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.

Hello everyone, I have just joined the forum and I am halfway through the clever guts book. Just been reading the initial reset and reboot to start my diet changes. However! I do not have any food intolerances so do I still need to go through the illumination phase?

@ada

Could you post a link to the recipe you said is great, I couldn’t find it on sourdough.com

Thanks!

Hi all,

Have been to see my holistic doc and she recommended I have my food sensitivities checked so have done that. She has had great results with this test in eliminating IBS so I will let you all know in a month after the results are back and I start eliminating the culprits.

Hi. I’m interested in hearing from anybody who has had their gal bladder removed and what you may have taken to help your body produce the bile that helps break down the fats in our food. I take a bike salt but is this enough. Does it actually work. I eat a very healthy diet, a lot of the foods listed in the clever guts book, but was just after feedback if there was more I needed to do. I am not overweight by any means and I am very fit and active but I do find it hard to loose weight and sometimes wonder if this is s result of not having a gal bladder. I look forward to hearing from anybody with suggestions! Thanks

Your progress is impressive Francis37. How long have you been working on your reduction of meds?
I totally agree about your comments, Mrs Bear. Over the years, as my stomach played up and I increased the meds, my acid levels seemed to ‘rise to the challenge of the extra meds” and increase again. About 5 years ago, I was at my heaviest, carrying most of my weight around my middle. I discussed this with my doctor and not once did she say that I needed to lose weight (than is until I brought it up) Also, I saw my consultant last year and had a scope, which showed my stomach was quite healthy. I spoke to the doctor (who is under the consultant) at the hospital about reducing meds and she check and said no.
I retired two years ago, and now my stress levels have gone down significantly. So too, I might add, has my weight and I am at my lowest for about 20 years. I decided at Christmas to reduce my Nexium and as I said above, have halved it from 80mg a day split morning and evening to 40 mg – one tab morning and evening. I hope to slowly halve that again to one tablet in the evening.
I found the link below useful.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/Why-You-Should-Get-Off-Prescription-Acid-Reducing-Drugs-ASAP.aspx
Good luck on your journey. I’d be interested to see how you get on.

Completely agree with you Francis37 the GP’s are so willing to hand out the drugs but never want to discuss dietary changes other than telling you not to eat curry and tomatoes – duh! I could have sussed that one out myself. The more i read on the internet the more i am becoming convinced that the PPI’S are actually a massive contributor to the problem. I think they contribute to leaky gut and death to bacteria and also having low stomach acid being a major factor. The problem is i am kind of dependent on the PPI’s at the moment but aiming to wean off once I get stuck into the clever guts but I am worries its a little bit of a chicken and egg situation.

I use xylitol as a sugar alternative (occasionally) for my home baking, ice cream etc. What is the verdict?

Yes, I will thank you x

Hi

Thank you for your reply – very helpful. I think that gutting sugar has really helped but I think I am nervous about introducing foods not on the clever guts diet in case I am ill. Frustrating that I don’t actually know what gut problem I have! I guess trial and error …

Yes. Same procedure as before. Let me know how you get on x

Thanks June ,I am going to use some from this batch to start the next .I’ll try semi skimmed too.Thank you.
Did you leave it for 8 hours?
Ann.x

Yep. Same. Try using semi skimmed milk.
Also I made my next batch by keeping some of the 1st lot I made & adding semi skimmed milk. Came out thinner. X

Suffered reflux many years and been on long term lansoprazole. Previously tried low fat diet and acid reduction diet but neither helped. Am now on low carb low processed food diet and this is helping. Have now managed to slowly wean off lansoprazole which I have now stopped. I am now taking 75mg Ranitidine twice a day having stepped down from 150mg twice a day. So far so good. Aim to gradually stop Ranitidine and just have Gaviscon as standby.

I also find exercise and stress reduction help symptoms.

I would like to see more research into the role of diet and the microbiome in gastro oesophageal reflux. Unfortunately funding for this will not come from the drug companies! Scope for large savings for the NHS if it can be shown that lifestyle changes and diet better than drugs in treating gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Michael, I am a health professional working in early childhood, from infancy onwards. I read a while ago a study about pacifiers (dummies). Infants whose parents sucked the pacifier and placed it in the baby’s mouth had fewer allergies in later childhood. I’m wondering if anyone has done any poo studies to see if that affect heirloom flora in the gut. As an amateur anthropologist and traveller, I have also noted that in cultures where mothers premasticate food for infants there is little eczema and allergy. Has anyone looked into these two practices as a historic means of transferring heirloom flora? Just some thoughts of mine. Cheers.

Morning June 17 67, I purchased the Lakeland yoghurt make and also the culture from eBay .I used whole organic milk ,left it for 8 ours as suggested in instructions. It came out as a set yoghurt .Just wondering how yours turned out.what should I do differently so it’s not set ,I do like thick yoghurt but when it’s a set one not so easy to use for making dips and things with it,because when I did stir it had a curdled look to it ,tasted fine though.
Any tips gratefully appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I’ve made several batches of yoghurt now and am feeing pretty comfortable with the process- my results are becoming more consistent so I wanted to experiment with making Labna (yoghurt cheese). Apparently all you do differently is let the whey strain off over 24-48hrs in the fridge through muslin cloth and then roll the cheese in to balls and store in olive oil with rosemary. Has anyone made Labna before? Very excited to see how it goes!

That probably has not been studied: olive leaf extract is a relatively ‘new’ supplement. Often with such supplements any research is of poor quality, in vitro (test tube/ petri dish) not in vivo (in real people, uses few subjects or very short duration.

Research into far more established supplements or wholefoods and the gut flora is still very much a work-in-progress.

Authors like Dr Michael Mosley or Professor Tim Spector are distilling the latest research: if they don’t discuss a product it is likely because there is no evidence base.

Thank you for the advice .The machine doesn’t drain the yoghurt. As it was my first attempt it’s a bit trial and error I suppose, and using different milks maybe ,I used organic whole milk this time

The comments on beer are presumably due to the grain base. AFAIK that applies across the board from craft beers to cheap lager.

Beers and ciders obviously contain alcohol and sugars, and many include sweeteners. Some are more carbonated/ acidic/ chemical soupy than others.

As with an unpasteurised/ unfiltered apple cider vinegar or a quality red wine, a flat cloudy ‘craft’ scrumpy might well contain some beneficial stuff (prebiotics/ probiotics/ antioxidants) *when consumed in moderation.* The CAMRA website has information on what is considered ‘real’ cider (proper scrumpy).
I can’t imagine that Strongbow, Scrumpy Jack, Diamond White, White Lightening, 3 Hammers and Frosty Jacks are anything but bad for the gut.

Certainly for me the latter two trigger gastritis (acid inflammation in the stomach) in a single session. Many others get loose and smelly poops after a night on cheap lager or white cider.

Hi everyone, thanks for those responses – it sounds like its all very much interlinked and am keen to try the kefir. I have also tried various natural products like DGL but it seems my problem is very severe as I have not had any real positive results from it. I wonder if the PPI’s actually prevent the gut bacteria from doing their job? I am also keen to not develop osteoporosis as i get older.
Good luck Debster, i am going to give the clever guts a go to try and improve my gut health but i have a sneaking suspicion that i will have to go cold turkey on the mess so that the good bacteria get a chance to work.

Does the Lakeland machine drain or strain the yoghurt? If not you have made what is sold in supermarkets as ‘set natural’ yoghurt with the thin whey still incorporated with the thicker curds. These are made right in the yoghurt pot they are sold in. Flavours and sweeteners are added to the milk at the start.

Stirring ‘cuts the curds’ separating the whey out. As will adding acids (some fruits) or heating/ cooking (often employed in cheesemaking).

You can either eat your set natural yoghurt ‘as is’ or drain/ strain through muslin cloth to make a thicker yoghurt or fresh cheese (= Skyr, Greek yoghurt, quark, cottage cheese).

Interestingly Ricotta cheese is ‘recooked’ from the whey drained out when making other cheeses.

Official serving size for yoghurt in the UK is 150g IIRC. Recommended number of servings of dairy products is three for an adult.

Dr Mosley and official healthy eating guidelines advocate eating a wide variety of different foods. That applies to anything: dairy or not; prebiotic or probiotic.

It’s next to impossible to know the amount of probiotics in any fermented food, so ideally don’t rely on a single dairy product. You might have a serving of unpasteurised/ mould ripened/ rind washed cheese (30g), some kefir or buttermilk in any given day. Or dairy from cows milk plus some from goats or ewes milk.

Some microbes in live cultured products survive stomach acid to reach and colonise the gut, but others do not so need to be taken regularly.

Current advice with probiotic supplements seems to be take on an empty stomach so the microbes pass through as quickly as possible. So first meal of the day or after fasting (if you do).

I think yoghurt or fresh white cheese is best suited to breakfast anyway, or with a (prebiotic rich) curry.

HTH!

Some of the microbes in kefir grains need milk sugars (lactose) for food – this is converted to lactic acid. The resulting lower pH affects which other microbes thrive.

You can get a live fermented product without using lactose, but it won’t have the same probiotic composition as milk kefir. Water kefir employs different ‘food’ such as table sugar or fruit. *Not saying better or worse just not the same.*

Residual lactose largely ends up in the whey portion of yoghurt or fresh cheese – this can then be drained off (and is in Greek yoghurt and Skyr). Hence hard cheeses are much lower in lactose than milk.

Some research suggests live fermented products with residual lactose are better tolerated than pasteurised ones. How much residual lactose and how much live culture is present in DIY kefir is likely to be highly variable.

Whole flaxseed/ linseeds are apparently indigestible because chewing doesn’t sufficiently break down the seeds coating.

The gelatinous mucilage still helps them act as a bulking agent – and presumably prebiotic – but the fats and other nutrients are not released unless the seed is ground. I have wondered if other tiny seeds such as sesame and chia are the same.

Soaking flaxseed in water releases the mucilage gel fairly easily: you might test that then later a small portion of whole or cracked seeds. Flaxseeds are often used as a topping or ingredient, you don’t need to tolerate as much as with a snack of nuts.

Hi Pia
I too am very interested in your capsules and have signed up! Thank you for your good work!

On the Clever Guts diet what we cut out is arguably more important than what we add in. This is to stop feeding the ‘bad’ microbes and to stop aggravating the gut.

Although, say, dropping gluten and refined grains sounds drastic, this largely translates to cutting out highly processed wheat products. So biscuits/ cookies/ cakes/ many breakfast cereals/ bought sandwiches/ ‘plastic’ bread/ TV dinners. Since these are loaded with additives (sugar/ sweeteners/ flavour enhancers/ salt/ unhealthy fats) and low in fibre, we should already be minimising them to fit in with official healthy eating guidelines.

We can still have oats, brown rice, other gluten-free grains, root vegetables for a wide variety of starches. Plus beans and lentils if they don’t cause you problems.

Preparing meals from scratch makes it so much easier to make simple swaps and increase variety.

I won’t be baking my own bread – laziness and broken oven – but rather adjusting my recipes for stir fries, curries, soups, mega salads and dairy or egg-based breakfasts.

HTH!

GP’s and practice nurses are medical generalists, not lifestyle healthcare or drug specialists. Instead consider discussing diet modification/ supplements/ drug interactions with a registered dietician, cardiovascular specialist, young-ish pharmacist or lifestyle health professional. These are more likely to be familiar with current research.

How radical you need to be for results depends where your diet and gut health are now. Mainstream medicine advocates portion control, wide variety, healthy fats, Mediterranean style diet anyway.

I am taking warfarin because I have a mechanical heart valve. I therefore have to be careful about taking any supplements or changing my diet too drastically (eg eating more green veg can hamper the way the warfarin works because of the vitamin K in them). However, last year, because of the heart infection which led my having to have a new heart valve I spent 13 weeks on very strong antibiotics. I am therefore very keen to improve my gut microbes. I already tend to do intermittent fasting by leaving a long period of not eating overnight.

I do not intend to follow the diets as shown in the book as this would be too radical for me but rather to introduce things one at a time e.g. starting with taking apple cider vinegar on my salad.

Does anyone have any further advice (apart, obviously from speaking to my GP / practice nurse).

Thank you

Hi All

For those interested

Bimuno is back in stock on their website, maximum order is 2 packs.

Morning Everyone, Made my first batch of yoghurt in my new Lakeland yoghurt maker, half price at the moment, until the end of June,by the way.
Left in machine for 8 hours as suggested in instructions, seemed fairly thick ,I then let it cool before putting in the fridge. Only in for about an hour as I was keen to try! Then I tipped it into another container to store and tried a small amount with fruit stirred into it, but it then appeared curdled, with runny bits and set bits ,tasted lovely though!
Was I wrong to stir it ? or perhaps it wasn’t chilled enough.
sorry for rambling on! Any advice please?

I would also like to sign up for the ‘Potato Starch Study’. Thanks. Please email me.

Hi Suey
I have only personally used milk kefir as I find it so very easy to manage on a daily basis but I believe that water kefir grains work well for people. Here is a comment I got from another post:
‘Hi, I’ve dropped in from the 5:2 diet after reading the Clever guts book, I’ve suffered from excess stomach acid form 20 years but don’t have GERD. I have been on PPIs for that length of time, in increasing, finally ridiculous strength. I’ve lost some weight on the 5:2, mostly around the waist, and am now on a mission to cut my meds. I’ve currently halved my Nexium and Ranitidine, which I’m doing gradually because I understand if you cut it out too quickly it can make the problem worse. As far as diet is concerned, I only drink decaf tea and coffee and limit alcohol (should stop it altogether!) The biggest boost I think, has come from drinking daily kefir like Sue C – I use the water type mainly because I don’t like the taste of the milk variety, – and have increased my water intake considerably. At the beginning, I found fasting made my acid worse, but it soon settled and now I only eat two meals a day, brunch and dinner in a window of about 8 hours. My glob is to cut my tabs to one a day. I’m getting there. Good luck ‘
If you read up on it I believe that it delivers a good variety of probiotics and in a ‘trust me I’m a doctor’ episode, of all of the probiotics tested, kefir had the greatest impact on increasing microbiome diversity. Good luck, I hope that you try it

This is a really great post and I’d love to know the answer. I also found the 5:2 diet didn’t agree with me, even when I increased the calories on a fasting day. I could manage to eat later in the morning and finish earlier in the evening, if that would count as fasting.

I also follow a FODMAP diet and have found it has really helped with certain inflammation, especially in my joints, and resolved a runny nose in the mornings. How does the ‘clever guts’ diet fit in with the restriction of foods on a FODMAP diet?

I know. I have been reading the book and many of the recipes call for foods that I know cause problems for me. When I started on the FODMAP diet, I followed it quite strictly just so that I could give myself the best chance of reducing the inflammation. Once things settled down (i.e. my symptoms started to disappear), I was told I could reintroduce some of these foods again in a slow and graded way as many of the intolerances are based on a cumulative effect. For example, I could start to reintroduce dairy again in small amounts. I noticed that there were some foods that I could tolerate in small-moderate amounts (dairy) and other foods that I couldn’t tolerate at all (onions, apples, pears) which has allowed me to work around it to some extent. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info about Bioceuticals and where to buy. Much appreciated. The trouble with FODMAP intolerance is that most of the healthiest or yummiest foods like all the legumes, apples, pears, figs, garlic, onions, kefir etc, that all help the gut can’t be tolerated. I wonder if there is, or will be, an actual cure for FODMAP problems.
Difficult to get ones Gut back on track when over half of all of the most beneficial nutrients are off the list of tolerated foods.
Thanks again for your post

My pleasure. I used Bioceuticals which are apparently one of few evidenced based probiotics. You can get them from some pharmacies or health food stores like About Life or alternatively order online.

Hi SueC unfortunately milk is one of the FODMAP intolerance foods to avoid . I wonder if kefir can be made from lactose free milk?
I’ll give it a try and post results

Thanks for your reply. Have been searching for info for ages. Can I ask which probiotic you used