Bacteria and Brains: An Interview with Microbiome Expert Sarkis Mazmanian

[Farooqji]

We are trying to leverage the ability of the microbiome to communicate with the brain. Our idea is to drug the gut and not the brain.” ndash;Sarkis Mazmanian

genengnews.com/insights/bac...

[GymBag]

I believe that great potential is here, hidden in a body system, that is generally ignored and misunderstood using hidden pathways. Here lies HOPE.

Keep up the good work. I always enjoy reading your stuff, may not often agree but I always enjoy.

Thanks

[Xenos in reply to GymBag]

Completely agree with you Gymbag.

- Thank you for pointing this Iqbaliqbal

- Here lies HOPE

[PixelPaul]

This was extremely interesting. Thanks for the link.

[MBAnderson]

iqbaliqbal, how do you find all this stuff? You must have a staff working for you?

Very interesting, but like everything else -- 5 to 10 years away. 10 years from now, PWP will be able to go to their doctor and choose from a dozen remedies.

If the microbiome in a mouse mimicking Parkinson’s is removed, the mouse becomes symptom free.

"We have identified the genes responsible for inducing Parkinson’s symptoms. When that gene is knocked out, the symptoms disappear.”

"As we sit here today, we’re much closer to knowing nothing than to knowing anything regarding the microbiome." Good line.

[MBAnderson in reply to MBAnderson]

If a person were to clean themselves out thoroughly, as they would do for colonoscopy, isn't that the same as removing their microbiome? Shouldn't it abate symptoms?

[jimcaster in reply to MBAnderson]

I had the same question, Marc. I also considered a prolonged water only fast...

[MBAnderson in reply to jimcaster]

Are you still considering or did you decide against it?

[jimcaster in reply to MBAnderson]

Just considering it, but as JAS9 indicates below, I/we need to be smart about it.

[JAS9 in reply to jimcaster]

I've done a 3 day water fast, but longer fasts really need monitoring. You can get into trouble with low electrolytes and such. This video has tons of info based on Dr Klaper's many years of helping others successfully fast. youtu.be/J_c1QRYHV2M(Not working as expected?)

[jimcaster in reply to JAS9]

Did the 3 day fast provide any meaningful benefits?

[JAS9 in reply to jimcaster]

Yes, I did it about a year ago when I had decided to switch to WFPB. It did feel as though I'd washed out my insides and I felt lighter and had energy. At the very beginning of it, I was hungry and my PD symptoms got a little worse for a few hours, but then everything went smoothly and I've never looked back or felt the need to repeat it. I might anyway, just to give my GI tract a rest again.

[2donkeys in reply to JAS9]

Thanks for the video, very interesting. He made some points I hadn't considered.

[JerMan22 in reply to JAS9]

Thanks, JAS9, I've been wondering about fasting and this really helped clarify it for me. I looked Klaper up and the dude is almost 72! Must be doing something right.

[ConnieD in reply to JAS9]

Great video ! Why do you think he says you shouldn’t stay in a state of ketosis?

[JAS9 in reply to ConnieD]

Without getting into a big debate (hopefully) there is a belief among many WFPB (aka vegan) folks that arterial sclerosis (aka clogged arteries) is a big deal, and that unclogging them requires a low-fat diet. Arteries go throughout our bodies, including to the brain and lower back, so keeping them unclogged helps a lot more than your heart. There are other potential risks with ketosis that I haven't investigated myself, so I won't comment on. And there is even "vegan ketosis" which some people like. Here's a video I just found about that: youtu.be/mCvcoDhwKB4(Not working as expected?)

Again, I hope that I worded this carefully enough to avoid offending anyone for their individual choices. I was simply trying to answer the question.

[ConnieD in reply to JAS9]

I’m still learning about the various diets but wonder if a person can do a healthy keto diet that’s mostly vegetables and when you have fat it would be lean fat such as chicken breast or a healthy fat like avocado., instead of hamburger or bacon. I’m not sure still researching. Thanks for the reply! 😊

[ConnieD in reply to ConnieD]

I have that wrong, chicken, hamburger, bacon are the protein. Avocado, olive oil etc are the fats. But the fact remains if there is a way to do it that wouldn’t be clogging arteries??

[JAS9 in reply to ConnieD]

If you are looking at doing keto, I think you should try the vegan keto. I'll find a link to it if you would like to. One thing almost never mentioned by keto dieters is fiber. Really, really important to get enough. Without at least 50 grams of fiber you won't get enough butyrate in your gut and you could get a leaky gut, etc

[ConnieD in reply to JAS9]

Thanks for the info, can you get enough fiber from veggies alone?

[JAS9 in reply to ConnieD]

Yes, but keto will restrict the types of veggies you will be able to eat, due to calories. As with proteins, there are different types of fiber and you should get a good variety, so try to have as many diff veggies as you can. Remember that all animal foods and refined oils will have zero fiber and very little real nutrition such as antioxidants and phytonutrients compared to plants. Which is one reason why I think vegan keto would be the healthier version of keto.

[ConnieD in reply to JAS9]

Thank you Jas9!! I appreciate all the info!😊

[JAS9 in reply to ConnieD]

Sure. Just found this video with much more info: youtu.be/xp0b3meIRFM(Not working as expected?)

[JAS9 in reply to ConnieD]

As for clogging arteries, some people will try to tell you differently, but anything that raises your cholesterol esp LDL and system-wide inflammation is bad news for arteries.

[MBAnderson in reply to JAS9]

JAS, did you post the chicken warning video that you posted on the healthy eating forum on this forum, too and I missed it? You might as well alarm PWP, too.

[JAS9 in reply to MBAnderson]

Yes, apparently there is a giant chicken attacking random bystanders. That warning?

Seriously though, this video was published last month as an update on antibiotics in chicken. And, come to think about it, ingesting so many antibiotics can't be good for our gut bacteria: youtu.be/RyP5Cnc-vxk(Not working as expected?)

[MBAnderson in reply to JAS9]

Bye-bye chicken.

Since we're stuck with the for-profit food chain, the least the government should do is regulate it. Getting antibiotics in our food, that is, making us more drug-resistant and screwing up our micro-biome, as a result of eating. Hmmmm. Sounds to me like something is wrong there.

[ConnieD in reply to JAS9]

My family loves chicken, yikes!!

[MBAnderson in reply to JAS9]

Good video. Except, he's at the real truth conference -- as opposed to??

[LAJ12345 in reply to jimcaster]

Maybe if you fast then change the diet it might change things but if you go back to the same food maybe not?

[jimcaster in reply to LAJ12345]

Exactly...

[MBAnderson in reply to jimcaster]

It makes sense. What percentage of the stuff do they get out with surgery, 50% if they are diligent. Compared to what percentage of the stuff leaves through colonoscopy treatment, i.e., via 7 gallons of magnesium citrate -- 99%?

[MBAnderson in reply to jimcaster]

Somebody needs to volunteer to do this.

[jimcaster in reply to MBAnderson]

I could do a 3 day fast, but I'm not wildly optimistic. I had a colonoscopy a few months after diagnosis, when I was eating very conscientiously. As we frequently discuss, I know my symptoms have been reduced, but it could stem from about a dozen things I've done since being diagnosed. "Better compared to what or because of what" is always the question.

[MBAnderson in reply to MBAnderson]

sunvox, where are you when we need you?

[rebtar]

Wow. That sounds hopeful. Thanks.

[nldr18]

Thx iqbaiiqbal for sharing. Marmazian is very impressive. Heard him speak two years ago at the world Parkinson’s coalition, and wrote to him afterwards. Was hoping he could recommend an MDS who is taking into account the microbiome, but said he could not make any referrals. Would welcome any knowledge of such a doctor.

Though it seems they’re pretty far away from solving this, given that I have read that half of dopamine is made in the gut it is something worth tracking closely.

Natasha

[Jmorri567]

Have discovered recently that a medication for cholesterol reduction (Ezetimebe) has a side effect of causing diarrhoea which I have suffered for several years. Could this have affected my microbiome and acsassabated my PD which was diagnosed at about the same time.

[MBAnderson in reply to Jmorri567]

I think so.

[LPalmer]

Good article thanks !!

[MBAnderson]

It's becoming more clear all the time that the hippies of yesteryear were right all along, i.e., you are what you eat.

[nldr18]

Iqbaliqbal,

I heard Mazmanian speak at the WPC in 2016 and actually contacted him afterwords to see if he knew a neurologist who also works with the microbiome. Was told he could not make any referrals. This article has inspired me to search further. Thank you for sharing it.

Natasha