Gut health and repopulating biome

Swim15

Bluelighter
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Sep 11, 2016
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Been really interested reading up on gut health which most probably know is on the of the largest factors in overall health, inflammation, muscle/fat ratios, etc.

Been looking at protocols for sort of 'resetting' and optimizing gut health as antibiotics and certain foods can shift the balance one way or another.

So far one of the protocols I just read may look like -

4 weeks - Oregano oil
4 weeks - S. boulardii yeast (help flush candida, restore glycocalyx layer to microvili, and induce IgA secretion)
4 weeks - prescription strength probiotics and fermented foods


Bacteria known/believed to decrease fat and increase LBM -
Lactobacillus
Bifidobacterium


I've played with fermenting foods before but think I'll probably grab a yogurt maker to make things easier and use a cap of VSL3 or another high quality probiotic to start each 1-2 servings.

Wanted to know if anyone else might be knowledgeable on this subject as I feel like the quality of my digestion has decreased in the last year or so.
 
The current emphasis seems more inclined towards inducing "good bacteria" (generally as part of an attempt to supply product that doesn't work), rather than protecting what bacteria we have, which seems to be the wrong way of going about it ..

Poor dietary choices, such as inclusion of refined sugars, can affect the balance of gut bacteria, in favour of promoting the more harmful bacteria at detriment to the "good bacteria"..

From memory: Chronic alcohol consumption can affect Gram-negative gut bacteria via increasing the number of LPS that contributes to promotion of inflammatory factors which in turn results in greater permeability of the gut wall, and subsequent escape of inflammatory cytokines into the bloodstream.. (chronic inflammation)... MI, stroke, PE, diabetes, arthritis etc....
 
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Thanks for that genetic freak. That's also been a large part of what I'm trying to find. Is it better to try to get rid of bad bacteria and then repopulate or is just introducing good bacteria via food/probiotics and having a diet to support them enough?

The other thing I haven't been able to find any conclusive evidence on is whether probiotics induce a permanent change in gut flora after some time or if the benefits are only while you continue therapy.

Just ordered a rice cooker that doubles as an incubator for yogurt so going to get started on fermenting my own in the next week!
 
Yeah, you want to widen your biome with better food choices and crowd out, rather than trying to suppress 'bad' bacteria first (which isn't likely to work and may result in massive overgrowth of other 'bad' bacteria in the subsequent microbial desert/monoculture).

As for whether you can induce permanent self-perpetuating change, it's doubtful. Some bacteria (eg soil microbes) can only be replenished from constant re-consumption of stuff with soil on (muddy fingers, soily vegetables, pond water etc). They don't naturally grow in the gut. This is true of an increasing number of apparently healthy bacteria and fungi commonly found in (eg) hunter-gatherers but not modern urban societies.
 
Thanks for that genetic freak. That's also been a large part of what I'm trying to find. Is it better to try to get rid of bad bacteria and then repopulate or is just introducing good bacteria via food/probiotics and having a diet to support them enough?

The other thing I haven't been able to find any conclusive evidence on is whether probiotics induce a permanent change in gut flora after some time or if the benefits are only while you continue therapy.

Just ordered a rice cooker that doubles as an incubator for yogurt so going to get started on fermenting my own in the next week!

Apparently most probiotics contain bacteria in billions, rather than trillions which is supposably what is needed to induce change in gut.. I have read by introducing extra bacteria via probiotic treatments only displaces the good bacteria, and doesn't address the root cause which is the greater proportion of "bad bacteria"..

It's an interesting subject I've been trying to get my head around recently, there is increasing research being conducted with interesting results...

Gut health seems to have greater influence upon the rest of the body than previously thought...Very interesting subject..!!
 
Thanks for that genetic freak. That's also been a large part of what I'm trying to find. Is it better to try to get rid of bad bacteria and then repopulate or is just introducing good bacteria via food/probiotics and having a diet to support them enough?

The other thing I haven't been able to find any conclusive evidence on is whether probiotics induce a permanent change in gut flora after some time or if the benefits are only while you continue therapy.

Just ordered a rice cooker that doubles as an incubator for yogurt so going to get started on fermenting my own in the next week!

Correct dietary choices seem key to healthy gut, apparently refined carbohydrates found mostly in the Western diet get metabolized too high up in the digestive tract leaving the bacteria in the lower tract starving..

Processed food interactions from such things like artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers etc seem to be problematic to long term health via affecting gut bacteria in a negative way..

Diversity of many different types of fiber is the key to healthy gut, as some bacteria seem to thrive on one type of fiber and others ferment and thrive on another type of fiber, consequently consuming as many different types as possible will induce many strains of bacteria as opposed to consuming a limited number.. Bacteria like diversity..

. Cellulose: cereals, fruit, veg.
. Ligin: in flax, stones of fruits, veg, cereals
. Inulin: in diverse plants
. Pectin: in fruit skin (mainly apples, quinces) veg
. Hexosan: in wheat, barley
. Pentose: in rye, oats

and many more....
 
I always wonder what amount of damage could be done by pesticides used in food manufacture with regards to these issues arising in the first place.

Probably worth going organic if you don't want chemicals designed to kill small life forms to work as intended, imo.

Not directed at you in particular btw swim - just a muse. I'm certainly not on an organic diet, but I do grow a lot of my own veg - particularly greens - in the summer.
 
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Pesticides harm soil bacteria, which is one of the big issues we face in industrial farming societies (most countries now really). Because some of those bacteria used to make it into our gut biomes (as well as helping maintain soil fertility).
 
Wouldn't trust organic as there really isn't any regulations for a product to be considered organic.
 
SO! About 5 days into a few cultures as I'm doing different bacteria that target different things in the gut and I am a massive fan so far.

A few of you were following my log and know I was just cutting and also just got sick last week. As is typical post "I don't have an event I have to show up conditioned for anymore," I didn't have anything to hold me to self control really and the entire portion of last week had me consuming probably at least a box of cookies per day and could not get it under control. Sugar has always been a big problem for me and have always had s big sweet tooth.

However, two days into consuming the yogurt cultures, all sugar cravings have ceased weirdly enough. Besides that, all I can offer is my subjective evaluation but my digestion feels MUCH better already and it feels like things are getting processed whereas before I would get bloated easily with food intake. Midsection is also a little tighter according to my belt notches.

Right now I'm culturing saccharomyces boulardii yeast which is supposed to target and fight most strains of candida. Going to do this for 1-2 weeks.

In conjunction with that, I'm culturing VSL3 probiotics for my normal probiotic cultures which I will continue on a regular basis past the saccharomyces boulardii and also going to experiment with a couple different brands of high quality probiotics.
 
Wouldn't trust organic as there really isn't any regulations for a product to be considered organic.

That's only true in the US of corporate capitalism A as of the last 10 years or so. In the EU and other parts of the world, organic standards are often still pretty high.
 
That's only true in the US of corporate capitalism A as of the last 10 years or so. In the EU and other parts of the world, organic standards are often still pretty high.

True. That said, holy fuck are other parts of the world expensive as fucking hell. I spent some time in Australia for school and eating bare bones (we are talking chicken, oats, fruit, veggies) I was spending probably $150 a week on groceries. If I bought what I bought here in the US I would have been spending $400 a week.

Also why there are fewer obese people though haha no one can afford to eat.
 
take a healthy stool sample (from a friend or donor) and then put it in a capsule and swallow it, gross i know but it will work
 
take a healthy stool sample (from a friend or donor) and then put it in a capsule and swallow it, gross i know but it will work

Wouldn't it be better as a suppository? I thought that's what a stool transplant was? Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know "shit" about this subject
 
I really wouldn't recommend a DIY faecal transplant (FMT) for the modest purposes proposed by OP!
 
I really wouldn't recommend a DIY faecal transplant (FMT) for the modest purposes proposed by OP!

Yeah don't think I'll be going that extreme lol. Would be cool if it becomes publically available from certified providers though in the future.
 
I can see it now: top-quality shit from famous "shit celebrities" lol


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