Yes I had been on a low carb diet before reading the book and i’m glad to see that I can have brown rice etc. I must say that, considering the vast amount of antibiotics I had to have to keep me alive i’m surprised i’m not having more gut problems. However I feel that doing the remove and repair would affect my warfarin levels too much. I also need to be careful regarding spices like tumeric or cinnamon as they can affect it too

I mentioned telling my doctor or practice nurse because I feel that they should be aware of what I am doing

itsbuggingme you posted on 11 June, I’m thinking perhaps no-one from Michael’s team checks these posts?

Hi
I’ve started making my own yoghurt, batch 1 was from a starter powder then batch 2 & 3 from 4 spoons of the previous. The first 3 batches came out nice & thick & smooth a bit like Greek yoghurt but number 4 came out lumpy and slightly cheesy and very sharp/acidic, anyone got any ideas what I did wrong? I know I need to start again with the starter powder but I don’t want to repeat whatever mistake I made.

I made some red cabbage sauerkraut last week (from a recipe off the net) which said to wait 3 days then put it in the fridge. I then was looking at another recipe which said not to put it in the fridge!! So I took it out… I now have a watery purple mess which is bubbling slightly. Any ideas folks?

itsbuggingme…if you have Hashimoto’s Disease (where your body produces antibodies that attack your Thyroid) then this is an autoimmune condition. From what I’ve read a big causal factor in autoimmune conditions is poor gut function so in my opinion you need them MORE than “normal” people!
I would like to know why Michael has said they aren’t safe for us??

I thought the book was excellent apart from the recipes. Many were so complicated and time consuming. Where is one supposed to find raw cashew nuts? I could find no explanation as to the relative merits of raw over the usual ready prepared cashews. I bought some sauerkraut to try but it just tasted of vinegar which I dislike. Then I discovered the sauerkraut has to be unpasteurised and the stuff that I bought was pasteurised, so that is now on its way to the compost heap. I do not enjoy cooking so I am not prepared to spend hours in the kitchen preparing weird recipes with weird ingredients. If somebody could come up with sensible recipes that include ingredients that I can buy locally I would be glad to try them. I think that I eat sensibly anyway. For breakfast I make my own muesli from oats, flaked almonds, coconut flakes, raisins and broken brazil nuts. This is delicious with natural yoghurt and a couple of fresh strawberries.

Clare interviewed Michael for Simon & Schuster on why he started investigating diet and nutrition, the path which led him to writing Clever Guts and a bit more about the book.

They enjoyed making it and hope you enjoy listening to it!

Does anyone know when the Erans personalised diet will be available in the U.K.? Thanks!

I would also really like to sign up!

Thanks for your latest book, Michael. Definitely food for thought! I would be interested in trying the potato starch alternative if it is available in Australia. Cheers Juda53 ps actually……..thank you for all your books and docos! You mix science with good humour and make it all extremely palatable.

Please sign me up. Thanks.

I am struggling with Food and drug intolerances, and until now have had help with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Australia) Friendly Food book guidelines. (which conflict with FODMAP diets interestingly)
As I have had part of my pancreas removed, I must take some action to settle my gut down so that I can take Diabetes drugs and Pancreatic enzymes. In your book (p 53) you say that biome sequencing is available in Australia Who do I contact please?

I would like to join potato starch study. Yve

Try Tesco’s bookshelf!

@1303liesl
Miguel Barclay’s ‘One Pound Meals’. Haven’t heard of him. I’ll look him up – thanks.

But as for storage space, I’m talking about these recipes for 2, 4, 6 or more suggesting that you consume one portion and freeze the rest…
Not always possible.

I completely agree with 1303liesl. As an example, I wanted to make the coconut vegetable curry but the cost of the ingredients came to £17.54! I simply cannot justify spending £17.54 to make one meal – I just don’t have that sort of money. Yes, I can freeze what I don’t eat but even so, it’s just too expensive. I understand the science behind all these things but as with most things now, it’s all unaffordable to me (obviously, I can only speak for me).

If you’re short on storage space – presumably one of those tiny, at-the-top-of -the-fridge freezing compartments, and not many cupboards? – it can certainly be a problem. Miguel Barclay’s ‘One Pound Meals’ has recipes for one, and many of them can be tweaked to fit the Clever Guts ethos. Not sure I’d agree with his £1 per portion, though – obviously does his shopping in a different place to me!

I did a module on nutrition as part of my degree several centuries ago, but have always had an interest in good food. Don’t own a tablet or smartphone, but would be lost without my freezer, which lets me buy and cook a lot of stuff that would otherwise be impossible – soups and stews, and freezer packs of meat and fish (Asda do a pack of tuna steaks for £3.25-ish, which does me 5 meals!). Also grow salad veg and peas/pea shoots, rasps and strawberries, and (usually, though not this year) potatoes in bags, which gives me a far wider range of varieties than buying them. Can’t stand sweet potato, which seems to be the fashionable veg just now, or okra, and the only way I can eat aubergine is in ratatouille! (It’s a textural thing, both okra and aubergine are sort of slimy. Yuck.) But I live in the country – no car, so reliant on buses and home deliveries – and the farmers’ market here is too damn dear, though nice for an occasional treat.
I’ve never had much willingness to go shopping, for me it’s a necessary evil, and between coping with my present disabilities (accident last August, and arthritis), clearing the house of three generations’ worth of stuff, dealing with half an acre of garden, and writing, I really don’t have very much time, never mind energy, left over for shopping!

I’m also interested in signing up, though I’m going to follow Michael’s advice in the book, and take a spoonful in milk at night. Can’t hurt, anyway! At the moment, I’m averaging 2.5hrs broken sleep a night, so feel that waiting for the study to begin is going to lose me a lot of sleep, if it works…

Anytime any place anywhere …..

Just received an email telling me to sign up here – so here I am!
Looking forward to hearing what’s next. Thnak you. Fenton

Thanks, I have used Erythritol as well. I find them better than sugar or artificial sweeteners, it’s hard to get away with no sweetness when you are feeding a family or friends. I’m not doing FODMAP (as yet).

Does anyone know whether some emulsifiers are worse for your gut biome than others?
Also, I’ve noticed soy lecithin is in my dark chocolate, – Does anyone know how much emulsification of the gut is too much?

Thanks!

I find foods with high acidity levels disagree with me. I can’t just eat a plate of salad and a protein source without a starch. Also, raw vegetables and fruits can set my gut off, as well as spicy foods. I find if I avoid foods similar to those who have Crohns, my gut works best. Eating proteins, starchy foods like potatoes, white bread – I know, anathema – and cooked veggies seem to keep it calm. Wholegrains irritate…..I’m thinking this diet might not be for me??

Just checking my FODMAP list and dates are a no-go if you have an intolerance to that type of sugar….

That’s a good question: I have suspected lupus and fibromyalgia, both are auto immune conditions. Does this mean I shouldn’t use pre/probiotics?

Very similar story to mine. Am currently on ritididine and a low fodmap food routine. Things are improving. Hope to get off the tablets and manage with nutrition solution!

American Gut Project online course if you want to get ‘down and dirty’!

https://www.coursera.org/learn/microbiome

Research is very much ongoing: for some microbes ratio to other symbiotic microbes may be relevant. Also location (SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Overall the greater the diversity the better.

There are books/ blogs by British Gut or American Gut Project researchers.

‘The Diet Myth’ by Prof. Tim Spector is excellent: more involved with the science/ microbiology than ‘Clever Guts Diet.’

Dr Rob Knight ‘Follow Your Gut’ is another Gut Project book. I don’t have it as yet so can’t compare for you.

The ‘Human Food Project’ blog by Jeff Leach is entertaining. IIRC his books are collections of blog posts.

Piles have traditionally been linked to straining/ constipation/ refined low fibre diet. It’s possible specific microbes are the real culprits or stars.

Equally many prebiotics are a type of fibre. Probiotics plus prebiotics often relieves constipation (gently bulking).

HTH!

Probably depends on the amount you eat.

Xylitol is a prebiotic, but does have some impact on blood sugar.

Erythritol apparently does not, but may not behave exactly the same in every recipe.

Neither are suited to low FODMAP diet.

I am in the same boat. I have had a total colectomy and so have no large bowel. I would also like to know the answer to this question. Do we have a biome? I try to eat as healthily as I can but run into trouble when I have too many fibrous foods. I am also interested whether this affects weight as well. A lot of people with no large bowel seem to have weight problems i.e. weight gain or not being able to loose weight. Is this because we can’t eat a lot of fibrous foods or because we don’t have a biome? I would love to know.

1303liesl: Start a dedicated thread on budget swaps somewhere on here. If you are in the UK I will happily write an essay or two in response.

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 wholefoods. :/

Be helpful to know how much time/ energy/ willingness you have for shopping around within a week or a month. If you have a freezer and a smartphone or tablet.

What shops you have access to (Big Four supermarkets, Aldi/ Lidl/ Farmfoods/ Iceland, pound shops/ B&M/ Home Bargains, fruit and veg market stall, farm shop, decent sized Pakistani or Indian/ Middle Eastern/ Chinese grocers, Halal butchers …) ??

Dr Mosley suggests both Phase 1 and Phase 2 are done in multiple stages, which gives scope for slowly using up existing supplies, whilst slowly building up a base of new long life ingredients and wholefoods. Variety IS important, but the book is OTT for a singleton. Plus nobody likes everything – eg. I hate the texture of most cooked root veg/ squashes/ cucurbita family (ok in soup).

Laugh or cry?

The singleton between ‘young voter’ and pensioner is practically invisible unless they (a) are likely to produce offspring, (b) have a decent current or anticipated income, (c) both.

Singletons on a low income or on benefits have one electoral vote (may well not even register), rubbish spending and borrowing power … it’s a numbers game for local and national government/ sales/ marketing/ advertisers.

Likely won’t run a car, won’t take out insurances, low priority for social housing or long term private rented, can’t afford fancy TV/ phone/ internet contracts …

I know (or know of) far too many such singles. Many sofa surfing or in short term accomodation, many with current or previous mental health/ alcohol/ drug use/ minor criminal histories. The single men are getting the least help or support, not classed as homeless or ‘vulnerable’ by the powers-that-be, blah blah blah.

Why would a celebrity chef or medical professional write a healthy eating cookbook for us? No $$$ in it. Can’t market a line of kitchen equipment, can’t sell a linked primetime TV series, newspapers and magazines won’t print double page spreads (AKA free advertising). TV cookery programmes are all about families or baking sweet stuff. Online it’s families or anti-baking (low carb/ ‘clean eating’).

My other post was so much less depressing! 😉

I’d also like to sign up for the sleep/starch/fibre.

OUCH MrsBear, that sounds painful and frustrating. 🙁

Criticize away! I have worked alongside (or was a patient of) some patronising incompetents. :/

Locum pharmacist with x-ray vision (‘checked’ dispensing without touching pile of Rx). Replacement panicked whenever remotely busy. Boss’ and junior’s faces always a picture after my day off!

GP that believed mental health diagnosis = attention span of a toddler (NO I don’t need a baby dose one week at a time, just in case I suddenly forgot how to take meds like a big girl).

Worse I don’t care to remember. Been out of healthcare a good few years now thankfully!

That was a serious question or are you the local clown?

**peers over spectacles & purses lips**

If you followed British politics or watched terrestrial television you would know that singletons over the age of 25 are a figment of our own imagination.

There have been exceedingly rare sightings of the 40+ ‘child free by choice’ bird in the north of England … but her existence has been denied by hard-working families, vulnerable pensioners and the BBC.

I suspect the last specimen was eaten by her own hoard of cats.

I agree.
I think my post in ‘Re-Introducing Foods’ forum is also relevant.

There are hardly any recipe books devoted to a single person. All the recipes are for two, four, six or more persons where one has to mentally divide the quantities for a single person (it’s easier to multiply up than to divide down).
I live by myself and I do not wish to buy produce and prepare a meal for more than one person (I have limited storage space).
This also applies to members of a family where only one of that family has a diet condition to be addressed.
Even ‘Specialist’ cookery books for diabetics seem to assume that where there is a diabetic in the family therefore the whole family must be diabetic and ‘double-up’ the recipes accordingly.
The only recipe book with single person recipes that I have come across is Delia Smith’s ‘One is Fun’. But that is hardly a ‘Diet’ book or a book for diabetics.
I do not think it is beyond the wit of any chef to accommodate the above suggestion. So how about it?

I prefer my bedtime milk warm. Does it make any difference to having it cold?

While I found the book fascinating, I have one quibble: everything in it is sooo expensive! How about a Clever Guts recipe book for the terminally poverty-stricken? I drafted a week’s menus, and the cost (excluding the store-cupboard items like spices) came to more than my food budget for a month.

Yes! I was hoping there might be a mention in the book of the effects of the menopause, if any, on the microbiome. I was slim all my life until the menopause and then bam! I realise hormones play a big part but yes, I’d love to know the effects on the bacteria or the shifts of bacteria . Another study well worth doing Dr Mosley……

Thank you very much Amywoowah, that’s very useful indeed. I wonder if pregnancy can trigger Rosacea and whether it’s something gut related – definitely sounds like diet has been the key for everyone. I’m going to try the diet too :0)

I’d like to sign up for the potato starch study

My reflux is due to a large hiatus hernia, which should have been operated on 15 years ago, but that’s another story … Does anyone here have experience of reflux due to HH, and has s/he had any success with kefir or other dietary cures?

MrsBear go for it, make your own kefir, don’t worry about cold turkey symptoms, make sure you have everything in place and that you can tolerate a reasonable amount of kefir daily prior to stopping your medication. Prepare yourself to be amazed. Problems are frequently caused through lack of acid causing digestion difficulties, not the reverse, so suppressing it may well be part of the problem, even though this seems counter intuitive. Good luck. Worst case scenario, you can always go back on the drugs! I have every confidence in your chances of success.

Hi there

I was wondering whether there has been any research into whether gut bacteria plays a role in menstruation and the menopause?

My intention wasn’t to criticise the NHS, i am fully aware of the constraints that are placed on GP’s, unfortunately i suffered at the hands of a GP surgery where incompetence and lack of time in appointment led to me being misdiagnosed and left untreated for very painful gall stones. Even the gastroenterologist I consulted was slow on the uptake despite me paying for half an hour of his time at £180! It wasn’t until I took it upon myself to seek a private diagnosis and treatment in Poland that i got those issues sorted out. I have lost faith in the GP because of this and that is why i am seeking alternative ideas and ways to treat it myself without having to involve my GP. My first steps are to try and repair my system trough the cleverguts but then to try weaning myself off the drugs. It’s not going to be easy as I have tried going off the meds before. At the time I did discuss it with the GP who did not offer any kind of support other than to drink gaviscon. 🙁

I would encourage anyone to focus on *evidence-based* healthy eating/ diet websites and books written by medical or research professionals: ‘Clever Guts Diet’, ‘The Diet Myth’, the UK National Health Service, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), British Nutrition Foundation, US government, PubMed, Google Scholar, charities for specific medical conditions, professional bodies of dieticians/ specialists/ doctors.

In ‘real life’ consult a young-ish pharmacist about Rx drugs/ supplements; ask your GP for a referral to a registered dietician, other lifestyle health professional, hospital specialist.

Provide them with a detailed food and symptom diary, every mouthful with quantities, *completed as you go not later.*

HTH someone!

In the UK the average patient wants one of three things from their GP: reassurance all is well, a prescription or a referral to a specialist. Many are affronted or offended, feel they are being blamed or fobbed off, if their lifestyle/ diet/ weight is unexpectedly raised.

Advice on targeted lifestyle modification requires the GP to have plenty of time, be fully up to date on the research in numerous fields AND the patient to be willing to make (often major) changes.

Consider the current rates of clinical overweight and obesity, smoking, alcohol use, sedentary behaviour and poor diet … even amongst NHS staff! Unfortunately, those of us who have made it here to Clever Guts are the exception not the rule.