My results came back, but I’m a little bit disappointed as, although you get a lot of detail, there’s minimal context as to what it all means. They give you a percentage of each thing found, but I don’t really know whether that’s good or bad.

I feel a bit as though I’ve paid to help the British Gut project to do research, as opposed to providing me any usable and errrr….digestible (pun intended) information.

I assume we need to find some kind of expert who can interpret our results?

I went through British Gut. Which I think is the one recommended in the book.

I’ve had the results, but it’s just a list with percentages. I’m struggling at the moment to know what the data really means.

Great post.

Hi, I agree with you that it depends on you that how much coffee you are using.

Thanks Firefox for you input and info on pharmacy laxatives.

Hi JNSD,
My younger brother was diagnosed with UC at 19 (now 26). He managed to get his gut symptoms into remission by combining the traditional drug therapy with a diet called The Specific Carbohydrate diet (based on gut health and promoting good bacteria in the gut). He has maintained the diet continuously and believes this to be the main cause of his remission. The diet involved gradual removal of gluten, lactose and all processed meats, as well as anything with high pesticide readings, artificial colours and additives. He makes everything from scratch and although time consuming, it has meant he has quality of life again. Not sure if you suffer from the secondary effects of the condition, that include calcification of cartilage and arthritic symptoms… he has found that the diet helped with this too. I can’t recall his gastroenterologist but his rheumatologist is prof. stephen hall (in melbourne).

CAW100: Might be worth tracking/ calculating the ratio of (mostly inflammatory) omega-6 to (anti inflammatory) omega-3 in your diet.

Most nuts, some seeds, vegetable oils and wholegrains are rich in O-6. Oily fish and eggs from seed fed hens are the only rich sources of long chain O-3s. There are short chain O-3s in flax and chia seeds, but conversion in the human body to the useable long chain format can be as low as 10%.

Also might be worth calculating the sugars in your breakfast. It may be that some days are surprisingly high, between the seasonal fruit, honey, maple syrup, dried fruit.

If you have been logging weights in your food diary this should be quite easy.

Weaglie: encouraging results, so pleased for you!

For constipation consider your hydration levels (inc. water in veg/ fruit, having coffee/ alcohol with not instead of water), soluble fibre intake (flax and chia seeds, prebiotic rich veg), physical activity level and timing of first meal (moving and eating stimulate the bowel), side effects of any prescribed medication.

If all that doesn’t help, as GrahamPhillips suggests prebiotic supplements may be useful. I have both inulin and lactulose (pharmacy laxative, safe for regular use) and find they have different effects. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking and, as GP says, start low and go slow!

Hi Weaglie: I’d make a conscious effort to increase dietary insoluble fibre (do it gently.. incrementally) so INULIN powder might help

Hi CAW100: the ideal dose of VitD is 4000iu so suggest you adjust accordingly. Slight tweak – fresh fruit rather than dry will likely preserve micronutrients whereas dry tends to concentrate the sugars? You seem to have a perfect lifestyle! Adding a variety of fermented foods can only be a good thing. Can you tell what causes your RA to flare? Good luck! Graham

Thanks Firefox. I only would have a standard 125ml glass every other night. Sometimes I’d have headaches because of sulphies in the wine but no other symptoms. It’s hard to know what is causing my gut symptoms as even though I’ve been on Clever Guts for 3 weeks, my bloating and cravings have gone but constipation remains. I will go back and read more about breaking it down into stages, maybe I have missed something that can help with my symptoms.

Thank you Firefox and Graham. I have one long black ground not instant but definetly rely on it as a ‘pick me up’. That has made me reconsier it!

Hi Graham, don’t worry I would never stop my meds without medical supervision! And I think I’m a long way off that yet anyway.
I have 3000iu/day spray (Dlux spray)
Typical breakfast bowl is fruit (mainly berries, the odd prune or date or dried apple/apricot, plus any other seasonal fruit) with a spoon of chia seeds and oat bran (plus occasionally flax seed) all soaked with unsweetened almond milk. I top this with goats milk yogurt and homemade granola (I put honey and maple syrup in my granola and cinnamon). And drink green tea. sometimes fresh fruit juice, but only a small glass to take my meds with.

Lunch – maybe homemade veggie soups, sometimes cheese and oatcakes. On a fast day I might have an apple with cheese and a handful of nuts. I’m doing really well cutting out sugar.

Dinner – red meat about once a week, or chicken. Fish at least twice a week and generally veggie meals the rest of the time. I almost always cook from scratch at home and have done for many, many years. I’ve generally had a healthy-ish diet for a long time. Its only recently I’ve been adding in sauerkraut (made my own – 2nd batch ready) which we add to a salad and I’m mindful not to have huge amounts. Since my new regime my digestion has been a lot better!!
Exercise – I attend a ‘move well’ class and our teacher is a qualified anatomy in motion practitioner and is very good. If I can’t manage something she will find other ways to do the exercises. I also walk a lot and try and get in at least 8000 steps a day.
Sleep isn’t always great, but I am trying to get in to a better routine. And I have been doing mindfulness meditation for a while now.
You’d think reading this I was Mrs Perfect-super-healthy!! Thank you once again for your input and support.

To Admin

Is anything happening on this potato starch study? I signed up a while ago but have heard nothing to date.

Include me in the potato starch study please. I’ve just ordered my potato starch as I am willing to try anything to give me a better night’s sleep

Cut the carbs and you’ll cut the central obesity it really is that simple.

PS: cycling is really good for cardio but so important to do some resistance / strength too

Thx Graham, although fit, I cycle over 300ks a week I dos carry weight around the waist.
Have changed diet since this all started, medetaranian, cut the alcohol intake down, especially red wine and started taking fermented foods.
So lost about 7kgs so far and another 4 to go and I should be about the right weight for height.
Fingers crossed.
Cheers

Hi CAW100 please DON’T stop your meds prematurely. Without your meds you risk permanent, irreversible joint damage. Folic acid is crucial when taking methotrexate . VitD – you need at least 400iu/day- what dose is in the spray?

Minimum effective fasting window is 16h; 24 is ideal. A viable alternative to 5:2 is 16:8 (that is eat sensibly and well, but only for an 8hour eating window each day) I’ve moved to that recently (I eat one really healthy meal per day, I never feel hungry so long as I avoid carbs) and it works well.

If you post a typical day’s food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, alcohol) I can probably advise further. Definitely go with the fermented foods but “start low, go slow” on other words introduce them one at a time, in escalating quantities that way any adverse reaction will be mild and you will know what caused it. Too many large changes all at once and you can get into a real mess.

So the plan? Keep on with your meds. Make your diet and lifestyle anti-inflammatory. Aim for 8hours quality sleep is key. Do at least some low grade exercise- walking can be ideal.. Once stable then and ONLY then cautiously withdraw your meds under discussion with your GP/Rheumatologist

Good luck!

Graham

Hi, the other meds I take are occasionally a Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory) if I need it and folic acid. I’m taking Turmeric capsules, which I think are helping a lot with inflammation. I have a Vit D3 spray supplement and take Olive leaf capsules (especially if I think I’m starting with a cold virus). I am also following the 5:2 diet but am not always rigid with it. Maybe I should be. That said, I can regularly have a 12-14hr window of fasting by delaying breakfast. Since adopting a much healthier lifestyle my RA does seem to be a lot more controlled. My aim would ultimately be to achieve remission and get off all toxic meds. It appears to be a bit of a catch 22 though with immunosuppressants as I’m having a healthy diet/lifestyle and the drugs are knocking it all back! Unfortunately I need the drugs currently as my RA was quite aggressive and I have severe joint deformities. The drugs have definitely halted that to a large degree. Many thanks for your response.

Key to reducing reflux? Lose any excess weight. A combination of Mosely’s 5:2 diet together with Clever Guts is perfect. I suffer too and all it takes is 2-3 kg around my waste and the reflux returns.

Join fermenting friends facebook group; if in or near London I highly recommend “The Fermentarium” lovely people and the courses are excellent.

Don’t need to buy! Get some Kefir grains from the internet (fermenting friends, Facebook) and make your own. Simples! If not then get some Kefir from your nearest Polish shop..

Hi CAW10 – Kefir should be fine, and beneficial UNLESS you are specifically intolerant of lactulose (milk sugar). That said, the fermentation process means the bugs eat up the majority of the lactulose so the levels in Kefir are low. The leaflet is misleading. Either you promote the good bugs in your microbiome (per the clever guts diet) or you allow the bad bugs (pro-inflammatory) to survive and thrive. Besides the meds you mention are you taking any other prescribed meds? Based on what you say I’d 100% follow the clever guts advice.

Question: how easy do you find it to skip meals? If relatively easy then consider Mosely’s 5:2 diet in addition. It works perfectly with CleverGuts and the fasting element is profoundly ANTIinflammatory hence ideal for RA.

Coffee (black or almond milk) is full of polyphenols to generally “good”. As for the caffeine element you have to judge for yourself whether it affect you –

How are you getting on silver slippers? The gastritis was most likely caused by the alcohol which a notorious gastric irritant. FYI, daytwo should be coming to the UK soon.. I’m planning to offer the service to my clients.

In response to your gastritis, I too suffer from bouts. When it flares up I feel completely drained and find it difficult to function normally. A gastroenterologist diagnosed gastritis a few years ago, and I take nexium on a very regular basis. Diet wise I’m very health conscious. Have done the broth drinking, take probiotics, drink kefir, eat organic full fat yogurt and so on. So as far as food affecting my gastritis I find it very difficult to tag. Alcohol is definitely a trigger especially when I over do it holidays etc. Stress seems to be the biggest culprit, difficult to avoid in our crazy working lives. I’m keen to see touch base with someone who suffers in a similar way.

Depends how much coffee/ caffeine you are using, and what your detailed food and symptoms diary revealed. Using coffee as a regular stimulant/ mild drug is different to rounding off a good meal with a small cup.

Caffeine is known to impact quantity and/ or quality of sleep, as well as bowel function. On the flip side ‘proper’ coffee is a source of polyphenol antioxidants, so can be beneficial to health in moderation.

Do check the ingredients of your dairy substitute if you are buying a ready made ‘milk’.

A properly balanced and varied wholefood diet and active outdoor lifestyle is what the human body and microbiome evolved alongside. That doesn’t enhance or boost the entire immune system, but gives the best chance of ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ function.
So, as some parts of the immune system stop overreacting or are calmed, symptoms of many mild to moderate inflammatory or allergic conditions are reduced.

Exactly how your health conditions and drug regimen impacts your immune system is a specialist area. Until you can get advice from a health professional with access to your medical notes, it would be wise to stick to prebiotics and minimise probiotics.

The immune system is highly complex: an array of human cells interacting with our microbiome and with the environment. To function optimally a system needs to be balanced, neither boosted nor suppressed.

Inflammation is a part of many chronic degenerative diseases, but also an essential part of wound healing. There are destructive and constructive phases within healing, both equally important.

The immune processes which identify and destroy harmful intruders (bacteria/ viruses) can mistakenly turn upon the harmless (pollen/ food allergies) or upon our own body (autoimmune). We certainly don’t want to boost all these functions!

The safest course of action would be best discussed with your medical team (consultant doctor/ registered dietician/ pharmacist).

Hi there. I have been in the tepair phase for 3 weeks. I have been drinking black coffee with almond milk. Can anyone confirm if coffee allowed in The CGD please?

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have read the Clever Guts Diet Book recently regarding gut biome and the the anti-inflammatory effect of having a healthy gut. I have been looking in to taking specifically fermented Kefir and also fermented foods such as sauerkraut (I have made my own). The company where I got my kefir from provide a booklet with the product which states that it shouldn’t be taken if you are on immuno-suppressants as it negates the purpose of the kefir, namely in boosting your immune system. (Rather like having your foot on the accelerator at the same time as the brake).

I eat a very healthy diet. Very little or no sugar, reduced carbohydrates and eating more wholegrains etc. and also to eat fermented foods. But this appears to be very conflicting advice. By eating a very healthy diet I would be boosting my immune system, but am at the same time knocking it back because I am on Methotrexate and Golimumab for my RA! I would be interested to hear what my best course of action is.

As mentioned in the book and by others in the forums, the Clever Guts website is supposed to have a list of the best yogurts to buy. Where is the list of yogurts?

In the book we are encouraged to get ourselves tested. I went onto the recommended website to be told there is currently no testing being carried out in the UK. How else do we get tested?

I would like to sign up too, thank you!

Santolini: See the thread entitled ‘Remove & Repair Meal Planner’ in the Newbies forum.

You may well find that, as you cycle through the Remove & Repair and Reintroduction stages of the Clever Guts diet, you simply don’t need a seaweed supplement. As their name implies, spplements should be an add-on to a properly balanced and very varied wholefood diet. Which is exactly what you are embarking on. 🙂

Pia’s initial study group is likely to be quite specific: Australian (very different sunlight to Scotland or Canada), clinically overweight or obese (excess body fat promotes inflammation) for a start. The volunteers will have been advised not to otherwise alter their diet or lifestyle, but those on the seaweed obviously consumed more fibre , and probably less sugar and refined carbs (lower cravings).

I am also trying to find seaweed supplements for my psoriasis, its frustrating that the book implies that things are available when they are not. I cant find a way to print the diet sheets from the website either, any suggestions?

Hi,

I’ve done a bit of research into collagen powders available in the UK which are also either manufactured or packaged by UK companies and here’s what I’ve found:

— Edible Health bovine (from cows) collagen powder = https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XR32F98
— Edible Health company website = https://www.ediblehealth.com/

— Royal Resource marine (from fish) collagen powder = https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M8PZTTL
— Royal Resource company website = http://www.royal-resource.co.uk/

Hope this helps someone 🙂

Cheers,
Andrew

It really depends what your diet, lifestyle and health are like at present, and exactly what these nights out entail.

Have you completed the detailed food and symptoms diary? Do you currently meet or exceed all your country’s recommendations for diet, physical activity, alcohol/ smoking and weight?

On the one hand ANY improvements to your diet and lifestyle is beneficial to your health over the medium to long term.

On the other hand Clever Guts phase one is quite restrictive. Combining this with unhealthy diet or lifestyle choices could stress the body. And don’t underestimate the effect on the gut microbiome of a single ‘naughty’ day/ night. So unfair!

I would suggest focussing on the basics of a healthy, balanced and varied diet and lifestyle, whilst monitoring your symptoms. That allows for alcohol in moderation and eating out at venues that cook wholefoods from scratch.

HTH!

Hi, I would really love to start phase 1, but I’m finding it difficult to find 2-4 weeks where I don’t have a night out or social event. (I’ve just started dating again and moved to be nearer friends!) It is highly unlikely I’ll be able to stay away from alcohol or all foods that I should be avoiding completely. Is it worth doing a sort of half and half for awhile until I have the time clear, or would I just be better waiting until I cam do it properly. (It would only be 1-2 nights a week maximum that I’d be out).
Anyone else struggle to be completely dedicated?

Weaglie: We all have different health conditions, different symptoms, different starting diets, different lifestyles and different gut microbiomes. Because of that there is no one-size-fits-all remove and repair stage.

As per the Clever Guts book “spend up to four weeks on the remove and repair phase … Keep a detailed daily food and symptom diary for at least a week before you start … We don’t recommend removing too many foods at one time, so it might be helpful to do remove and repair in several stages …”

So, depending on your previous alcohol intake and your previous symptoms, you might need to exclude red wine from one stage or from all stages of your personal remove and repair.

HTH!

Hi Kathb – Yes, as Inuik says, it’s definitely easier than you think to do the fermenting! You are right – the lid does need opening at least daily for the first few days to release the gasses produced by the fermentation. The Purple sauerkraut recipe is on p257 of the book and talks you through the process in more detail. I hope your saurkjraut worked out. There is a nice recipe suggestionwhich has just been uploaded making the purple sauerkraut into a salad.
all the best
Clare

Weaglie: potentially they both are!

Firstly there is a huge difference between an occasional standard serving of red wine (a tiny 125ml) and regularly sinking a full bottle (six servings). Try to have a really wide variety of polyphenol rich foods, and try to stick to recommemded serving sizes (often way smaller than we think!).

Secondly cooking with that glass drives off the alcohol but may retain the antioxidants. Think of wine as an ingredient or as a condiment, as many of the healthiest Mediterraneans do.

Thirdly we should be tailoring the ‘remove and repair’ stage, taking into account our detailed food and symptom diary, and potentially breaking it down into several stages (p.190).

Emma212: Dr Mosley advises that “it might be helpful to do remove and repair in several stages” (p. 190), and to consider avoiding all dairy products until phase 2 reintroduction. You may find that, by the time you are ready to reintroduce yoghurt, you have enough energy to take your first steps towards DIY fermenting. My fingers are crossed for you!

If you have any spare money, gadgets can be super helpful – to prep those prebiotic rich vegetables and/ or to prep probiotic rich fermented foods.

Emma212: Unfortunately any wholefood diet is a huge challenge to implement for those of us with health conditions affecting our physical and/ or mental energy.

The problem with store bought ‘fresh’ fermented dairy is we have little control over the conditions (esp. temperature) from factory to table. Your best options are to try a few live yoghurt brands over time, as well as several traditionally made mould ripened cheeses, or cheses made from unpasteurised milk.

Which recipe are you trying?
I’ve made several batches of purple sauerkraut, and it was easy. Cut up the cabbage, (saved a leaf for a lid) put it in a bowl with salt and seeds and pounded it with a bottle of vinegar until the juices ran. Added the other veges (grated) and pounded it all a bit more, then packed it in a glass jar and squashed it. The juice came up and covered it. I put the leaf on and weighed it down.
Be brave, it’s easier than you think.

On p.191 of the CGD book it says to avoid Alcohol, but on p 192 in the Polyphenol-rich foods it says to include wine. Which is correct please?

I have bought Clever Guts Diet book and have been on PHASE 1 – Remove, and Repair phase for 2 weeks. I am unsure how long to be in this phase for. Should I move to phase 2 although my symptoms have only partially improved or stay for another 2 weeks?

As someone with chronic fatigue syndrome, it’s immensely difficult for me to just ‘make my own’. I’m disappointed that the yoghurts and some other products he refers to are not on the website. It’s nice to read a book – but the critical part is taking action and applying it to your life. It’s sad that the second key part has not been so easy to implement.

Thx, have gone out today and purchased a kit from the local Kobushi brewer which I found out is also a great fermented drink full of probiotics.