Thank you! That’s really helpful. Hoping to try making my first batch of Sauerkraut tomorrow 🙂

Hi Sarah

Lid on is best to keep any nasties from falling in. Remember gas will build up during the ferment which could cause the jar to explode if its sealed tight. I like to use jars with airlocks which gives the best of both worlds however I also use normal swing top type Kilner jars. With these I either don’t put the rubber sealing ring on the jar and close the lid or make sure I open the lids a couple of times a day during the rapid fermenting stages (first week or so). With screw top type jars just don’t screw the top on tight so gas can escape, it all depends on the type of jar you have.

Hope that helps

Thank you Madski. All v helpful. Will try E45 mix and note your warnings. Food58

Thanks Firefox7275. It’s Rosacea not acne and have bedn onone tablet of Limecycline a day
for about 10 months now. I’ve always had what’s termed a dicky tum but since the Limecycline its muh worse so am gonna stop taking them soon improve my diet( its ain’t that bad tho) and stop my probably damaging rigorous facial cleansing for a more sensitive one. Thanks for your input

Madski: Although a bacteria has been implicated in papulopustular rosacea, and a yeast implicated in seborrhoeic dermatitis, *these microbes are neither different nor much more abundant than in those without these conditions.*

Instead it seems that symptoms are partly based upon excessive irrritation/ inflammatory reactions to their waste products (a protein in rosacea, oleic acid in SD). In both conditions the skin barrier itself is weakened due to some combination,of genetics, diet/ lifestyle, environmental factors, skincare products and habits/ techniques.

Madski: you may find interesting the published research into the structure and function of the skin barrier, effect of modern skin cleansing chemicals, effect of modern skin cleansing techniques, microbes that have been implicated in some common skin conditions.

The microbiome of the skin, gut, oral cavity and vagina are quite different. Furthermore what is healthy to take internally isn’t the same as what is beneficial to apply topically: olive oil (oleic acid rich) is a prime example.

I can’t work out from the recipes or videos if you are supposed to leave the lid off or on after squishing sauerkraut into the jar…please help!

You can read about L. reuteri on ‘selfhacked.com’ this site is updated regularly & information is referenced.
NB> L reuteri can cause weight gain …. L Gasseri is good if you need to curb your appetite or sugar craving.

For skin problems my theory is that modern washing products destroy all our friendly bacteria on our skin, thus allowing bad bacteria, that become resistant to harsh products, to flourish, use just water to clean your skin if not very dirty, wash only dirty areas with simple soap, no shower gels etc & certainly nothing antibacterial. I never use soap on my face (too drying) I mix 1 teaspoon of neem powder into about 3 tablespoons of E45 cream (not lotion) mix well, use in shower as can be messy! use on feet for fungal infections. after drying appy E45 probiotic mix ( 1 teaspoon of E45 mixed with one (open) capsule of probiotic), I have used L Gasseri & Alflorex. sand down thick nails with emery board to allow better absorption. Use twice daily. I think my no sugar, no junk diet helps too + I take olive leaf capsules which are also anti fungal. After many miserable years of battling rosacea my skin is now clear.

Please note:- Please take adivice of your GP especially if you have any underlying problems with your immune system before using probiotics.

Hi Madski
Can you say more about E45 and fungal treatment mix. For toe nails? Also about L reuteri. Many thanks.

Purple fingers – I use the same jars as you, I put the lid on then loosen it slighty so any gas/liquid can escape, I clean in dishwasher then rinse with boiling water then drain, I dont sterilise. After packing the cabbage in the jar I get a whole cabbage leaf & cover the top of the shredded cabbage & tuck it in, this I discard when the sauerkraut is ready to use.

Bikerboy – yes, I make my own sauerkraut, I used to buy it until I realised the one I was buying was pasteurised & useless. I also make kefir. I found that until I gave up the antibiotics my stomach just got worse as they were just killing off the good bacteria that I was putting in, there is a risk of C diff with long term antibiotics, your GP may (should) have told you this. I put no antibacterial things on my skin, each morning I wash with a mix of neem powder & E45, then apply a small amount of E45 with probiotics in. I have introduced the probiotics into my diet one at a time to assess my reaction to them. Each type of probiotic has a different effect & each person will be lacking different types. You are wasting your money taking probiotics that are being killed by the antibiotics, Ganeden BC30 is a probiotic that is quite tough & may help (according to research) ward off c diff. & has been proven to survive digestion, I take it as tea each morning (Stir tea). You say your libido is dimmed, although I can’t verrify this, I have read that the probiotic L reuteri is good for this.

Yes, I have cured myself of this in the last three months. I’ve suffered from acid reflux for the last three years and had a packet of Rennie in every handbag. I read the Clever Guts book in July 2017 and now eat a breakfast of raw oats, grated apple, grated ginger (half a thumb size) soaked for an hour in oat milk. I think the key ingredients are the apple and ginger. Good luck.

Bikerboy: Are you diagnosed with acne vulgaris OR papulopustular rosacea or both? They can look very similar but are very different. There is a thread around here on acne and rosacea if you run a search.

What dose of lymecycline are you prescribed, one that kills bacteria/ acts as an antibiotic OR low dose anti inflammatory only? The dose is relevant in the effects on the gut microbiome.

Low dose doxycycline is licensed for rosacea in some countries, not sure about lymecycline. Some cases are treated with a short course of higher dose antibiotics initially, dropping down to a low dose.You might discuss this with your pharmacist or the prescribing doctor.

A nutrient dense, anti inflammatory diet absolutely is important in the health of our largest organ. In rosacea a super gentle, barrier supporting skincare routine is also recommemded.

Hi Madski
Thanks for your reply its most helpful I’m slowly getting started on something similar now have been taking a probiotic tablet for ages(Acidopholus & Rhamnosus) and have just started Kefir production(I’m drinking about 200/250 ml a day. Do you make your own Sauerkraut or buy it. I’m not even sure the Lymecylcline wholly get shutof the Rosacea anyway but am scared to come of it as its greatly reduced it but nybstomach is like a witches cauldron my mood swings terribly and libido is greatly dimmed

Thanks again.

I am very interested in this subject as I also have no colon and a j pouch ( which works very well) but I am almost permenantly bloated and uncomfortable, I do have chronic adhesions tho!. I was given no advise on eating apart from eat lots of chrisps as the colon absorbs salt in your diet!!!.

Hello Graham,

Thanks for replying to my question re: the above,
I’m not sure what other information you require, please advise.
I am seventy years old and in good health apart from the condition mentioned.
I did suffer from a tumour in my right kidney which had to be removed.
I’m partially sighted, blind in left eye due to an accident.
As far as I know nobody in my family suffered with a Hiatus Hernia or Heartburn.

Regards,
West2Jim

Happy to but need a lot more info before advising

It could well be worth trying Symprove or VSL3 pro-biotics

Pealing organic is helpful but it only goes so far. Remember that any toxic chemical or (more likely) paucity of micro nutrients won’t change

I buy organic when available, or grow my own, limited choice in organic veg round here so I eat non organic too to add variety ( but I always peel non organic).

I have had this problem too, long term antibiotics (lymecycline) for rosacea wrecked my gut, I have changed my diet, no sugar, no grains, no junk, lots of fermented food, sauerkraut, kefir, soya yogurt, specific probiotics, I even open a capsule of probiotic & mix with E45 cream & apply to skin. I take some supplements, digestive enzymes, bile & olive leaf. No antibiotics for almost a year now & no rosacea, guts improving, + fungal nails have cleared too (I applied E45 mix)

Would your daughter be able to come online and supply more information about the dietician’s recommendations? Which food groups or types to increase/ reduce/ avoid; which aspects of the dietician’s advice were unhelpful?

Although some of us have healthcare qualifications or personal experience, I am conscious that we do not ‘trump’ a registered dietician with access to the medical notes.

Has your daughter been completing and analysing a detailed food and symptom diary?

She was seen by a NHS dietician but we did not find the advice very helpful. She has had her stoma for two years now but her rectal stump is still inflamed so there is no way that she can have a j pouch at the moment.

Hi,
I would love to hear if you have any dietary advice regarding the above.
Other than taking Ranitidine twice a day.

Many thanks,
j.maguire09@gmail.com

Have you thought of making your own? There are websites with instruction s. Once you have bought your equipment (not a lot) and bought the fermenting starter you need never spend anything again.
Haven’t managed to start doing it myself but I did read up on it and it looked easy.

Thanks Graham advice helpful.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. There is a probiotic that was developed with the help of the University of Queensland called Perkii. The bacterium used in the probiotic is lactobacillus casei (Lc431). Perkii calims to use technology called Progel that encapsulates the bacteria which it allows to pass through the small intestine unaffected and it passes to the lower intestine and colon.
https://perkii.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Geeky-Stuff-PERKii-Science-Brochure.pdf

This raises questions to me. Have you heard of this? How “good” is the bacteria used? I’ve included a link to a pdf about the product.

Awaiting comments.
Cheers
Rob

I live in Brisbane, can anyone recommend a brand of komboucha. The ones I’ve seen have low sugar but have stevia added which is a nono on the bloodsugar diet as the brain still recognizes it as a sugar.

Purchase Tim Spector’s “Diet Myth” and he tells you exactly what to do. His book is a jolly good read too..

In a word? Yes! Remember the skin, too, has its own unique microbiome. You might want to google “gladskin” – and yes Cleverguts is perfectly sensible – with a twist- the 5:2 diet is very anti-inflammatory and might really help your skin so I’d purchase The Fasting Diet book too

I ‘m assuming the colon has been replaced with a pouch rather than a stoma? That being the case I see no reason not to follow the CleverGuts diet but make any changes VERY slowly and one at a time.

Hi Nicky

Gastroparesis is complex and I’d be extremely reluctant to give advice; I assume you are under a specialist? What have they said? I really don’t know if there’s a link between gastroparesis and dysbiosis, but (unless you are intolerant of dairy) I would have thought there’s no problem trying some Kefir or Kombucha which, being liquid pre/pro-biotics won’t further delay gastric emptying. The only other suggestion is to keep a really detailed food diary and relate the food to the symptoms if you can

Hi Misery guts
It sounds like you’ve had a very bad time of things.
Have you excluded the possibility of food chemical sensitivity? Some people are sensitive to chemicals naturally occurring in food including amines, salicylates and glutamates, as well as certain food additives. These can cause gastrointestinal as well as nervous system, skin, behavioural and other symptoms.
The clever guts diet is high in these food chemicals (and excludes many foods low in them), so it is possible this has aggravated your problems if you have food chemical sensitivity. For example, most fruit, many vegetables, olive oil, nuts and seeds, spices and herbs are all high to very high in these food chemicals. Many meats and especially fish if not super fresh are also high in amines, as are things like aged cheeses.
Your profile indicates you’re in Australia. Here in Oz the experts in food chemical intolerance are the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) in Sydney. They have an elimination diet for diagnosing this condition outlined in a really useful book they produce (available online). The Fedup food intolerance network (established by a couple who suffer from this condition) also have a wealth of info on their website.
Long story short, after becoming very ill about three years ago after a course of medication I was diagnosed with food chemical sensitivity by a specialist dietician in Melbourne. Similarly to you, everything I ate was making me sick. I tried a diet high in fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, kefir, and other organic foods and became much worse. I then went on the RPAH elimination diet. I couldn’t tolerate even many of the foods low in these food chemicals but felt like a new person after a couple of weeks after sticking to all the ones I could tolerate.
Slowly but surely after two years my health has vastly improving after getting to the bottom of the problem and gradually reintroducing the problem food chemicals. I’ve also done lots of work on improving my gut health, including through probiotics and intermittent fasting. An added benefit is that my pre-existing fructose malabsorption has also completely disappeared.
My GP had never heard of food chemical sensitivity let alone knew anything about it. If you’re interested in exploring it further your best bet would be a specialist dietician. The fedup website has a list of ones who specialise in this in Australia. Some of them also do skype consultations. My GP did provide support by putting me on a chronic health care plan via Medicare. That plan includes up to five allied health visits per year which subsidised the dietician fees, as well as review visits with the GP with no out of pocket costs. This may help meet some of the costs (Medicare chronic health care plans are potentially available to anyone with chronic health problems).
Good luck. I was in a very dark place before I got to the bottom of my health problems, but there is hope!

There are certainly many healthy populations around the world eating a traditional dairy-free diet. But equally there is a body of research backing a Mediterranean-style diet, which includes dairy products (many fermented/ live cultured).

There are even a few studies suggesting health benefits for particular traditional aged European cheeses, such as Roquefort and Pecorino Romano (both are from outdoor raised, unpasteurised ewe’s milk). ‘The Diet Myth’ (Prof. Tim Spector) has five pages on the potential benefits of such cheeses if anyone is interested.

It is not a claim for”just sprouts”, it is a claim that they supply all macro and micro nutrients, I do not know as I haven’t compared all nutrients of spouts and have no intention to do so, as some one as most probably all ready done this.

What most of the common health conditions have in common is underlying chronic inflammation, which is certainly linked to poor diet and lifestyle choices. And what any legitimate ‘healthy eating’ plan has in common is a balance and variety of wholefoods.

Those claims are for *just* sprouts, ie. a vegan diet? Not without supplementing vitamin D (?UV exposure), vitamin B12, long chain omega-3s, iron. Or perhaps eating sufficient incidental insects!

Little was known back then of the benefits of polyphenol and carotenoid antioxidants: getting a variety with balance and variety of fatty acids, minerals would be pretty challenging.

She might request referral to a registered dietician.

Both books claim to give optimum health eg Fuhrman claims in 6 weeks he as 90% of clients off diabetes and asthma medication plus a host of other illnesses, the difference mainly being no dairy, I am not a doctor or research scientist so I can not answer your questions, may be you could email both authors or ask on there web sites, Fuhrmans book should be available at libraries it is well worth a look, also what surprises me is not one health book or websites offers info on sprouts,in the 70’s it was big with some claiming 6 varieties could supply all macro-micro nutrients the body needs, google in a few mung beans, sunflower, alfalfa etc,
I’m sprouting some, it’s pretty easy, just soak in a jar for 12 hrs and rinse 3-4 times a day 2-3 days eat in smoothies, soups, salads etc

I just wanted to say hi, I am just reading the Clever guts book after a dear friend thought it might help me. I am 47 yr old mum, wife and business owner. In March this year after many stomach issues over the past few years I have been diagnosed with Gastroparesis, which I have been informed is incurable. It has been a tough year, struggling with what to eat. I am one of the lucky ones who can still eat, however what I can eat are easily digested carbs! so now I have weight gain to deal with too!

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired and I am ready to do whatever it takes to get my body well again. I am wondering if this is anyone else on this forum with Gastroparesis that is following the clever guts programme???

Kindest regards
Nicky xxx

My daughter had an ileostomy due to Ulcerative Colitis and not having her appendix I would like to know what she needs to eat to boosts her good bacteria.
Her gastroenterologist always told her that the Ulcerative Colitis was autoimmune and the surgeon did not give any advice, the only advice was from a stoma nurse who told her that she could eat any crap foods as long as the stoma was producing. This I did not find helpful.

Hi guys

Had anybody experience of tum probs caused by longishntwrm use of mild antibiotics to treat acne. I’m wondering if my skin probs were caused by bad digestion in the first place and the anti biotics are making it worse the skin is mainly cleared up but I seem to have really bad tumny upsetsevery ten days or so which make smsl outbreaks of spots appear again. The doc wants me to continue but I’m thinking of coming off and trying to alter my diet to help things.

Having just Googled ‘Eat to Live’, I am struggling to understand why you compared it to ‘Clever Guts’? E2L seems to be aimed at moderating calories and maximising micronutrients for weight management and general health. CG focusses on neither calories nor weight loss.

Both Dr. Mosley (Clever Guts) and Prof. Tim Spector (Diet Myth) report that quantity *but not variety* of the gut flora is affected by the ‘clear out’.

The quickest way for population numbers to recover is arguably a balanced and very varied wholefood diet, plenty of prebiotic rich and probiotic rich foods. How easy that is depends on your current diet and lifestyle!

Different populations/ target audiences have different frequencies of diet linked and lifestyle issues. For example lactose intolerance is uncommon in much of Europe, but much more common in East Asia. There is also variation in available foods, for example certain foods are fortified with vitamin D in the US but not the UK.

Clever Guts emphases eating a really wide variety of wholefoods, tailoring the diet to the individual based on the detailed food and symptom diary, fermented/ live/ unpasteurised/ probiotic rich dairy over plain milk (assuming no intolerance suspected). This seems more logical than a blanket ban on any wholefood.

Clever Guts is not intended as a weight loss plan, although this may occur.

Have you been completing a detailed food and symptom diary (p.187)? Does your current diet include a balance of all the different food groups? Are you having a variety of both probiotic rich foods and prebiotic rich ones?

Depending on the quality of your previous diet, you may need to increase the quantity and the variety of fruits, vegetables and other whole plant foods slowly. Be aware that fruit and vegetables are largely water by weight, so do not bulk the stool much. Ensure you are also eating plenty of nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and/ or wholegrains for bulk.

Hi All

I’m new here. I have been trying very hard eating lots of fruits, vegetable, salads, but problem its making me very bloated, and at times constipated. Weight-loss then ends up being very slow. I even got so bloated last week i put 1 kg back on.

Any advice appreciated.

Hi
Just starting this trip, anybody doing activated charcoal, I’m starting to wet tooth brush and clean teeth, and starting to swallow a teaspoon in a glass of water 2-3 times a week
There are some differences between the clever gut diet and Joel Fuhrman author of Eat to live who says no milk or bread products. He is also an M.D. an ex Olympic skier, at least 40 years experience and heaps of scientific study’s to back himself up.
martin

I am having a colonscopy and have to have Moviprep. What would be the quickest and easy way to replace my gut bacteria please.

“Eat … chicken fairly often. Rarely beef (it makes a mess of the oven)”

UK maximum serving size for meat is the size and thickness of your palm (~150g for adult male). Chicken breast is shockingly low in vitamins and minerals; eat a wider variety for nutrients (esp. organ meats/ game meats).

“Have maybe 3-4 units of alcohol a week. Lost 22lbs over 12mths. Take vit D3 everyday from Sep to April.”

Great! Also look at dairy and eggs, wholegrains, foods containing added sugar or fat, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds.

“of course eat fruit and veg (including Broccoli, which I hate) every day, at least an apple and an orange.”

UK guidelines are *at least* five 80g servings a day, in the full rainbow of bright and dark colours. Several countries recommend seven to nine portions a day, in line with published research.

Clever Guts guidelines are *at least* seven servings a day, mainly vegetables, 20 to 30 different varieties a week (p.191).

“Eat fish at least 3 times a week.”
UK guidelines are up to four servings a week, ideally oily – eg. mackerel/ sardines/ trout/ salmon – but minimising large species due to heavy metal accumulation (eg. tuna/ swordfish).