Good morning, I thought I would share my husband’s experience with digestion issues and food. He was on max strength ppi (lanzoprolol) and had been for 10 or more years for acid reflux . I realised this was inhibiting all stomach acid and got to thinking about what that must be doing for nutrient absorption etc. It was horrendous giving them up, but he did it, and has been acid free and symptom free for 6 years. He found that certain foods instantly cause acid reflux, but more importantly, I think, is that I researched kefir, started making it and he has it every day. We both have it for breakfast and I was so pleased when it’s effectiveness was proved by TrustMe a few months ago. I just went for it, and have kefir grains coming out of my ears, it’s so easy to make. If you haven’t tried it I recommend you do.

From a gut bacteria point of view does it make any difference if I use UHT milk or fresh milk for making yogurt? Also is there any real difference if I don’t use organic milk and an organic yogurt starter and just use regular milk/yogurt?

Hello. Like you, I would like to know where to source the best Olive Oil.

I’m also doing 5:2 which I’ve not really done properly until last week. That reply helps. The day after a fast day, my skin feels less inflamed and my stomach is less bloated.

Funnily enough I feel less hungry now than I did. The fermented foods seem to do that. It’s like my body no longer wants carbs. Also funnily enough, I’m no longer craving coffee. 1 cup a day, but actually that’s more habit than craving.

I do think Dr Mosely is right when he says gut flora might control what we eat. Because they crave it for it their own survival and tell our brain that we are hungry.

It’s like something out of Star Trek really. Symbiosis !!

Yeah I have all those symptoms too – plus a couple of dodgy infected nails that won’t clear up.

Since being on fermented foods though I feel better in myself. Less brain fog and more awake. But my body feels kind of hot all the time. It’s very strange.

I’m hoping that it means something is going on in my gut! And it’s gonna sort itself out.

I think I must have candida too, I’m guessing this based on my symptoms- athletes foot that comes every summer and is hard to shift, fungal infections, eczema like patches on my skin, flakey scalp, itchy skin, bouts of lethargy, ibs and food intolerances. My siblings also have similar problems.
Let’s hope by doing this programme it sorts us out. I’m feeling it’s an insurmountable task at the moment – I can hardly believe that I can turn myself around as I’ve had it for so long and put up with it for so long it’s become the status quo

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-potato-starch-60018188

Holland and Barrett sells potato starch. (I saw it on the shelf at the branch I looked in near me.)

Ok thanks. I’d rather have it sooner but there you go. It’s not a bad price. You then have to wait 8 weeks for results. So 10 in total.

I’ll be fascinated to know what my gut flora is made up of though. I know something is wrong. I’m assuming too much candida but I don’t know for certain.

I can get to sleep easily but always wake in the night. After seeing The Trouble with Sleep I bought inulin/dried chicory root and believe my sleep is improving and in the past I’ve tried all the usual ‘tips’ for a good nights sleep. Been taking it for 1 week now. I add it to milk and have it with Weetabix for supper or in a milky drink 😀

I think it was 2-3 weeks, Steve.

Oh and plenty of water

Yes I struggled at first but it got easier.

To be honest, I had to sort some aspects of my life out before I could handle it. Because stress was making me comfort eat. Now I’ve done that, it’s a lot easier. Plus I’ve found that after a few weeks, the hunger gets less.

The other thing I do, on the day before a fast I eat much later in the evening than normal (about 8 or 9pm). That way I wake up not very hungry. I can then happily leave it till 3.30pm when I have a meal containing loads of vegetables and some eggs & salmon. That fills me up till about 8, and then I go to bed hungry.

Yes I signed up for this 2 days ago. Not quite sure when exactly they will post the test kit. How long does it normally take?

So, I’ve started some aspects of the diet including more fermented foods and 5:2. My first week.

Previously I had ezcma, asthma, candida rashes like athletes foot and nail fungus. Hence why I thought this might help.

Only thing is, since starting this I kind of feel hot all over and my skin feels flushed. Not particularly unpleasant. Is this normal? I’m just not sure what it means? Is there like a war going on in my stomach between the various gut bacteria??

Appreciate any thoughts. Sometimes it’s weird working out whats going on. If only we could speak to our gut flora friends!!

I’d sound a note of caution regarding long-term use of potato starch, if you google potato starch colon cancer you’ll see what I mean. It may be best rather than taking it as a drink to incorporate it in a meal with some form of fibre to help it get tomthe right part of your guts.

It’s : http://britishgut.org
I won a lottery scratch card hence I submitted a sample. It’s not cheap!

I got mine from Dennis the chemist – they arrived a day later.

I’m not sure about the forum yet, it’s early days still. What’s a phpBB type forum? I’ve been on the blood sugar diet forum although not very actively posting and that seems ok. I also dallied with the 5:2 forum and that seems lively and fast moving. There’s a 5:2 and a BSD forum on mumsnet – I’m an aged mumsnetter !! They are quite quite lively – the forums, that is

I’ve also got the kit to do the test and then I got a bad cold and didn’t do it – I may do it and send it off.
I read Tim Spector book the Diet Myth it’s very enlightening. I also read an article in my google searches that the only approach that Tim Spector advocates is a Mediterranean diet with intermittent fasting. I’ll post the link if anyone is interested in it

This sounds interesting. Do you have any further info/links?

Thanks.

Sorry for posting this in the welcome section, but it appears that several of my posts have ‘disappeared’.

This has happened in the Prebiotic forum. Both with my reply to a topic and also a new post about Bimuno. Not sure if you have enabled forum ‘flood control’ and this has prevented it appearing or it has just got lost in the ether?

(Incidentally, I don’t find this forum that user friendly. Have you ever thought about incorporating a phpBB type forum?)

You can buy VSL#3 Probiotics from here: https://www.vsl3.co.uk/

Or you buy it from your local Lloyds Pharmacy (they keep it in their fridge).

Personally, I wouldn’t buy it from anywhere else, although there are sellers on amazon etc. It needs to be shipped in a chilled package and direct from the fridge. Also, VSL ship via tracked next day delivery.

Hope this helps.

okay, so I’ve twice typed and submitted a post in this thread with the link to Bimuno prebiotics but neither have appeared!

Sorry, richwnewman, I initially read your post as “probiotic”! Yes, you can get prebiotics that Michael used from Bimuno https://www.bimuno.com/

Barbara – they are now back in stock! 🙂

I buy mine direct from VSL#3 website or Lloyds Pharmacy.

All those new to fermenting and Kefir making, I would highly recommend the Facebook group – UK fermenting friends. They are well established and an excellent kefir grains sharing resource. I currently make my own milk kefir, sauerkraut and I’m starting to experiment with more fermented veggies.

Would like to take part in the study. Thank you

I would also like to sign up and am interested in advance of what the protocol will be.

Hello I am interested in signing up for the potato starch study
Karen

Meant to type Probiotics!

Where can I buy these in the U.K. Only ones coming up are in USA or New Zealand. Thanks Maureen Milsom

For those of you who do intermittent fasting do you just count the calories or do you aim for a specific Macronutrient ratio and if so what?

Well you are asking a supplier of seaweed food and capsules – so my answer would be yes! But for you to be able to make your own informed decision, you would have to have trust in the brand/company (there are many supplement companies that are not trustworthy as it is a notoriously unregulated market, but then there are good ones), then you will need to look for the evidence behind the active ingredient (the company should lead you to research from their website to demonstrate the benefits), and you will want to know that it comes from a clean and well managed coastline (seaweed can suck up industrial pollutants that you don’t want). The main issue is that this is such a new area of rediscovered knowledge, the markets and products have not kept up. There are a number of simply milled seaweeds in capsules on the market, but not many yet with the concentrated dietary fibre component with science behind it – but watch this space as there will be soon. Importantly if you buy any seaweed in capsules or powdered form as a supplement and it seems to be a brown kelp, then you just need to make sure that you are not overdosing for iodine. Some kelps concentrate iodine from seawater way too much for them to be edible in quantities everyday that make it useful as a dietary fibre (notably Kombu (Laminaria or Sugar kelp)). These are still good sources for trace elements, and they can have certain pigments (phenolics), that can also be good for the gut in other ways than the fibres. But the source and the function of the supplements should be made clear by the company/brand. Many other seaweeds from clean coastlines you can eat abundantly and they don’t accumulate iodine so much, notable the green, sea lettuce types. A little bit of seaweed every day in anything you can is a good practice, and supplements can help too, but ask the company to give you the information you need to trust them.

That’s great, thanks a lot Barbara

Are there good and bad types of seaweed fibre supplements to look out for?

Hi, there’s a tab at the top for recipes and you can submit your own – probably better than a forum strand, as it is more formatted and lets you add lots of info. I’m going to put in a few of mine when I can find time.

I remember thinking about doing this but was laid up at the time after an accident, then forgot about it. Do you have a link to the project, assuming it’s still on-going? Thanks.

If you get the seaweed in your diet then that is all you need – like for all things nutritional. But seaweed capsules are good when you can’t keep up with nutrition through food intake or want to concentrate and fill in your nutritional gap that is missing – like prebiotics. So things that you know you aren’t getting enough of (and the west is 50% deficient in dietary fibres), then quality capsules with evidence behind the effects will help. But the easiest way is to keep a jar of dried seaweed by the stove and just throw a little bit into everything – not just the miso soup – unless you eat miso soup everyday!

Hi I Keep Trying
Yes, I think Clever Gits would be an excellent collective name for us all! 😄
Well done you! You have gone for it! Really inspiring and impressive, especially the bike riding just after you’ve dislocated your shoulder. It’s always quite daunting and overwhelming starting a new way of eating, working out what to eat, and how to make the diet work for you, especially when you already have huge limits on what you are able to eat. I think it’s important to eat foods in this diet that you really enjoy as much as possible, so that you don’t feel deprived or denied, and to give yourself little treats along the way, to keep your spirits up. I treat myself to a nice cup of coffee in the bath, with a good book from the library, when I’m feeling a bit low, it really makes me feel good. Also, watching a good film is a pick me up. Whatever works to keep yourself positive. And I remind myself that this food is healing me, and nourishing me, so that I don’t feel resentful about missing out on junk food during the craving moments. You deserve to do well with this diet, and I really hope you get some fabulous results. I am making very small, tentative changes, taking my time, as I’m so afraid that any change might make my symptoms worse. But any change in the right direction is good progress. Keep up the good work!

I am a big fan of Tim (akaTom in the book) Spector and so I invested in citizen science and contributed a stool sample 18 months ago for analysis for the British Gut Project.

I now have a profile and list that I bearly understand but would love to discuss my results more.

Anyone else in the same position or know any good resources to help me?
Tara

Having tried to increase my intake of resistant starch by adding cold potatoes to my lunchtime salad I noticed that I felt seriously depressed later in the afternoon, whilst my initial presumption was that this was caused by a drop in seratonin during the climb down from the carb intake I wondered if this could actually be a symptom of a nightshade intolerance.

Interested to hear other opinions, especially from those undertaking the potato starch experiment.

Start slowly! Mix a teaspoon into a glass of water and drink it. I think you can build up to a couple of tablespoons a day but if you go in at the high end you risk gut trouble.

Amazon sell potato starch, or search for Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch on google, there are various retailers.

In the FAQ it says that the study is being looked into and to sign up for the news letter to keep informed.

I’d also like to sign up for the study

Hello. Where does everyone source their food (apart from the usual supermarkets). I’m interested in good quality salmon and olive oil.

Thanks!

Hi. I would like to sign up for the potato starch study. How do I do this?

Maureen Milsom

Hi
There’s quite a few of us clever gutters here now – I accidentally typed clever grits and thought that was quite amusing we could name ourselves the clever gits
I’m wondering how everyone is doing so far. Im still trying to get my head round the whole programme. I got my delivery of VSL#3 this morning so will start that tomorrow Ive tried to work out a shopping list of things I’ll need and am heading off to my local a health food shop and supermarket tomorrow
I’m working on cutting out wheat and sugar and trying to follow a Mediterranean diet. I’ve also been on my bike which is progress as I dislocated my shoulder 2 months ago so was a little worried my ligaments weren’t strong enough to support my shoulder

Hi, I’m interested in taking part in the potato starch study

Hi, I believe the one that the Doc was using was bimuno.It looked like it anyway. I used to take it, but my chemist stopped selling it. It’s galactose oligosaccharides, the same sort of fibre that’s in beans if memory serves. I just looked at Amazon as you made me think I might order some, but the powder type that I used to use is out of stock at the moment. Possibly because everyone saw that programme! Hopefully it’ll be in stock again soon. Hope that helps.