’d need a teaching university and/ or hospital research team, generous funding grant and a pseudo-scientific method of separating human volunteers or animal subjects into ayurvedic body types. Obviously it isn’t ethical to feed human volunteers a potentially harmful/ toxic substance nor to sacrifice them!

Abstracts – and sometimes full text – of published studies and literature reviews can be found online by searching PubMed and Google Scholar.

Similarly a healthy eating plan or gluten-free diet is not necessarily an anti inflammatory diet or balanced and varied diet.

Often the gluten protein is not the issue, the carbohydrates in grain rich diets are. Many gluten-free alternatives are very low in minerals (such as magnesium) or low in prebiotic or bulking fibre, plus the carbs are more easily converted to blood sugar, so just as or more inflammatory!

Obviously I don’t know what you have previously been advised or tried, but this is what I saw frequently when I was practising (lifestyle health professional).

Formal exercise – especially repetitive movements – can easily worsen postural imbalances and knots/ trigger points.

After injury(s), operation(s) or with a modern sedentary lifestyle (desk/ car /sofa), the small stabilising muscles or sections of large prime mover muscles can become weak and ‘lazy’ or tight and ‘knotted’.

Many fitness professionals (even physiotherapists) do only static posture assessments or assess isolated joints, use only static stretching after strengthening. SMR or trigger point massage is completed before or separate from activities of daily living or moves that mimic such activity.

Thank you Firefox, I do eat a healthy diet, gluten free, I don’t have a sweet tooth and no alcohol. Believe me, after 7 years of this, I have seen all sorts of professionals and tried an awful lot of things. I exercise to my capabilities. It was the section in the book which stated that they had seen less lung infections in children taking specific bacteria and that taking Lactobacillus casei for 8 weeks helped women with Rheumatoid arthritis to relieve swollen and painful joints, that sparked my query.

I’ve been making my own yoghurt for some time and have eaten sauerkraut on and off, along with lots of veg. I’m 99% gluten free as well (just for the record!). However, since this post, I’m adding the sauerkraut with my midday meal instead of evening, it’s too early to tell if it’s a coincidence or not but I have slept slightly better the past few nights. Medication remains the same until next week.
Ancient Weaver, I love blue cheese, especially with a crisp apple. It’s never bothered me either.

I’m not following the Dr Moseley diet as such, but I can tell you that, once I started to think about it, there was a very clear correlation between eating saukerkraut/kimchi and sleep.

I generally eat a lot of fruit and veg, and I certainly was trying to build up to it – started with a small forkful per day.

Once we get towards Christmas and it’s not so crucial what time I get up, I may experiment again, perhaps trying sauerkraut/kimchi every other day …

Having recently read Why We Sleep (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-We-Sleep-Science-Dreams/dp/0241269067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512730247&sr=8-1&keywords=why+we+sleep), I’m currently tending to prioritize sleep over gut issues!

But as you say, there are so many factors to take into account, and different for each individual …

I have a simple method of making Kefir which I’ve been doing for some years. I have a lidded Chinese cup, the Kefir grains go in and its filled with milk (goat milk in my case as I have a goat) 24 hours later I remove the grains, use the Kefir in a smoothie, replace the grains with more milk. I find this “perpetual motion” system really easy especially as nobody else likes it! Sometimes I manage to give extra grains, away, otherwise they’re blended into the next smoothie. Grains can be cultured with cream for the most delicious sour cream in the world by the way!

I have a simple method of making Kefir which I’ve been doing for some years. I have a lidded Chinese cup, the Kefir grains go in and its filled with milk (goat milk in my case as I have a goat) 24 hours later I remove the grains, use the Kefir in a smoothie, replace the grains with more milk. I find this “perpetual motion” system really easy especially as nobody else likes it! Sometimes I manage to give extra grains, away, otherwise they’re blended into the next smoothie. Grains can be cultured with cream for the most delicious dour cream in the world by the way!

I have amine, glutamate (and salicylate) intolerances, in fact, I am highly reactive but fortunately have never experienced anaphylaxis. I was diagnosed about twenty years ago after I eventually went to an allergist because I felt so ill, (respiratory and digestive symptoms), and lacking in energy most of the time. Environmental allergens were eliminated and I then undertook the food elimination challenges. This is not for the faint hearted or uncommitted but I had nothing to lose. This established the problem, and when I stick to foods that are low or moderate in salicylates/amines/glutamates I am okay. I was given charts with the level of these chemicals in the food categories by the dietician, (and they are also in the book ‘Friendly Foods’ from the RPA – Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia). I do believe that a healthy biome is so critical and important, and had in fact seen the TV programs on which (I think) Clever Guts is based. I have tried introducing some foods e.g. fermented – but have had reactions – so unfortunately in spite of their great health value, I can’t persist with them. What has make a huge difference for me with the digestive system was taking probiotics. While I would prefer to obtain nutrients from food, often for me that isn’t possible; (I take probiotics in tablet form). Next for me to try will be the apple cider vinegar – I’ll see how that goes!

Gut lining issue raised here http://www.ener-chi.com/eating-garlic-is-very-toxic-for-the-body/ Michael’s view on the benefits of garlic on pages 122-123 of the Clever Guts book which contradicts the info in above link and what said on the FB group I quoted. Clarification would be good.

Hi Firefox

A mixed bag really I came of the Lymecycline 3and a bit weeks ago having begun in the previous week or so to make slow changes to my diet in line with the advice on here and in the books also the Clear Skin diet book. Last week the yellow filled pustules began to return on my nose ending up with about 5/6 reluctantly I returned to taking them and after a week they’re just about gone but my stomach is beginning to screw up again . I’m gonna go to taking them every other day now and try to slowly ween off them whilst improving my diet even more. If they come back I’ll see the doctor and talk about another treatment tho I’d really like to beat this without going down that path. Do know anything of the Gladskin products a couple of people have mentioned on here. Thanks for your interest and concern its helps with my confidence to contact other sufferers I was really despondent last weekend when the spots returned.

Microbes don’t grow without water, for example in a pure fat or oil. In foods, medications and cosmetics water added means also adding preservative(s).

Raw garlic contains water so safest used separately IMO. Dried chillis work well if you like a little kick?

As an aside do not add dried chillis to cooking wine: capsaisin is much more alcohol than oil soluble apparently! HOT stuff.

Please clarify the gut lining comments: source, name of problem?

Dr Mosley disagrees with which concern, and where/ when?

Picked up from Facebook group UK Fermenting Friends that infusing raw garlic in olive oil, which I have done for some time, may cause botulism spores to grow. When researching further also finding reports that raw garlic, which I sprinkle on salads, can cause problems with gut lining.Michael seems to disagree with this in his advice in the book. Can anyone point me to good research which either confirms or debunks these points? Thanks

Has anybody used a coconut yogurt starter to make coconut yogurt at home?

I would like to join the potato starch study. BUT one question – I avoid nightshades because of osteoarthritis in my finger knuckles. Is potato starch still considered a nightshade?

My son (3), C-section baby, has multiple allergies (soya, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, lentils, chick peas, he is growing out of his dairy allergy) we try to add some fermented food to his diet where possible. I just wondered if anyone knew of a child friendly supplement that could help him? Or if there was any information, child specific I could read, happy to wade through journals etc. Thanks

I have nothing to do with the company below, but I AM half Greek, and my Greek mother is 90 years old and going strong. Even in the war, when she was in Athens, and starving, her mother used to walk for hours across the city in search of olive oil. Bread: they had none.
Michael mentions in his book the problem with counterfeit extra-virgin olive oil and on this Clever Guts site he says that although he has not yet managed any definitive listing of safer brands, he recommends small, individual companies. I read in his book about unripe olives etc – so here we are …… and of course, he’s right about price, too.

https://oliveology.co.uk/product/18-degrees-organic-extra-virgin-olive-oil/

Or just see below ( I’ve pasted from site)

This is the first olive oil of the season, made from unripe olives when they are still small and green. A truly superior olive oil with intense flavour and a unique grassy taste.
Harvest: 2016-17
Single estate: Sparta, Greece
Single variety: Koroneiki
Harvest: End of November, by hand
Extraction: cold extracted up to 18°C
Unfiltered
Limited production
Awards: Great Taste Awards 2012 (2-stars) | BIOL International Olive Oil Competition 2015 : Gold Medal | SILVER AWARD NYIOOC 2016 |BIOL International Olive Oil Competition 2017 Silver Medal | Great Taste Awards 2017 (1 star)

Thank you to my correspondences

You might find many of the questions and comments in the ‘Microbiome & Ileostomy’ thread (Welcome forum) useful, even tho the op itself is rather different!

How are you getting on, Bikerboy?

Coconut water is lower sugar than many fruit or vegetable ‘juices’, so should be fine in moderation. You may not need to drink as much as you think, once eating at least seven servings of whole fruit and veg a day.

It is worth knowing the maximum recommended daily sugar intake for an adult (World Health Organisation) is 5% daily calories, so 25g-30g for a standard 2000-2500 cal diet. But Dr Mosley recommends as little sugar as possible, especially in phase one.

Are you guys maintaining a detailed food and symptom diary (p.187)? Are you following all of the recommendations for Clever Guts phase 1 or phase 2?

Are you guys eating (or working up to) a really wide variety of probiotic and prebiotic wholefoods ? Dr Mosley recommends 7 portions fruit and veg a day, 20 to 30 varieties a week (p.191).

Dr Mosley advises to “start slowly if you haven’t eaten these sorts of [fermented] foods before” (p.143) To me this means small servings.

More insomniac musings: Nearly two hours wide awake, I wonder if it would keep me from excessive daytime sleepiness!
Tyramine is generally considered a bad, even dangerous thing, to be avoided at all costs, but I feel fine, no headache, migraine or raised BP, so despite low to non existent levels of one important enzyme for the breakdown of tyramine, I am inclined to further experimentation. I have stopped caring about how much sleep I get at night, as sleeping well at night does not noticeably help with EDS, so maybe the answer is actually, to simply eat whatever keeps me awake and alert in the daytime, and forget about night-time sleep!
Sadly I have no more of the over-ripe cheese, and can’t get any more either, so I guess it’s time I looked into making old school pickles.

hmm, can’t seem to post this one last try:
I’ve had insomnia almost every night my whole life, so long that I thought it was normal until relatively recently. Also because it was so prevalent, I never noticed any correlation with food consumed until recently, when, for only vaguely related reasons, I simplified my diet pretty drastically, and noticed that as well as my sleep improving generally, I also started to spot correlations between things I ate and how I sleep.
One of the things I have found to help is parsley, and for yesterday’s evening meal I experimented with adding a load to some braised leek and onions. Flavourwise it was good, but I was horrified to see that, on waking for the second time, it was only 1.45a.m. Wide awake, I gave up on sleep and started mooching on the ‘net, and for obvious reasons this thread title caught my eye.
By a fluke, I think tyramine probably explains tonight’s shocking level of insomnia, possibly made worse by consumption of refined carbs, but I had the same carbs the evening before and tonight’s insomnia is much worse.
Also for supper, I had a big chunk of blue cheese, normally I have no problems with blue cheese, but this piece had quite a whiff of ammonia, i.e. it had fermented . . .

How badly something like this affects you depends on a whole lot of factors, including your own enzyme system, what other foods you have eaten, or drugs you are taking, as well as your gut flora. They all affect each other to a greater or lesser extent.

I’ve had insomnia almost every night my whole life, so long that I thought it was normal until relatively recently. Also because it was so prevalent, I never noticed any correlation with food consumed until recently, when, for only vaguely related reasons, I simplified my diet pretty drastically, and noticed that as well as my sleep improving generally, I also started to spot correlations between things I ate and how I sleep.
One of the things I have found to help is parsley, and for yesterday’s evening meal I experimented with adding a load to some braised leek and onions. Flavourwise it was good, but I was horrified to see that, on waking for the second time, it was only 1.45a.m. Wide awake, I gave up on sleep and started mooching on the ‘net, and for obvious reasons this thread title caught my eye.
By a fluke, I think tyramine probably explains tonight’s shocking level of insomnia, possibly made worse by consumption of refined carbs, but I had the same carbs the evening before and tonight’s insomnia is much worse.
Also for supper, I had a big chunk of blue cheese, normally I have no problems with blue cheese, but this piece had quite a whiff of ammonia, i.e. it had fermented . . .

How badly something like this affects you depends on a whole lot of factors, including your own enzyme system, what other foods you have eaten, or drugs you are taking, as well as your gut flora. They all affect each other to a greater or lesser extent.

After seven years you very likely have postural/ muscular imbalances and ‘knots’ or trigger points, both locally (ankle/ calf) and further up the body (hips or higher).

If you have not already consider having a professional movement assessment (overhead squat/ walking) followed by being taught self myofascial release (using foam roller/ tennis ball) OR followed by a series of trigger point massages.

Diet is highly relevant in calming inflammation, function of the nervous system and in muscle contraction/ relaxation. To target these firstly cut back hard on sugars, refined/ processed carbs, omega-6 rich oils and nuts, alcohol.

Secondly substantially increase long chain omega-3s (oily fish), magnesium (certain seeds/ cocoa), B group vitamins (many wholefoods), low sugar fruits, non starchy vegetables. So pretty much the Clever Guts Diet!

Research into the gut microbiome is fairly new and very much ongoing. At this stage it seems that a diverse population or complex community of bacteria and yeasts – ‘fed’ by a balanced and very varied wholefood diet – is important for health. Its not about isolated symptoms, single foods or individual microbes.

Longstanding pain after injuries or operations can be linked to scar tissue, inappropriate nerve signals, muscle ‘knots’ (trigger points), chronic inflammation … or all of these.

In April of 2014, I had the last 4-5 feet of my small bowel removed due to a carcinoid tumor (a very slow growth form of cancer) in the lymph node feeding that section of the small bowel. (Note: based on recent lab tests and scans, my body is cancer-free.)

Questions:
* Has anyone else, here in this forum, had a small bowel resection (esp. removing the last 4-5 feet)?
* How might this type of small bowel resection impact some of the suggestions in the Clever Guts book?
* What can I do to improve the intestinal adaptation process? (i.e., make my gut and bowel movements less of a central issue [challenging area] in my life?)
* Are my guts now “stupider” given about 20% of the small bowel is now gone?

Joe Kittel
joe@spibr.org