What are the recommended yogurts that Dr Moseley mentions in his book….he said that they are on the website but I can’t find them.
Thank you.

I’m a bit daunted at the prospect…have watched the video….can’t figure out when/if to put water in the jar as it looks like you just pack chopped veg in the jar and knock down with rolling pin? And do you put the lid on the kilner jar or leave it open? If closed, do you have to open it from time to time to release gas?

Thank you – that’s what I thought.

I think I was just expecting more from the app cost.

Be interesting to see things progress and the public educated.

I have not yet been eaten by my hoarded cats, although got severely nibbled last week! I agree, I tried to make a shopping list for the week, and realised that it would more likely cover a month of mains whilst the salad stuffs etc would need to be stepped down and bought more frequently. It’s not just storage, it’s coughing up the dosh for a months’ worth of proteins.

There are apps out there such as ‘thedrop’ (and http://www.getdrop.com which tells you about the connected scales) that will scale down recipes down for you by you inputting the recipes and then you select the serving size you want and it recalculates everything. Thedrop is free as they are trying to sell you the scales, so I would be really interested if anyone is using it and what they think.

Would be wonderful if the Cleverguts app had all the book recipes in it, would scale recipes up or down and create shopping lists for you, substitute ingredients (as thedrop does) plus give you calorie and nutritional info. But then I guess it would be more than AU$8!!

Hi there, I came across a site that will calculate calories, carbs, protein and other nutritional info just by you inputting the ingredients and how many people it serves. It seems to be UK based, so works in grams and normal measurements rather than US measurements. It is at verywell.com, go to menu, tools and Recipe Nutrition Calculator. It will then calculate a ‘nutrition label’ giving you the details as if you were buying this ready made in a store. Seems pretty cool to me.

There is also a more detailed analysis at https://www.fitwatch.com/tools/recipe-analyzer but the measurements and items are a bit weird to me as they are US based, and also include pre packaged foods as well as raw ingredients, so I found it a little difficult to use.

Would be great to hear if anyone has heard of any other sites or apps, or has calculated all the calorie and nutrition info for all the recipes in Michael’s book already?!!

The forums and recipe function on this (free to access) site are intended for users to connect with other users. There isn’t much here because the Clever Guts book and website are very new. Over time more users should register and more recipes should be posted.

I don’t have the app, but for £5 I would be expecting some sort of exclusive function. I guess that includes recipes?

Welcome to the forums anyway!

Hello
I’m a registered user for the web site but can only find a handful of recipes & I don’t understand why?
I’ve purchased the app which is great, so would assume I’d have access to the same recipes on both platforms.
Am I looking in the wrong place perhaps?
Thank you 🙂

I agree -as apps go, £5 is expensive and its pretty useless and very poor value

‘Small Bites’ by Paul Gayler spans the Mediterranean (tapas), Middle East (mezze) and Far East (dim sum). Would suit couples more than singles tho.

Mezze/ tapas dishes in general are based around vegetables, pulses, olive oil, fermented dairy whilst being fairly light on grains. Not sure why I didn’t think of this avenue earlier!

Hi Baxters Mum, if you haven’t got one already, I’ve made one in Microsoft Word. Depending if you want to print it out and fill it in manually, or use it on a computer, I can also save it as a PDF. If you (or anyone else) would like a copy you can email me at sarah.bravo@icloud.com specifying file type, and I’ll send you a copy.

Yeah, I was hoping it would offer more tools to help. However, it is still in development I hope, so I’m waiting for more functionality to appear. Otherwise, it’s not really doing anything for me at the moment. 🙁

I’d simply follow the recommendations in the clever guts book plus Diet Myth by Tim Spector and see how you get on with the caveat of not making too many changes at one go..

GutsyChickpea: thanks for posting that list/ chart, I am sure it will help others. 🙂

Thanks very much Firefox and gustychickpea – very helpful information

Also, brief list of veg + values per 100g – In terms of eating lots of variety, guess it makes sense to eat all the veg you can, but in different portion sizes, rather than totally cutting out a veg?

Values from my local Tesco so obviously just rule of thumb and will change depending on ripeness, type etc;
Veg Kcals Carbs Sugars Fiber
Sweet Pot 98 21.3 (5.7) 2.4
Celeriac 25 2.3 (1.8) 3.7
Swede 13 2.3 (2.2) 0.7
Turnip 16 2.4 (1.9) 0.8
Carrot 42 7.9 (7.4) 2.4
Parsnip 76 12.5 (5.7) 4.6
Beetroot 41 7.5 (6.7) 2.4
Butternut 42 8.3 (4.5) 1.6

Brussels 51 4.1 (3.1) 4.1
Cabbage 36 4.1 (4.1) 4.1
Broccoli 40 3.2 (1.9) 2.5
Cauliflower 38 3.0 (2.5) 1.8

Leek 27 2.9 (2.2) 2.2
Kale 40 1.4 (1.3) 3.1
Chard 24 2.9 (0.6) 1.6
Spinach 29 1.6 (1.5) 2.1

Cucumber 11 1.5 (1.4) 0.6
Celery

Courgette 20 1.8 (1.7) 0.9
Aubergine 25 6.0 (3.5) 3.0
Marros 14 2.2 (2.1) 0.5
Tomatoes 20 3.1 (3.1) 1.0
Peppers 36 6.4 (6.1) 1.6
Mushrooms 8 2.2 (2.1) 0.5
Fennel 17 1.8 (1.7) 2.4
Radish 14 1.9 (1.9) 1.0

Green Beans 31 3.1 (2.2) 3.4
Mangetout 38 4.1 (3.4) 2.6
Babycorn 42 6.4 (5) 2.6
Sugar snaps 38 4.8 (3.6) 1.5
Asparagus 29 2.0 (1.9) 2.1

Beansprouts 47 2.1 (2.1) 1.8
Pak choi 19 2.2 (1.2) 1.0
Samphire 26 1.5 (0.1) 5.0
Choi Sum 14 1.4 (1.4) 1.2
Okra 40 3.0 (2.5) 4.0

Hi suzywoozy,

Agree, was initially very confused with the discrepancy. However I think the key word there may be ‘reduce’. I’ve been on the low FODMAP diet for a long time, which completely removes both, and can testify that eating no onion or garlic at all can have a significant negative effect on your microbiomes!

The diet plan contains less than 1/2 onion per day on most days (Assuming you remove the extra onion in the Ratatouille, which seems sensible) and equally moderate amounts of garlic. This is probably a decent ‘reduction’ from the average person. Particularly as we’re also cutting back on harder to digest fiber.

Despite being on the FODMAP for so long I haven’t found it too difficult to reincorporate this amount of onion and garlic, in combination with the lower-carb nature of the rest of the diet. A birthday party deviation, whilst fun at the time, definitely wasn’t worth it the next day!

Very strongly recommend consuming the amount of flax recommended (with lots of fluid of course). This helps move things through your gut quicker and minimises the amount of time prebiotics can sit in your gut and be turned into gas. The green flax bread isn’t great, but slathered with hummus and treated as ‘medicine’ it’s rather effective. Crackers are genuinely tasty, if a bit dry. Otherwise in smoothies or sprinkled on thing your taste buds shouldn’t notice it but your gut will!

Well, keto diet is very low in carbs. During the week you eat only proteins, fats, and fibers, and during the weekends you eat rice or cooked potato. I would not recommend it to anyone except professional fitness models and bodybuilder during the competition season. It should be taken very seriously, consultation with a trainer, nutritionist, and using keto calculator is a must. This is not a keto diet. 🙂

Hi All,
In the book on page 174, under point 5, Michael writes: “Having a warm bath or hot shower at least an hour before going to bed can also be helpful, as long as you cool down afterwards. It is the drop in body temperature that cues your brain that it is time to sleep. That is also why you should try to sleep in a cool room”.
I don’t think it has to be at least an hour before going to bed. When I was working with dementia residents in a nursing home we found that quite a few of them slept better when they had their shower just before going to bed. And I myself have a nice hot shower just before going to bed and while doing so I think about letting all the worries from the day be washed away… But, our bedroom is cool as we don’t have any heating in it, and I jump into bed without any night attire, so the cool sheets probably do the trick. And then I warm up again and drift off… 😊
Cheers, Vibka

Hi Nurse,
Does the CDSA Level 4 test analyse the microbiome in 2 weeks? I’d like to hear if anyone has a result from them yet, because after 6 weeks I still have no result from SmartDNA. The test cost me $330.
Cheers,
Vibka

About SmartDNA: They referred me to a naturapath in Melbourne who does Skype consultations, which is great for me as I live in the northeast of Victoria. She sent me the test kit and on the 27th July I took a poo sample and posted it. Since I didn’t hear from SmartDNA at all, I called them 2 weeks later to hear whether they had received the sample. I know Australia Post is slow these days, but that slow? Anyway, on 14th August they finally debited $330 from my visa card (so obviously they received the sample) and since then I have heard nothing. I know it’s supposed to take about 6 weeks (so that was yesterday), and I have been waiting patiently. I have sent an email to the naturopath and hope to hear from her soon to get a result. So in a nutshell, there’s a test available in Australia, but you have to be patient. 🙂

Oh idiot me, I completely missed the bit in the recipe about adding water. Note to self, read recipes better!!

Thanks for the help all, cheers

Submerging the vegetable in an appropriate liquid (pH, salt content etc.) reduces the chance of undesirable microbes growing, and increases the chance of desirable microbes growing. With the right recipe and ingredients the fermented food tastes ‘right’ and – critically – is safe to eat.

Never randomly add water to a food, drink, household product or cosmetic product you intend to store. That alters the conditions, potentially allowing undesirables to grow.

There is a video somewhere (YouTube?) of someone (Dr Mosley’s wife?) making Clever Guts purple sauerkraut.

Different microbes need a very varied conditions to grow. Always water, but different temperatures, different access to oxygen, different pH (acid/alkaline), different ‘food’.

So soft fruit can can get mouldy, or turn into wine or cider! Milk can go sour and taste disgusting, or become yoghurt or kefir or cheese.

Hi PeterCr

You could add water but add salt to it. (from the recipe: ‘add a half-teaspoon salt to 100ml filtered or spring water, and use this to top up until the kraut is fully submerged’)
You will probably find more juice is created as the ferment gets going (mine often overflow as I overfill the jars….) but if you don’t cover the kraut with liquid it will discolour.

Maybe start out with five or six portions spread out over your three meals. I wouldn’t worry about anything you only have a little of or use for flavouring – mild chilli, garlic, ginger – unless you suspect these as problematic from your detailed food and symptom diary.

For convenience you might try frozen mixed fruits (strawberries/ raspberries/ blackberries/ blueberries/ redcurrants/ blackcurrants) or frozen mixed vegetables (mediterranean or peas corn broccoli bell pepper). It isn’t difficult to separate out larger chunks when still frozen, so reducing or altering the variety .

Vegetables rich in insoluble fibre also tend to be stringy in texture or, when raw, need a lot of chewing to thoroughly break down. Freezing or cooking or blending breaks down the structure somewhat. For a list try the Self Nutrition Data website:, you can list by nutrient (eg. fibre) and/ or by food type (eg. vegetables). I *think* you can also reverse sort (lowest first).

I agree 20 to 30 types is difficult when limiting soluble and insoluble rich vegetables, as well as sugary fruits! Perhaps just start with a few ‘safe’ options and add one a day, only small portions of alliums/ inulin rich and of cruciferous/ fibre rich ones?

Suzywoozy: I can see why you are struggling!

I don’t think the suggestion to reduce/ avoid the alliums and other inulin rich vegetables (list on p. 125+) is in my edition. Which begs the question is your book or mine the most up to date!

Both inulin rich (soluble) and insoluble fibre rich vegetables can cause uncomfortable/ painful gas if overeaten or in sensitive guts (e. IBS).

Supplementary question. I have now spent an hour or more with the rolling pin trying to get enough juice to cover. But whilst I can get it to an inch or less from the top I cannot get enough juice to cover.

Perhaps I can use water to top up the juice a little to cover? Otherwise I just don’t seem to be able to make enough.

I can see that a weight might help but having scoured the house for something that will work I cannot find anything. We don’t normally keep rocks lying around sadly.

Cheers

Thanks Firefox.

It’s in the same section – page 191 in my book in the Remove and Repair section
During the the remove and repair phase try to avoid:” …… “Initially reduced highly prebiotic foods such as onions, garlic and leeks. All these can be reintroduced in the second phase”

I also would have found helpful a list of “Non-fibrous, plant based foods” as google searches for such don’t bring up much and I am struggling to find the 20-30 different types it is suggested we eat, whilst avoiding the fibrous and the highly prebiotic.

Hi all, I just got the book yesterday and am trying the Sauerkraut recipe.

I see on the second page it mentions water. However I cannot see any reference to water in the recipe.

What is the water for?

Thanks

I am taking apple cider vinegar twice a day as I had beeturia after eating Beetroot which confirms I have low stomach acid. Looking back I can see that my food problems became worse after a major operation so an antibiotic link for me.

I can’t see why garlic should be avoided, since the relatively small quantity used in an average dish won’t give a huge ‘dose’ of prebiotics. Well not compared to the enormous quantity of cauliflower ‘rice’ per person!

I haven’t followed the meal plans at all, preferring my own Mediterranean or Middle Eastern style recipes, much more fish and seafood, and not to bother baking bread substitutes. But I don’t have major gut issues, haven’t eaten wheat daily for a long time, and have previously established my tolerance for traditional dairy and various vegetables.

I noticed the discrepancy regarding cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale), but missed the same for the allium family (onions, leeks, garlic). Which page is the advice to avoid on please?

I assumed the fortnight meal plans were to suggest the structure of a day or week and not prescriptive, since it is recommended to remove and to reintroduce in stages over a period of time. I noted that the same dishes are not eaten day after day, as many of us do at breakfast and lunch.

I follow a way of eating very popular in South Africa, called Banting. It is sometime called the Tim Noakes diet. Elsewhere around the world it is called LCHF (low carb high fat). Most people who switch to this way of eating find fasting very easy once they are fat adapted (i.e. using fat for energy rather than sugar). So my recommendation would be to try LCHF for six weeks or so before you try to fast. One rule of eating this way is only eat when hungry so many find that the fasting naturally comes, if you are not hungry at breakfast and skip it then if you didn’t late night snack there might be 14-16 hours of fasting between breakfast and dinner. If you are not hungry at lunch this might become 18-20 of fasting. Other fasting resources are available on You Tube from Dr Jason Fung. There are many ways to achieve fasting – its just working out whats right for you. Good luck.

Vassily are you still on your amine and salicylate diet and have you ever taken antibiotics.

Does anyone have amine, glutamate or gluten intolerance. How were you diagnosed and what mental and physical symptoms do you get. Has the cleverguts diet helped.

Sorry, I don’t have an answer for you but I do have the same question. Just reading the book for the second time and noticed this too. Eager to get started 🙂

I am interested in the seaweed capsules as I have hidradenitus suppurativa (blocked sweat glands). Fortunately it isn’t to severe as I have zinc capsules which has helped settled it but not totally and thought the tablets could be beneficial. If I could be told where to purchase them would be helpful.

i’ve had life ending constipation off and on for a year now and while looking for remedies saw acv promoted as this cure all, no negative side effect, miracle elixir, so i incorporated it into my diet, drinking about 4 tsp daily diluted in water. my stomach problems eventually went away with the introduction of probiotic pills into my diet, but about 2 months ago i decided i wanted to improve my health and change my diet. i started drinking acv again and tried various different diets, and by the end of the 2 months, my stomach was completely destroyed and clogged up again. it suddenly hit me that i started to get these problems about a week or two after i started drinking acv again. the reason it took me so long to see the obvious was because literally 100% of the internet promotes acv as a miracle elixir with zero negative side effects. i couldn’t fathom it effecting me negatively but it literally caused the complete degradation of my digestion and the quality of my life. it also then hit me that i was drinking a mild acid for months. how is that a good thing? how is that not something to be weary of? i got completely off acv, avoided trigger foods for a weak, and my digestion was back to 100%. moral of the story, don’t listen to anyone, just listen to your body. for example, people with gastritis are recommended to avoid milk but to consume real greek yogurt, but the exact opposite is the case for me. yogurt makes me feel nauseous and like shit and milk almost has a soothing effect on my stomach. don’t believe the hype and the miracle cures. listen to your body and find what works for you.

Hi
I have read the book and decided to start the remove and repair section. Looking at the meal plan included in the book it seems to include quite a few recipes with onions or garlic in when earlier in the book it suggests that strong prebiotics such as these should not be included in this phase. It also includes broccoli and some other vegetables which are listed as high in fibre and also to be omitted during this phase.

Did people tend to stick to the general advice in this part or the menu plans. I am a little confused!

Thanks

Is anyone dealing with porphyria? I have Acute Intermittent Porphyria and am trying to work out Intermittent fasting, 5:2, Mediterranean diet, etc, with AIP, and weight loss and diabetes.

It’s taken me years to figure out mine is from Acute Intermittent Porphyria and migraines. I focus on avoiding triggers, I use Stemetil which calms the nausea, and have a recovery plan which includes grazing on sweet rice pudding (high carb is the remedy for AIP). Not much help for you. Journal your symptoms and look for patterns, triggers, and do lots of research.

@ Firefox. Firstly I should clarify that by stating I was intending to combine diets, all I meant was to take the best aspects of each. In no way am I intending to eat an imbalanced diet. Firstly, because of my gut problems, I am embarking on an elimination diet… The Low Fodmap diet, to see what is causing my issues. However, this is only a temporary phase. Secondly, because the Paleo Diet avoids foods that can cause food sensitivities, I have to take it into consideration if I find dairy or gluten to be the issue. That this diet damns all processed food is the big plus for me and if I discover sensitivities, incorporating it’s options may be the way to go.

However, the Mediterranean Diet is the ideal all-rounder for me, minus any processed food products and if I can tolerate carbs and dairy. I’m aware that red wine, fruits and vegetables can counteract the various toxins we ingest, but not if they are overwhelmed by bad eating habits. Cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil and avocadoes, for example, have a large AGEs content. All fats do, including healthy fats.

If the daily recommended intake of AGEs is around 7000 or less, adjusting our diets to this figure would obviously be the thing to do. Becoming aware of the AGEs content in foods is the place to start.

I have chronic gastritis. Apparently, I ruined my stomach lining with Ibuprofen. I had prepyloric lesions and moderate inflammation, although I feel it’s a lot better now, and I have diverticular disease with large and small mouthed diverticuli throughout my entire colon. This year, I have had problems since March. My doctor has no idea how to deal with it and tried me on pancreatic enzymes and Colofac without success. Her best advice is to let my gut heal by doing a liquids only for a few days, then introduce low fat dairy/bland foods (white bread etc), next is light protein such as eggs, fish and lean chicken. Fibre is the last thing to be re-introduced. I am having to do this sometimes several times a year. I believe there is something more to it than diverticulitis.

Trying to eat a well-balanced diet is next to impossible under these conditions. I need to be proactive and find out what’s behind it.
Carbonated drinks; artificial sweeteners; sugar (for the most part); saturated fats and fruit juice have all been eliminated from my diet.
I suspect food intolerances I don’t know about. I already know I can’t tolerate certain vegetables and fruits. For example, I can’t have chillies with skin and seeds, but I can tolerate a tiny amount of chilli powder. Capsicum has become a no-go, cranberries are a disaster. I can eat blueberries, a few grapes, one plum or fig, but dried fruits such as dates, sultanas, currants and raisins are diabolically bad.

My digestive system is slowly returning to my normal, which still isn’t good enough.
I intend to try fermented foods and probiotics. I’m already using natural yoghurt and natural apple cider, which, incidentally has help my stomach amazingly well. Heartburn and indigestion disappears minutes after taking a tbsp with 100ml water. Also, it seems to be helping my sluggish digestion. My food was tending to sit in my stomach for hours, or at least it felt that way. Having a glass of water 2 hours after eating usually causes indigestion, so I suspect part of my problem may be low stomach acid. That may be because I had my gallbladder out years ago due to severe pain and gallstones. One year later I had a large gallstone lodged in my bile duct, which has probably damaged it.

There is so much conflicting information out there regarding healthy foods. I trust Dr Michael Moseley’s take on things, but he doesn’t mention advanced glycation end products’ (AGEs) at all. Maybe he feels the research is inconclusive. Although all the scientific studies I read said otherwise.

For NZ and Australian users of this forum, Nutralife do probiotics with the HOWARU strains and they have one with 50 billion CFUs of various strains (L. acidophilius, B. animalis ssp. lactis, HOWARU B. animalis ssp. lactis, B. breve, B. logum, L. casei, L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. salivarius ssp. salivarius, L. rhamnosus and L. delbrueckii ssp. bulgarius). I take this probiotic due to the variety of strains and number of CFUs.

If anyone from NZ is reading this, Nutralife have the HOWARU strains in their probiotics – the P3 probiotic and 50 billion probiotic.

Please excuse the typos, this device won’t let me properly view or edit later paragraphs. :/

I am sorry you misinterpreted my post as being patronising. It was intended to convey concerns, based on my experience working in and studying healthcare, my last roles being in lifestyle (nutrition/ physical activity).

AGEs are only one factor in the overall impact of a wholefood or processed food, ditto individual macronutrients or micronutrients. Each nutrient and each food enhances or countracts the effect of other nutrients and foods.

In the Mediterranean diet serving sizes and types of cheeses and meats is restricted. There is a strong emphasis on fish and seafood which has a vrry different, complementary fatty acid profile. Different regions/ countries consume more or less extra virgin olive oil, but often pressed from their own trees and balanced with similar fats from wholefoods (whole olives, avocados, certain nuts).

In my career I saw only a handful of people eating a balanced and varied wholefood diet. Nome at all who were trying to combine eating plans. That includes co-workers, other health professionals, relatives, friends, even myself for periods of time! I have seen and felt the impact of restricrive, imbalancrd diets, abd wish for no more rhan to help others avoid or recover from that.

That certainly doesn’t stop you reviewing the overall balance and variety of your diet (especially inflammatory carbohydrates, anti inflammatory fats, prebiotic fibres). Nor does it stop you including a variety of sea vegetables in your daily diet.

Your family doctor may be willing to refer you to an NHS dietician or dermatologist to discuss evidence-based changes to your diet, supplement extracts and lifestyle.

HTH!

Hi Firefox7275, The problem is conflicting information in regard to ‘healthy fats’ and animal protein. Drizzling olive oil over everything, eating cheeses and meats… sounds wonderful. But all these items have high levels of ‘advanced glycation end products’ (AGEs) and I have yet to find a table that lists average amounts of AGEs in unprocessed foods, such as a tablespoon of oil or one slice of wholegrain bread. I understand it’s a lot harder to measure AGEs than calories, but the amount the average person eats has been shown to cause mutation and changes in DNA. So this is no lightweight matter.

I’ve researched all the diets, Firefox, thoroughly, and I’ve tailored my own, based on my personal medical issues. I don’t need your patronising input on my diet. My main reason for being in this forum is to discover what others have learned about AGEs. It seems that we need to keep our daily AGEs intake to below 6000 – 7000, the body can’t cope with eliminating more than this. The average intake in the US is approximately 14500 per day.

Sea vegetables is a diverse family so, like all plant foods, they vary in nutrients and potential health benefits.

It is worth re-reading Dr Pia Winberg’s comments on the seaweed threads

http://www.cleverguts.com/forums/topic/seaweed/

http://www.cleverguts.com/forums/topic/seaweed-and-psoriasis/

It seems the research is very new and ongoing, so unfortunately it is unlikely any other products have been tested for psoriasis.