I can’t eat those foods. I tested loads of food one by one and reacted to everything except gluten free pasta. I’m on a strong antihistamine at the moment which let’s me eat for a day or two but then it’s back to nothing when the migraines hit. It’s keeping the allergy type reactions to a minimum but nothing seems to stop the migraines except for not eating.
I’m glad you’re doing better on the RPAH diet:-)

Wish to signup for potato starch diet .live in Oz. Sleep poorly.

I would like to sign up for the potato starch study. I live in Australia. I have IBS symptoms.

Re probiotic pills Australia. I have just bought Blackmores probiotics. 4 strains with 7 billion in each capsule and a use by date. My supermarket had raw apple cider too and kimbucha, organic tumeric, seaweed etc.. The cheap chemist catalog which arrives today had this brand of probiotics plus the cider vinegar at discounted prices.JennyC

I am also sensitive to amines sulphate salicylates. I found the fed up website and RPAH diet very helpful, and I had a dietitian supervising my diet for over 12 months. There are lists – if you are ok with lettuce beans cabbage but not broccoli spinach and most fruit this might be you also. I am now trialling apple cider vinegar and probiotics to see if that helps. JennyC.

I would like to join up for the study too. Have had poor sleep for many years.

I wish to register for the potato diet, as I have been using it for last 10 days so please consider me for it thank you

Hello all
I’ve just read the book and would like to sign up for the potato starch survey. Where do we do this?

Please let me know when I may register for this – thanks.

Me too – please let me know when I can register.

I am desperately trying to find help and found the Clever Gits Diet book very insightful. I haven’t been able to eat properly for over 18 months now. I have become highly sensitive to nearly all food – the more I eat the worse my reactions are. At first I became sensitive to sulphites – this was discovered through wine. At the time I stopped drinking alcohol I also found I was reacting to makeup. Since then it has been a downhill slide, with the help of consultants found I am also highly sensitive to salicylates. I’ve also added oxalates to the list. I get different reactions to the different naturally occurring chemicals in food – sulphites cause a red rash on my chest, up my neck and sometimes on my face, along with hot flushes and headache; salycilates mainly cause sinus swelling, itchy eyes and coughing; oxalates cause drowsiness and stuffy sinuses. They can all lead to asthma vomiting, diarrhoea, attacks and migraines.

7 months ago I was taken off food completely and put on Elemental 028. I am still struggling to eat normally and believe it is related to my gut bacteria. Doctors are at a loss and have never seen anything like it. I think I should start with getting my gut bacteria checked but can only find a link to the UBiome which doesn’t cover the UK. What are the other companies that do it here and any ideas how long the results take? I don’t want to launch into the diet side until i understand what has happened to me (so I can avoid it in the future!).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Edit my last post. It’s “TheWorks.co.uk” not “Workzone”.

I am interested in taking part in the sleep study

Thank you 1303liesl and judetheobscure,

I will try that as soon as I go shopping for potato starch. I am sure I had some in the cupboard somewhere but a search was in vain….can’t even imagine what I used it for ! I have just ordered some butter muslin on line so I can make some Kefir although I am pretty happy with the shop bought kefir I have been eating for some time. The brand name is Blue Bay, but as I am in Australia and the fefir is made here, it won’t do much good for those overseas.
I am also a long time participant of The 8 Week Sugar Diet of Michael Mosely and found it interesting that, as the book came out in the UK first, then Australia, the forums were all from the UK, then gradually the Aussies, then the Americans and so on, came on line. Now the same thing is happening with The Clever Guts Diet. I have lost just over 2 stones and have managed, for the first time in my life, to keep it off….even lost a few more lbs..
Anyway, enough waffling……many thanks to both of you.
jillyB

There are also widows with grown children (like me) or even families where only one of the people needs/wants to do the diet.

I agree completely that singletons, for whatever reason are woefully under resourced in the cooking department.

I agree, I started off using a level teaspoon, 2 weeks later it’s a heaped teaspoon in kefir. Seems to be working. Fitbit says my sleep pattern much better. Worth giving it a go!

A teaspoon, jillyB – though he doesn’t say whether it should be heaped or level; I’m going to compromise and go for rounded! 😉

Hi All, sorry for the direct and indelicate topic but …
Yes, OO does do that with me so I try to avoid as much as possible, salad dressings the whole lot.
Any thoughts on why that may be? And what would be the best alternative?
TIA

Hi All, I was a bit surprised to see so many of the THCG recipes using coconut oil, especially after reading:
“Because coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, and has no known offsetting favourable effects, we advise against the use of coconut oil,” – from American Heart Association’s paper (http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2017/06/15/CIR.0000000000000510/tab-article-info)
Any “better” alternatives?
TIA

I have made my own yogurt for years. I just bought little jars with lids from Lakeland & I use just ordinary full fat milk and a jar of yogurt from the previous batch.
I heat the milk (in two batches) to 180 degrees and then let it cool to finger hot, in two large jugs, one for each batch. Then I add the starter yogurt to one jug an whisk to mix and the pour one jug into the other and back again 4or 5 times until the starter is mixed throughout all the milk. Finally, I pour all the milk into my little jars, lid them and leave them on a tray usually just on my work top in my kitchen overnight & they are perfect every time. No additives, no flavours, no sugar & delicious! It costs me precisely £1 for the 2lts of full fat milk and it makes 14 yogurts! What’s not to like!

I’ve not made sauerkraut but I regularly make kimchi which I do not refrigerate as that slows down the fermentation process. I am a follower of Dr David Perlmutter, a leading American neurologist and author of a number of excellent books (Grain Brain), and he says that you must make the fermented food with sea salt not vinegar as vinegar will kill the good bacteria.
Also, my kimchi is not totally authentic as I leave out the floury paste as prefer to avoid flour. I have also seen recipes on the net for Kimchi made my way.

Hi all,
New to the whole forum thing and new to gut health too! I am in Australia and just thought I would share a probiotic that my nutritionist put me onto. It is called ‘immunity fuel’ and is a certified organic probiotic superfood. It contains 15 strains of live probiotics and 19 nutrient rich whole foods. It works by using the bacteria and then the wholefoods and fermenting them together. Just wondering if anyone can give me any feedback on is? Have you tried probiotics this way and have any feedback on how effective this actually is??
TIA
Jade.

1303liesl,

Like you, I am impatient to try the potato starch and would like to follow your idea by trying some now.
You say a spoonful was mentioned……what size spoon, tablespoon, teaspoon, dessertspoon ?

jillyB

Loved the book and the emphasis it has on real food. Could you please include a Ploughman’s Lunch in the recipe section of this website please? It contains trillions of bacteria and could be enjoyed with a delicious slice of sourdough bread. The fat from the cheese would also help the bacteria survive the gastric acid!

I would also like to sign up for the study. Please email me. Thanks.

Bought some potato starch the other day. My husband and I may give it a try as it does not seem like the study is up and running yet. Would be interested in participating in the study if OK to be in Australia.

I would also be interested in joining the potato starch survey.

I would like to be considered for the potato starch experiment

Hi,
I struggle to find anyone who is sourcing HOWARU Prebiotics in the U.K. Anyone who have had any luck at all?

Many thanks,
Kajsa

Hi,

loving the book! Can’t wait to get my gut back in order ( has been out of order for a long time now) ! I am interested in the starch/ sleep study. I live in Australia.

Has anyone here taken Symprove? It sounds as though it should be very affective but before spending a lot of money it would be good to hear of people’s personal experiences with it – thanks

Having suffered with eczema all my life, a week of the clever gut diet and my skin feels amazing, no eczema , no itching and so smooth – has anyone experience this

Paid a visit to ‘Workzone’ – a shop that sells end of line or out of print books – and found “Skinny Blood Sugar Diet – calorie counted recipes for one” by CookNation.
CookNation do other ‘Skinny’ books seemingly aimed at singles: ‘5:2 Fast Diet Meals for One’, ‘5:2 Fast Diet Slow Cooker’, ‘5:2 Fast Diet Meals for One Vegetarian’, ‘5:2 Fast Diet Bikini’.
I’ll do a further search.

Did a google search for ‘cooknation’. Came up with hundreds of books most with a similar theme – low calorie meals for one.

Please include me in the potato study.Thanks:)

Many people seem to suffer raging headaches from just a small amount of red wine – myself included. There’s a lot of discussion about the sulphides in wine causing this and I have tried sulphide free wine which is great. Unfortunately it’s hard to come by and a lot more expensive than your average fiver a bottle merlot from tesco. Try organic wine which is a lot cheaper and easier to come by. I found the organic stuff a lot better too. The other thing someone mentioned was try taking an antihistamine tablet before drinking red wine. If you have an allergy to sulphidies this will reduce the headache effect – or perhaps it is linked to what Jaygo said about histamines. Obviously quantity affects the headache – if you overdo any alcohol you will get a headache caused by dheydration but it also seems that quality of wine can affect you.
That’s just from my own personal experience and a few friends who have noticed the same intolerance to wine creeping in after years of drinking merrily away…perhaps its yet another sign of age and lifestyle taking it’s toll on the body. 🙁

https://sourdough.com/
Search for starter recipe.

Thanks Debster, once I feel i am into the zone and have hopefully built up a good amount of bacteria then I will cut back 20mg and see how that goes. As you say, its judging it by how your tummy feels I guess. And yes, the gin and tonics are inflammatory but oh so nice! Try some turmeric and ginger tea to help calm this down. I have discovered that diluted enough the apple cider vinegar tastes just like actual cider. Am thinking of trying it with fizzy water and maybe I can fool myself I am having a nice cold pint of cider!
Excellent progress for you with the cutting dosage. WHat does your doctor think?

Good morning,
MrsBear I like your strategy. I make my own yoghurt and water kefir and take daily. I didn’t get on so well with thmy apple cider vinegar, but might give it another go. As far as PPIs are concerned, was taking 80mg split between am and pm. I started cutting one of my tabs in half in the morning (the evening is my problem) . I managed well on this for a month and then did the same in the evening. My reduction was totally based on how well my stomach felt. I now take 1 tablet morning and evening. Occasionally I take an extra half in the evening if I feel the need. I am aiming to cut the morning’s dose to a half in July. My problem is alcohol. I enjoy a gin and tonic or a glass or two of wine at the weekends, but this is inclined to inflame my stomach, so I’m working hard to cut out the booze altogether! Good luck on your journey MrsB!

I am both salicylate and amine sensitive – amines may give me a feeling of being unwell, salicylates give me vulvitis. I have been on the RPAH diet for 3 years, which works well, but any attempt to introduce foods such a broccoli give me a flare up and I am back on antihistamines. A slight improvement after eating yogurt has meant I can have the occasional coffee, and lately I have been experimenting with nuts and seeds. However, I am not sure about trying the elimination diet. Should I just take some good probiotics? Anyone else out there with this kind of food sensitivities? Thanks

Virgin/ unrefined/ organic coconut oil: Try discounters (Aldi/ Lidl/ B&M/ Home Bargains beauty aisle), Pakistani or Indian grocery stores, World Foods aisle of supermarkets. £4-5 500ml

Coconut milk or cream, dilute your own: Grace or Maggi brand milk powder 300g ~£3.50; Pride, Dunns River, Tropical Sun, KTC brand block creamed 200g. 200g 80p+. Try Pakistani or Indian grocery stores, World Foods aisle of supermarkets, Amazon.

For freshly squeezed citrus juice use bottled lemon or lime, or ruby red grapefruit juice separated from the segments, frozen in an ice cube tray (Sainsburys canned).

Stock/ bouillon: most ‘meat’ stock cubes or stock pots are based on yeast extract, with added refined starches, soy, gluten, high levels of sugar and salt, so read the label.

IMO the best quality include: Meridian Natural yeast extract (no added salt/ added vitamin B12); Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder (vegan/ reduced salt). Try Amazon or health food stores.

Also Bovril beef extract (41% stock, 27% yeast extract, 11% salt) ~£2.80 for 250g; Knorr fish/ chicken/ lamb stock pots (46% fish stock/ 36% chicken stock/ 37% lamb stock/ ~15% salt). Regularly on offer in supermarkets @ £1 for four pots.

For fresh mint try Colmans Garden Mint Concentrate (45% mint). ~£1.50 Top up with white or rice vinegar to increase fridge life.

For fresh basil try any own brand reduced fat pesto (~50% basil) ~£1. Top up with olive oil to increase fridge life.

So, I couldn’t decide whether i needed to do the clever guts diet or the 8 week blood sugar diet. I have two goals – one to lose 10kg and 2 to sort out my GORD and get off the omeprazole. After a lot of research and reading I came to the conclusion that a combination of the two diets would be an idea – going for low carb diet would help me lose the weight but also starve the bad gut bacteria and combine it with the addition of fermented foods to increase my good gut bacteria. Any thoughts?
Today is day 3 of the combined approach, i am coping very well with cutting out the sugar and alcohol and starchy carbs – I have always been quite good about those anyway (alcohol being the one of those not so good at avoiding) and now i have started on the yoghurt, kefir and sauerkraut and apple cider vinegar. Does anyone know how long I should add these foods to the diet before I can attempt to cut out the PPI’s? I am on 40mg so plan to reduce it gradually rather than just cold turkey.
Any experiences much appreciated.

Great idea, I am looking forward to sharing some ideas that I have found useful with my own adaptations of the blood sugar diet, since that shares many of the same principles. The first one is look for vegetables and fruits in the reduced section of supermarkets. The ‘best before’ date on these does not mean they suddenly become dangerous or bad for your gut biome, and you can usually increase the variety of your fruit and vegetable intake very enjoyably.

The first in a series of ‘information sharing’ threads. As such PLEASE contribute: I am here to learn too! Starting with longer life ingredients but will get onto perishables/ fresh stuff.

These threads are (partly) in response to posts expressing some
very reasonable concerns about the Recipes section of The ‘Clever Guts Diet’ book (CG). Concerns covering cost and availability of ingredients, complexity of recipes, time input needed, suitability for single person households.

My posts are UK-centric, I live alone but am blessed with a decent amount of kitchen cupboards and a freezer. Work background (was) healthcare; last role included nutrition consults. Soon learned real people wanted quicker and/ or cheaper and/ or practical alternatives offering similar nutrients!

I am now on long term sick so low-ish income. Too much time (when well enough) to cram my head and cupboards with cheap-ish/ good value for money wholefoods and – somewhat processed –
ingredients.

Products are not always the cheapest: I balance that with flavour, ingredients list (% main ingredient, additives) and convenience (reduced prep time, shelf life).

SORRY for the wall of text! This forum wouldn’t let me split it in the five minutes allowed for editing, and double lines separating paragraphs doesn’t work either.

The ‘Clever Guts’ book is written for a broad audience: different generations, countries, cultures, food availability, health conditions. For that reason it would help to define ‘wierd’, ‘sensible’ and ‘local’ as they apply to you.

The basis of CG is a reduced carb Mediterranean diet. Plenty of unprocessed wholefoods *as humans and our gut flora evolved to ‘eat’*. Things like flaxseeds/ linseeds might not be familiar to some of us, but archeology has revealed flax to be amongst a handful of staple crops of the very first farmers!

Sea vegetables are widely consumed in east Asia, and very likely eaten by early Britons and coastal Europeans since many of our seaweeds are edible. Much as the numerous decendents of sea kale (brassica/ cruciferous family) and marsh samphire are eaten in Britain and mainland Europe today. But, if you are eating foods from most or all of the other listed groups and you don’t much like east Asian cuisine, I would not worry about seaweeds.

Ready made foods –
such as roasted/ flavoured nuts – often have a laundry list of ingredients that are not CG friendly so do read the ingredients list. For example refined starches, flavourings derived from soy or gluten grains, certain oils/ fats, excess sugar and salt.

In the UK raw or plain nuts (inc. cashews) can be found in the home baking, wholefoods or world foods sections of most supermarkets. Also health food stores, some indoor markets, south Asian or Middle Eastern grocers.

Amazon stocks an enormous variety of health foods, and can deliver to your home or a local collection point (as you prefer). I don’t run a car so find this invaluable for heavy or bulky items. Delivery is free over £10 books or £20 other items. You can also subscribe to some foods for free delivery – set to six month frequency then postpone next delivery. 😉

Do you currently consistently meet or exceed ALL your government’s healthy eating guidelines? This covers serving size, serving number, eating a really wide variety of different foods, reducing salt sugar and added fat intake. If you do you may well only need to switch out some foods for others, and to increase variety. Dr Mosley recommends 20 to 30 varieties of fruit and veg a week, and seven servings a day. If you don’t want to follow the suggested recipes, follow the principles set out in chapter 5 (p.101-160) and the first section of part 2 (p.186-196).

To save time and/ or money look at frozen fruit and veg (the usual suspects plus butternut squash, sweet potato, leeks, roasted Mediterranean, soup and stew mixes, baby broad beans, curly kale, mixed berries and currants, cherries, various tropical fruits, rhubarb, sliced apple) plus canned or jar foods (wild pink salmon, tuna in water or brine, sardines or pilchards in tomato sauce, mackerel, herring, anchovies, plum tomatoes, beans, lentils, some pasta sauces, some canned curries, roasted red peppers, pink or red grapefruit, pumpkin puree, unsweetened apple sauce, lemon and lime juice, mild red chilli, various herbs).

Depending how ethnically diverse your area is you may be able to find frozen cubed crushed garlic, crushed ginger, mixed garlic/ ginger, whole peeled cloves of garlic, hot green chilli.

I have successfully frozen for soups, curries or smoothies: cooked brown rice, canned beans, grated carrot, chopped celery, red onion, sliced apple (tossed in lemon juice), chopped banana, citrus juice and peel. I tend to do occasional long prep sessions in front of the TV.

To save time Nigella Lawson advocates marinating meat portions immediately before freezing. I cook eggs six at a time: either semi-hard boiled or as a vegetable frittata. As well as canned oily fish, shrink wrapped refrigerated smoked mackerel fillets are pre-cooked.

I highly recommend a cheap slow cooker and stick blender for speedy meals. Jamie Oliver (15 Minute Meals) is a big fan of his food processor for super fast grating, fine slicing and shredding veg.

I am more low tech with my trusty potato peeler, julienne peeler (pound shop) and mandoline (Lidl). I loathe and detest cleaning my box grater, so make ribbons of citrus peel or salad veg with the potato peeler.

HTH!

HI
I was really interested in the section in the book which mentioned Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) P121 if anyone interested.
I definitely have a problem with this and wonder if there is a way of reducing the population of SRB in my gut as the book didn’t make mention of this subject again. Currently on a course of Bio Kult probiotics as a general aid for my gut issues but wondered if there is anything I can add to this other than cutting out vegetables/foods with high sulphur levels

🙁 Not very good after sales service!

Thanks for the replies. Looks like we’re on our own on this one….

Hello,

I’ve been following the healthy gut diet for a few weeks now but it hasn’t really helped yet. I have ezchma, muscle pains and a lot of symptoms consistent with candida infection.

I think I might have a leaky gut and tend to feel better when I eat less. Then I came across the GAPS diet – which advocates various phases starting with simple cooked vegetables and bone broth. I think this might help me. The principles around increasing fermented foods is included in GAPS and therefore I think it’s compatible.

Thanks

Has anyone got any thoughts, or have tried this?

I’m interested in the potato starch and sleep study – I’m in Australia. Looking forward to more details.