Gut Health.

[rosetrees]

"Scientists now believe that many diseases and conditions, are triggered or exacerbated by changes in gut bacteria."

From the Telegraph  telegraph.co.uk/science/201...

[Auria]

Very interesting article, with a link to the original published study in 'Nature'. Gut flora play a more important role in our health than we think. Thanks for sharing!

[Marz in reply to Auria]

Thanks Auria ....  Having Crohns makes you more gut aware - so I have been banging on about gut health for quite some time ..... so important

[Marz]

I have just joined up with American Gut and a sample has been sent to San Diego - so I can learn what my gut micro-biome consists of !  

[rosetrees in reply to Marz]

That could be very interesting.

[Joyia in reply to Marz]

Keep us posted on this one Marz and how you went about it, interesting.

[lidoplace in reply to Marz]

Googling "American gut " as I thought about doing a sample, I found this article which shows some of the complexities of this testing

sciencenews.org/blog/gory-d...

[BadHare in reply to Marz]

Fab!

I'd love to get mine done!

I'm sure there's a similar organisation in the UK, or are they linked?

M*

[Marz in reply to BadHare]

yes I think they are linked - google british gut

[BadHare]

In no specific order, but the ones on gut health, thyroid & kefir are pertinent, & kefir is high in B12 & K2.

M*

my.chriskresser.com/wp-cont...

my.chriskresser.com/wp-cont...

my.chriskresser.com/wp-cont...

chriskresser.com/kefir-the-...

chriskresser.com/vitamin-k2...

[linlow in reply to BadHare]

Took the words right out of my mouth BadHare .  Why on earth would we want to take a pill to redress gut balance when fermented foods can do this without recourse to yet another medication and all the implications that that can bring in tow?

[RedApple Administrator in reply to linlow]

linlow,

Just as there is no one size fits all solution to thyroid problems, there is no one size fits all solution to gut bacteria problems. Each of us has our own unique microbiota, which can become unbalanced for all sorts of reasons.

If only it was as easy as consuming all those delicious fermented foods. But for some it truly isn't

For example, fermented foods are frequently high in histamine, or are a trigger for abnormal (i.e. excess) histamine production in some people. Histamine issues can cause a huge range of distressing symptoms. (We're not talking about hayfever here). Hence, it actually might be beneficial for some to be able to get their gut bacteria tested, and then take a pill to deal with the problem.

[linlow in reply to RedApple]

Oh commiserations   As someone who, I think, was born with super sensitive allergies I can understand your frustration there.  Standing over a sink for 40 minutes, or more, at a time with pouring nosebleeds, going through life covered head to foot in hives, never going anywhere without a back-scratcher because of constant uncontrollable itching, arthritis, migraine and so on has taught me to respect those things that instigate reaction. 

However, without intention of belittling your concern, healthy gut bacteria can resolve all sorts of health issues and research shows that histamine produced by good gut bacteria (the stuff in kefir) actually regulates the immune system and has an anti-inflammatory effect. 

Anaerobic fermentation has also been shown to reduce or remove histamines .  Without the medical qualification to back it up I would not dream of recommending that you take the plunge but there are some who have lovingourguts.com/anaerobic... & thelowhistaminechef.com/his...

That aside there are other things that you can do to restore a healthy microbiome without recourse to fermentation or medication.  You might find the second part of this article interesting eatingwell.com/nutrition_he...

[RedApple Administrator in reply to linlow]

linlow,  I appreciate that you're trying to be helpful. I'm not talking about allergies, but about a rare disease, the symptoms of which are exacerbated by fermented and high histamine foods, amongst other things. 

I won't go into further detail, as this is not the appropriate forum I just wanted to alert people to the absolute fact that what works for one, doesn't necessarily work for another. 

We all need personalised medicine, not one size fits all medicine. Whether that be in nutritional form or pharmaceutical pill form, or a combination of both will necessarily depend on the individual.

[BadHare in reply to linlow]

Some people prefer pills, as I found out when I mentioned eating 5-10 brazils a day, which I was told is an overdose of selenium.

I think I could probably live on nuts, fruit & kefir during the summer which probably wouldn't be so healthy.

M*

[RedApple Administrator in reply to BadHare]

Leverette, you are fortunate to be able to consume these wonderful foods. Not everyone can tolerate them

[linlow in reply to BadHare]

Actually there was some research (I just can't find the link to the paper now) on diet and relationship to common causes of death and the fruit diet came out way on top as a means of prevention - but 10 brazilnuts probably is an overdose given that supplementation should be in the region of what would be supplied by 3 or 4 at most.  They are rather morish though

[BadHare in reply to linlow]

Sometimes brazils are very small, so it's less biggies, or more smalls. I probably have 25g a day, along with walnuts & almonds, & sometimes other nuts. I have no ill effects if I've eaten more.

M*

[BadHare]

I had no idea they could cause such a reaction, sorry RedApple!

I learn something new on here every day!

I avoid a lot of inflammatory foods, & try to stick to a clean vegetariab diet 99% of the time, aside from my grain of NDT .

The worst I've ever felt was when I gave up dairy altogether, which I'd always eaten a lot of, in favour of soya. I don't go overboard on dairy products as much as I used to, but eating kefir which has upped my B12 has been a big boost.

Mel