Hi Perrigaux, thank you for your reply! Regards, Seni

I’d really like to know whether there are any scientific studies either being carried out, or are being planned, on how the long term use of anti depressants may/may not affect the gut.

Here an olive oil guide https://www.italyabroad.com/olive-oil-guide that should be able to answer some of the questions.
There are good and bad olive oils in every country and most of the time, cheap is bad.
Look at the label, read our guide and make sure of the provenance of the olives. In Europe we can have a Spanish, Greek or Italian olive oil made with olive from a different county and still write on the label “made in…”. Read carefully the label and it should say where the olive are coming from.

Hi all,
Have been drinking (store bought Arla brand) natural kefir (found it bit too much of a hassle to ferment it using my own grains).
Had been drinking it a week (half a cup full) and initially seemed to help quite a lot but last 2 days or so, I’ve had nausea, tummy ache, lots of diarrhea, headache, etc.

I do have a tendency to get stomach bugs a lot so I can’t tell whether it’s
1) A random stomach bug (not related to my kefir intake at all)
2) A symptom/side effect of the kefir – maybe I’m allergic to a certain bacteria in kefir?
3) A die off reaction (I’m hoping it’s this but not sure how I can determine what the cause is)

Has anyone had die off symptoms when consuming kefir (die off in that it started to get better a few days later and resulted in having much improved health than you had before tou started the kefir)? If so, tell me your stories please 🙂

Hello

I am looking to have a stool analysed and would like to know if it has high/low levels of certain bacteria. Can anyone recommend a reliable service?

Has anyone ever had their stool tested by more than one company to compare results?

I am interested in the possible link between diet (see ketogenic diet) and epilepsy. NB I’m not after replacing meds with diet but with exploring the possibility of amending diet to support a more diverse microbiome in addition to meds. I will be consulting my consultant.

So i have specific requirements – and need quite detailed info – but am not remotely interested in weight loss.

If anyone has any advice, I’d be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

More on link here:

https://cen.acs.org/business/start-ups/Bloom-Sciences-launches-treat-epilepsy/96/web/2018/05

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30001522

https://www.cureepilepsy.org/grant_type/role-of-gut-microbiota-in-epilepsy/

I take a 1tbsp of potato starch on my breakfast which is usually a mix of Greek yogurt with various fruits, seeds and nuts. I also include a tsp of potatoe starch in my sandwich at lunchtime and another with some yogurt before bed. It doesn’t seem to cause me any gastric problems but I have no idea if it is doing me any good.

One thing I don’t quite understand about resistant starch is this idea that cooking and then cooling starchy foods like potatoes, rice and pasta increases there resistant starch content. Reheating then again increases it even further. Pasta is made of flour so if it works for pasta, why not all products primarily made of flour. Toast and pitta breads etc, should be really good for you as far as resistant starch is concerned as they has been cooked into bread, cooled and then toasted. I would like to know the official take on this.

I would be very interested in taking part in the potato starch survey if it is still open.

I would like to take part in the potato starch survey.

Many thanks, Andrew. Tim Spector also makes reference to this study in his book The Diet Myth. As you say, it sounds quite positive.
Best regards,
Alison.

Hi. A small study – “Influence of red wine polyphenols and ethanol on the gut microbiotica ecology..” Queipo Ortuno et al, in Amer J Clin Nutr, 2012 – is summarised Michael Mosley’s Clever Guts Diet book on page 118. He says that “..the researchers found.. ..that when the volunteers were drinking the red wine, and to a lessert extent when they drank de-alcoholised wine, there were significant drops in blood pressure, in C-reactive protein (CRP – a measure of inflammation) and in their triglyceride levels (the amount of fat circulating in the blood). Not sure how conclusive this study is, but would suggest it sounds quite positive.
Regards..
Andrew

I’ve started making yogurt with an L Reuteri strain (ATCC PTA 6475 and DSM 17938)and it’s certainly helped my digestion, but hasnt done much for my scalp inflammation. It needs 30hrs fermenting (according to google) which is quite a long time.

My question is, can I add another probiotic to the mix (inneov duology)? Or should I make another yogurt separately (it might have issues fermenting for that long?!)

This new probiotic capsule also has zinc and vit b in. I could find it sold just on its own so had to get one with added vitamins. Will this cause issues in the yogurt making process??!

many thanks for your thoughts!

Wonderful, thanks for the tip about the Paula clinic. I just might do that once I’ve seen the Dr.

Thank goodness you didn’t go on all those steroids!
Interesting to hear about your experiences…and glad you’re going to follow up…a strong gut is so important for long term health.
If you need naturopath support…come over to South Pacific College of Natural Medicine in Ellerslie (Arthur St).
I’m a second year student (mature one!) there doing a Bachelor of Natural Medicine. We have a really good public clinic (called Paua Clinic) at the college for the third year students to work on people. Under supervision of course. It’s very cheap and very good. They know lots about gut stuff!!! You can book online if you fancy going.

All the best
Steph

Once agin thanks for all of that.
Yes, I’m sure it will be a long haul. Luckily I don’t suffer from Cronic Fatigue..
I hear you about the Auckland Hospital diagnosis. It was more than 20 years ago and it took them a while to figure it out. I was under a Doctor called Prof Tasmin Jones who was the leading gastro doctor at the time. He was VERY narrow in his thinking and anything even slightly alternative was out of his thinking.
At first they thought I was an anorexic ( which I wasn’t ) because I was extremely thin due to not absorbing anything. Finally they did a test which show very abnormal gut permeability ( leaky gut in today’s language). The only thing they could offer me was to put me on steroids for the rest of my life…….ekkkkkkk…….runnnnnnnn

So my health comes and goes, usually depending on what I eat and how strict when it comes to eating ( no sugar, gluten, etc). It would be nice to get my gut a little more robust so it can tolorate more.
I take diatomaceous earth which I find quite good.
Thanks again for answering all my questions. I shall make an appointment to see Dr Caunes.

Regards
Lyndal

Hi again Lyndal
Yes he did put me on a protocol. Professor Henry Butt at Bioscreen (at Melbourne University – he’s well known internationally) told my Dr what to do.
I started with Picoprep which is what you take before a colonoscopy which was designed to wash out as much bacteria as possible. Then I had slow release Amoxicillin (designed to stay in the gut for an extended time) made for me at a compounding pharmacy (Optimus) and I did week on week off for 3 cycles. In the in-between weeks I took Mutaflor (on prescription from PCNZ and expensive) and a probiotic supplement called Multigen (full of Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria). I am still taking these. I suffered from a diarrhoea dominant IBS and malabsorption for years and this absolutely stopped that. In fact I went a bit the other way. But what a blessing to sort that out! Now I’m pretty normal in that department. I also was on a 6-week very strict keto diet initially. Minimal carbs, lots of chicken and other meats, leafy greens and 6 cups of homemade organic chicken broth a day. That was a bit of pain to be always making!
The type of bacteria that is dominant in me (Enterococcus), also causes the mitochondria in the cell to be smothered so you can’t make enough ATP in the normal way, that is, you switch to inefficient energy producing system resulting in the chronic fatigue. I’ve since discovered that using D-ribose powder, NADH, creatine and l-carnitine really helps to improve the chronic fatigue.
So all in all I am much better thanks than I was a few months ago. But I suspect that as you have found, it is a long haul!
I’m know noticing that introducing foods is causing all sorts of allergy-type histamine and sulphur reactions so I need to find out why that is…
I think it’s really interesting that you say that Akld hospital diagnosed you with a leaky gut….I’m surprised they’d even now what it was!!!
I do think you may be able to get some help from Olivier if you feel like taking that avenue..he’s quite up on this sort of condition.
Cheers
Steph

Hi Steph,

Wonderful, thanks so much for the info.
I know I have a gut problem ( I was diagnosed with leaky gut 20 years ago at Auckland Hospital ) but it’s been a hard slog to on top of it.
Things have changed so much in the last few years regarding the understanding of the gut and how it all works. There have been a few things that definitely help and I don’t feel as bad as I used to but I’m still not 100%

Did your Doctor then put you on a protocol and are you feeling better?

Thanks
Lyndal

Hi Buhler

Yes I can. I did it through my GP (Dr Olivier Caunes) at Holistic Medical Centre in Ponsonby.
Boy did it show up a big problem. 98.6% Enterococcus Faecium when it should be about 2%.
1-2% Ecoli when it should be huge
Significantly elevated Eubacterium
No lactobillicus at all!! Hardly any Bifido. Reduced Bacteroides.
Dysbiosis big time!

No wonder I have had chronic fatigue and IBS for 10 years since severe food poisoning

If you are having health problems that nobody can explain..then this may be very useful to you.
Best of luck
StephK

Hi,
I live in Auckland and would also like to get a test from Bioscreen. Could you tell me who you went to in Auckland to arrange that.

Many thanks

Hi
I’m just about to start week 1 of the plan and was wondering if any snacking was allowed. For example the healthy chocolate brownies?

Hi Emerald! I’ve been taking 1/2 to 1 tsp of potato starch in the evenings and have increased my homemade kefir intake to now about a cup per day. At first I had bad abdominal cramps. I stopped the potato starch and when I resumed I gradually increased, and I was fine.
Tonight I increased it to 1 tablespoon. I also took a simethicone (anti-gas) pill in case there is bloating. I’d like to take another tablespoon in the morning.
I need to lose some weight! I’m having trouble stic

Does anyone have suggestions for putting together a good evening meal on a Fast day? I’m planning to drink black coffee and water all during the day, then eat a full meal at around 7 or 8 in the evening. Being a newbie, I’m not sure of which foods to use that add up to 500 cal. Thanks for any information

I too am confused by the inclusion of kale onions etc in phase 1 diet.
They certainly cause me problems

I too would like to know why kale ,onions etc are included I phase I diet
Thank you

Hi all,
I have recently been diagnosed as being pre-diabetic, and whilst not completely followng this diet, I am using some of the recipes and guidelines, which I am finding really helpful. I have cut right down on potatoes, pasta, cereals, processed meats, too much fruit (especially those considered as tropical fruits, like bananas, mangoes, grapes etc), flavoured yoghurts, etc. I have never had a particulalry sweet tooth so don’t normally eat biscuits, cakes, sweets etc. . I am not too concerned about losing weight, but really want to get my blood sugar levels down. I now read labels on everything I buy and try to take note of the carbohydrate content (particularly the bit that says ‘of which sugars’). My question is, how do I know what is a high level of carbs/sugar and what is acceptable? Is there some sort of magic figure I should be looking for? Sorry if this seems a daft question, but I look at things and think ‘is that high? Is that ok? so I really need some advice! Thanks in advance. 🙂

Hi Pia,

Just wanted to follow up on this. Is there another website by now where we can buy your seaweed capsules / see study results ?
Thanks

Hi Wobbles
Is the tea you are drinking sweetened?
Could you substitute some of the bad stuff with some other better snack (ideally you shouldn’t be snacking that often but you have to start somewhere) -A few nuts or plain yoghurt maybe?
Sounds like you should try and cut down on those cups of tea….you need another diversion
I found exercise helped (not something I’d ever done before and I didn’t enjoy it!) a quick burst of HIIT took the cravings away, it took willpower but helped in a multitude of ways (reduced eating, increased fitness, burned some calories etc) Just start by doing a few minutes and build it up if you can, if you can’t do few minutes do what you can and build it up.
Clear out the cupboards and don’t buy those snacks, if there not in the house you won’t eat them!
Sounds like you need to ditch the sugar, easier said than done but worth it, you need to loose your sweet tooth….
Good luck, make a start!

Willpower. Where on earth do people really get their willpower from? I struggle with habitual eating and my main problem is I drink tea, probably five or six cups a day, and every time I drink tea I have to have something to eat with it. It might be a biscuit or a bit of cake, a chocolate bar, a bit of toast (or two!) spread with LOADS of butter. If I drink tea without eating anything I can often feel sick afterwards, which passes after three or four minutes. That’s probably something to do with the tannin in the tea but also it’s a habit. I don’t drink tea without something to ‘mop up the wetness’. I can drink fruit juice or squash (I don’t drink these very often) without eating so why not tea? I can’t bear to give up tea, it’s such a big part of my life. My downfall is at about 9pm when I sit down to relax in front of the telly. I cannot stop myself from making a cup of tea with………chocolate, bit of cake, biscuits, whatever sweet thing I can find. If I ditched the ‘last thing at night’ cup of tea then I wouldn’t eat the food but having a ‘last thing at night’ cup of tea is part of the relaxing process. It makes me feel more snuggly and cosy.
How do other people deal with their habits and changing the way their mind thinks when it comes to food?

I just wanna share my experience in medical marijuana and it helps me deal with my health conditions. I’ve been suffering from chronic pain for how many years, but then when I learned that medical marijuana can help and cure sickness such mine like this article about a marijuana kylekushman.com/topic/still-getting-yellowing-around-week-4-5/ CBD and THC are also new to me and I don’t even smoke. If this is true I can’t find any solid conclusive evidence that speaks to its efficacy.

Hi! I’ve experience anxiety and those sleepless night but I’ve tried to include matcha green tea to my die. For the first cups of tea, I needed to adjust since that I’m not a fan of tea. But after I visited one site I learn different kinds of recipe and I found the right one for me, to know different kinds of recipe visit this link https://blog.piquetea.com/matcha-green-tea/

@coffeequeen – How is it going with your psoriasis.? I also suffer from psoriasis in my scalp, legs and elbows.

Now I have been a month without sugar, almost no meat, but a lot of fish and veggies. I can see an improvement, but not that much though.

Have a good evening

Thomas

Hi there.

I don’t know if this is the right thread to post it in.

I would like to know if any of you know where to get some pro equipment for making kefir. I have been making kefir for the last 2 years, but I am thinking about producing it on a larger scale. Therefore I am looking for some equipment. Anybody who knows any distributors or where to go search for this kind of thing?

Thomas
Denmark

Hello IreneDragon, I’ve just bought the book (fascinating reading) and the cookbook too. Cleared out the fridge and done some sensible shopping – easing into it gently but loved the “Poor Man’s Potatoes” which we had for dinner Saturday pm. Have made granola for breakfasts and planning lots of salads and omelettes for lunches. Have totally cut out dairy and will be cutting out gluten too over the next few days. Feeling good apart from a bit of a headache – guessing that is sugar withdrawal. Glad the yoghurt is having such an immediate effect for you! X

Hi there, I’m new to this site but have been on the fast 800 diet for a couple of weeks. I’m losing weight and am very happy. I have been taking potato starch morning and night and have found this keeps me from overeating. Is anyone else taking potato starch on a regular basis. Cheers

Thank you for your reply Graham. There’s not much activity on here these days.
I’m 4 days into taking the Omeprazole 40 mg and I’m starting to notice improvements. I’m seeing it as the kick up the rear that I’ve needed to sort myself out.

I’m thinking I’ll cut the processed foods and carbs out and eat a Mediterranean type diet with added pre and probiotics and fermented foods- a sort of CG /BSD combo – and eat less I’m also going to walk more and I’m going to get my bike out of the garage.

Thanks for recommendation for the diet doctor – I hadn’t thought to look on his site. If you or anyone has any advice or support let know
Thanks

Yes mediterranean diet would help. Definitely avoid sugars carbs and processed foods. Take a look at dietdoctor.com too

I am having my second knee replacement on Thursday, 28th Feb. I have been reading the Clever Guts book and am convinced it can help me.I am a retired nurse/senior lecturer, so the science behind the information makes a lot of sense.
I have had rheumatoid arthritis for over 40 years, diagnosed in my 20s. My treatment for the last 15 years has been with immune-suooresant drugs, namely methotrexate and Etanercept. I stopped taking methotrexate 4 years ago as the side effects were too much to deal with. Etaercept alone has kept my symptoms under control, though I have damaged joints due to long-standing inflammation.

I am looking forward to starting the Clever Guts programme when I am fully mobile again in a few weeks. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Hi I had the gastroscopy this this morning – not pleasant! it seems from the initial diagnosis that my oesophagus is inflamed and I’ve got GORD and been given 4 weeks of omaprazole and I’ve to go back in 4 weeks and see how it’s going.

I think it’s been exacerbated by us having a long running building project on our house and not having a working kitchen for some of this time. Also I had an awful hacking cough/ cold virus after Xmas – as my mum would say – I’m probably run down!

The advice I got from the hospital is to eat little and often and avoid spicy and acidic foods. Oh, and to try to lose weight!! I want to try to manage this as far as possible by diet although I’ll take the medication for the four week period. I’ve been looking all week at diets and eating plans til they’re coming out my ears! I think I prefer a Mediterranean/ anti inflammatory type approach.

Has anyone got any experience of this and can give me some advise

I am interested to know if de-alcoholised red wine (e.g. wine with 0.5% alcohol) has the same beneficial effects as alcoholic red wine. Can anyone help with this question? Many thanks!

Anyone??

I would really like to ask Michael this question but in absence does anyone know the science…….I’d be really interested and grateful for your thoughts.
I have had a colectomy. I have no colon, only small intestine. I have always been a believer in good gut health and tried to eat fermented foods and anything else that promotes good gut health. I was talking to my Gastroenterologist about my love of kefir and asking if he thought it was worth having after my op. He said ‘no’ that it was a waste of time. That it was aimed at building good bacteria in the colon and I didn’t have one anymore, just to eat what I fancy and not worry about these things.

The more I think about it the more I find that really strange. Surely the bacteria that once lived in my colon has to recolonize somewhere else – like the intestine – other wise all sorts of things would start to go wrong with my system.

So the question really is – what happens to your gut micro biome when you have your colon removed.

Hi I’m not sure where to post this are I’m not really a newbie but I’m looking for advice. I’ve suffered with digestive symptoms for a few year or more, I get acid reflux, difficulty swallowing food at times, indigestion, IBS, grumbling, windy at both ends, feel bloated often, I’ve a cough since before Xmas. I try to manage it by looking for trigger foods and situations and avoiding them

I finally went to my GP and he’s referred me for an urgent endoscopy, my appointment is this Saturday. I know I shouldn’t jump the gun and assume things but having googled my symptoms it sounds like I have GORD or/and hiatus hernia. I want to try and manage it myself with a bit of help from medication

I need to lose weight too, my BMI is 28!! I’m annoyed with myself that I’ve got myself into this state, as my mum would say, I’ve let myself go. I’m reading that the Mediterranean diet combined with a clever guts diet might be best and I’m wondering if anyone has any advice they can give me.

I’ve been dipping into cleverguts on and off for a while but somehow I haven’t stuck with it. Perhaps now is the motivation (shock) I need

I bought The Clever Guts Diet book last week (it was the Kindle Daily Deal) and was fascinated by what goes on in our gut. We’d been planning to change our eating habits because we both need to lose weight. The book brought home the importance of the change. We went food shopping at the weekend and totally changed the things we bought. No ready meals, pies or pizzas, just fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, plus some live yoghurt for me. I felt a difference almost immediately. I’ve suffered heartburn and occasional acid reflux for some time. I’ve been eating about 100g of yoghurt every day since Monday and the heartburn has almost completely gone. In fact, it was greatly reduced after the first helping of yoghurt!

Eating more healthily will involve a lot more work, which will be difficult because I’m disabled and my husband is at work all day. I’m willing to stick with it, though, because I can already feel some benefit. It may even help us to lose weight.☺

Got a kenwood food processor fp 560. Used it with this recipe many times. Paid £99 in a Debenhams sale a few years ago for this.

This is something that I hadn’t considered wrt my gut biome. I regularly take pain killers, usually ibuprofen but sometimes naproxen or co-codamol, depending on how bad the pain is. I know that NSAIDs can cause stomach problems, so I suppose it’s logical that they could affect the biome. Given that many people use OTC pain killers, I’m not surprised that there’s increasing research into the subject.

My recipe is now on the site.

Does anyone know how to make ‘ Live “Raw” Apple Cider Vinegar’? I’d like to try to make my own.
Actually, I was expecting to have a recipe available in the book – like there are for yoghurt and kefir.
Thank you.

I forgot to mention that I think stress makes it all worse so eating mindfully and slowly or having gentle music on or trying to be less stressed generally might help.

Isn’t it frustrating to be sensitive to all the foods being recommended for gut health!! I am trying to eat the foods that digest slowly- celery, cold potato etc and I think the yoghurt is helping. A little occasionally from the high lists works for me, and yes oils are a problem- rice bran oil seems to be ok. I suspect that some foods such as fruit juice, capsicums will always be off limits for me. However everyone is different. Best wishes.

Hello
I’ve just started phase 1 of rebooting my biome, in the hope it will make a difference to my IBS. I’m a week in and my symptoms today are worse – I’m bloated, almost feels swollen, and in pain. Has anyone else experienced this as an initial detox?

Im also keen on getting my microbiome tested (in EU), and I wonder what kind of results I can expect, reading from your comments that ‘interpretation and advice’ apprantly not always is included?
Any reccomendations on where to get a test including interpretation and advice would be great!