My mother had her gallbladder taken out when she was expecting me at 4 months, her scar never closed and the did 5 month of round antibiotics. I have Hypothyroidism nobody else in my family has it. How can I build my gut bacteria?
I need to build my gut bacteria!!!: My mother had... - Thyroid UK
I need to build my gut bacteria!!!
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makita777
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I love Just Thrive probiotics. Best I've used. It's a soil based probiotic, so no refrigeration needed. A bonus that only one capsule is needed.
Kefir is a really good option for this. It’s a natural probiotic and can be worked into your diet if you’re not keen on adding more tablets to your routine - that’s what I’ve found anyway!
I either get some in a bottle from the Polish food section in the supermarket and blend with some fruit. It’s lovely with mango or mixed berries. Or Yeo Vally have just started doing a spoonable kefir, either plain or strawberry, which is a great alternative to yogurt. I have it with my granola and fruit in the mornings.
If your dairy intolerant, it’s possible to get or make water kefir. Can’t say I know much about it but I’ve definitely seen other members discuss it. Maybe pop it in the search if it’s of interest 😊
If you are lactose intolerant you can still use milk kefir as the little aliens in it eat all the lactose. Only use water kefir if you are intolerant to casein as it has far fewer probiotics, amni acids and vitamins
I didn’t know this! Thanks for the info 😊
Arla have just started doing a organic kefir in a carton which is about have the price of the other brands. I’ve only seen it at waitrose at the moment.
It’s also easy and cheap to make yourself if you want to know how let me know.
Other fermented food like sauerkraut and kombucha are also good. Again you can make yourself if you like.
Variety is key. So lots of different foods, mainly fruit and veg, lots of different colours. Equally different fermented products if possible.
You also want to think about prebiotic foods. These foods feed the bacteria in your gut. Probiotics are all well and good but you have to keep taking them. Prebiotics should feed what is there. Be careful as prebiotic foods can be difficult to digest so build up slowly and see how you react. This is also good advice for fermented foods and probiotics too but prebiotics even more so. If you have IBS you may have to avoid prebiotics until you get that more under control with the fermented foods and food variety).
Don’t forget when looking for a gastro reaction that it takes 24-48 hrs for food to get down to your gut. If you get a reaction straight after eating that will just be what you are yesterday not what you’ve just eaten (your digestive tract boots up and starts working when you eat).
The following books are really helpful:
the Clever Gut Diet book (Dr Michael Mosley). The Diet Myth (Prof Tim Spector) and Gut (by Giulia Enders).
I take Bimino its proven to reach the lower digestive Tract. Its a Prebiotic so is a food for healthy gut bacteria (probiotic) .check out their website it was featured on a programme about sleep Dr. Michael mosley used it. Fermented foods Aid shop gut health, sauerkraut etc.
I had a horrible bout of diverticulitis over Christmas. Course of 2 antibiotics and I took the stomach pain towards the end of the course as a sign my gut bacteria had been killed off as well. I took a Linden capsule daily and also bought some Kefir in Sainsburys that was mire like yoghurt than a drink. It was absolutely delicious, I could live on it! Soon started to feel normal again ( well as normal as I ever do)
I've also read that Prebiotics are important to provide a base for the probiotics to thrive. If you google Prebiotics I'm sure you'll find info.
Just wanted to add about the Clever Guts book by Dr Michael Mosley. Lots of advice in there about eating to improve gut health. Quite easy reading and he talks through pre and pro biotics. If better gut health is something you’re interested in longer term, it’s a very good starting point.
Stewed apple(no sugar) is very simple to make and excellent food for your good tummy bugs.
Two dessert spoons daily. As recommended by Dr Tom O’Bryan in the recent Interconnected docu series.
Btw Important to keep the skin on the apples, they aid digestion even better.
This is interesting....I stew Bramleys and keep tubs of them in the freezer to transfer to the fridge, sometimes with stewed plums if they are in season. They are nice to make a breakfast pot with: a couple of spoons of organic oats in a little Tupperware container, cover with dollops of stewed apples and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning add a little milk or some probiotic plain yoghurt. You could also throw in seeds or banana. Yum 😊
I believe bone broth also helps
Depends how far you're prepared to go eg try the odd product (some mentioned in other replies) or totally change your diet eg to Autoimmune Paleo.
There are two types of kefir - milk kefir and water kefir. People can make it themselves at home once they've bought the appropriate kefir grains. There are loads of sites on the web that have instructions on making it.
Kombucha is another drink that is good for the gut - I have no idea how to make it though. I have bought it ready-made, but it had too much sugar in to be anything other than an occasional treat. I assume if it was home made people could make it with minimum sugar.
You might also be interested in this link for more home made stuff :
traditionalcookingschool.co...
Another thing you could try is sauerkraut. The type you can buy in the shops has been pasteurised (I think) so probably has little probiotic activity. It is possible to buy what is described as "raw, organic, unpasteurised sauerkraut" online. Or this is another thing you can make yourself.
Kimchi is another food which can be raw, organic, and unpasteurised.
You can also make kimchi yourself - plenty of recipes on-line. I did try it, but didn't like the results! Might try a different recipe next time. 
A friend gave me this (obviously she didn't like it, but she didn't say so...)
amazon.co.uk/Authentic-Ferm...
and I liked it quite a lot. It's hot and spicy because of the chili in it. The only issue I had was that getting through the whole (plastic) jar in a reasonable time was a bit difficult, so about a quarter of the jar was wasted. I'm not someone who uses tomato sauce or brown sauce or chutneys or other additions much at any time, so I kept forgetting to add it to a suitable meal.
That's almost exactly the same recipe that I used. Except that I used rice vinager instead of fish sauce. And I found it had too much chili and too much garlic for my taste - unlike the kimchi I usually buy in the Chinese Emporium down the road. Yes, I could try making it with less garlic and chili, but I was hoping for something… better, being homemade.
But, kimchi keeps, it doesn't go off. No need to have wasted that 1/4 jar.
I'll remember that if I ever buy it again.
I used to love cooking as a child. Then I took a summer job when I was 18 where cooking formed part of my duties. I grew to hate it very quickly.
As a result, all these wonderful things that I could make, that everyone says are so easy and so good for me, will never get made in my house. *sigh*
Oh, I'm exactly the same! I loved cooking and used to have huge dinner parties and everyone said what a good cook I was! And then I took a summer job (I was 49 at the time!) doing breakfast, sandwich lunch and three course evening meal for an average of 14 people, seven days a week for 7 weeks. I stopped cooking after that! Couldn't bear to go near the kitchen. I also stopped eating, which didn't do me any good at all! I've never liked food much since then.
Wow, 14 people! Luckily for me I was only feeding 4 people, but they had some odd ideas that used to throw a spanner in the works every now and then. For example I included mushrooms in one meal. They all looked uncomfortable. I discovered that they thought mushroom stalks were poisonous and they could only eat the top bit. The subtext being that I was clearly trying to poison them!
Can you imagine Tesco or Sainsbury selling bog-standard mushrooms with the stalks included where the stalks were poisonous?
When Dr Rangan Chatterjee
was on 'Doctor in The House,' he said we need to eat a rainbow of fruit and veg for good gut bacteria. He also said 2 apples a day are very good but even better stewed and to add cinammon to prevent a sugar spike (if adding sugar to the stewed apples).
He was on the Interconnected documentary series I mentioned. The whole idea of the episodes was gut health - the microbiome. Very interesting and inspiring, particularly if you have autoimmune issues.
If you've got the cash, this is a serious option for repopulating the gut taymount.com/ They recommend the Symprove brand of probiotics.
Online resources include Chris Kresser chriskresser.com/gut-health/
The Paleo Mom thepaleomom.com for the AIP diet (auto immune protocol)
Dr Micheal Ruscio drruscio.com/the-thyroid-gu... for general gut health
and of course Dr Isabella Wentz thyroidpharmacist.com/artic... for all things Hashimoto's.
Bone broth is good for healing the gut, probiotics are good for creating a healthy environment in which your gut can heal but don't really contribute to re-populating your gut directly. A huge variety in diet, say 100 different 'real food' items in a week helps. The stewed apple tip is also good, with the skin on, to get the pectin to heal the gut and is cheap and tasty. All the kefir and fermented items are good as well if you can tolerate them.
Go slow with probiotics, as they can cause some upset.
Prebiotics are food for your bugs, go slow and easy with that as you might just be feeding something you don't want!
Have a think about what you eat, as you may be eating food that is not suiting you e.g. gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and so on. You may need to try an exclusion diet and re-introduce carefully to ensure you're eating food that works for you. It may be that some foods that don't suit you now, might suit you ok in the future in maybe small doses, as your gut's ability to deal with different foods changes.
My personal situation is that my husband is coeliac and has histamine intolerance, and follows the AIP diet. I have Hashi's and am gluten dairy and soya free. Dairy and soya free was a big symptom reducer for me.
Good luck
x
Hi, I like that you have prefaced your post with " if you've got the cash" as it really IS a challenge to get organic foods and try and find healthier meats/fish.
I don't really eat meat but have upped the organic produce, especially fresh vegetables and fish, via a fish box scheme from Scotland. I am starting to discover that food labelling regulations are a minefield, as well as finding out about additives used in processing and packaging, and there are variations globally ?
Lots to learn, and these resources are really interesting and useful 😊
The 'if you've got the cash' refers specifically to the £000's it costs to get the FMT treatment at the Taymount Clinic. This type of treatment is used occasionally by the NHS to treat C-diff infections which don't respond to any other type of treatment, but I don't think they do it for any other reason e.g. compromised gut health. That's why your only option is to go private unless you've got exceptional health care.
There are various tips on how to pick and choose what is organic - google 'clean 15' and 'dirty dozen' and you'll get some pointers on when it's worth spending on organic and when it's ok to get regular. The paleo bloggers often cover this topic but sometimes the US based advice doesn't apply directly in the UK.
Food labelling is a 'mare as you say - my husband has been coeliac for a lot longer than I've been super careful with my diet, so it's become second nature about what we pick up in the supermarket or shops. Mostly we try to eat food that doesn't have ingredients, but that said, we are no strangers to Schar brioche and other such junk (just because it's everything free doesn't mean it's healthy!) and we have a local independent chocolate shop which is outstanding :o)
x
Sauerkraut, or fermented cabbage, is very easy to do. Basically you shred cabbage and massage in salt, put in a jar, cover with clingfilm and put a weight on - eventually the brine will cover the cabbage and you leave it for about a month I think. But Google it for clear instructions - amount of salt, time to leave etc.
I've never been successful - house not warm enough - so I buy from Loving Foods or Healthy Supplies
Hmm. I have made it (used red cabbage which was ok but want to try it with a white cabbage) I don't remember anything about how warm it needed to be. I'll have to Google it again myself.
It says keep it at 65-75 degrees F (18.3-23.8C) My kitchen's ok for that.
Could you keep it in the airing cupboard or where your boiler is? or would that be too warm?
I don't have an airing cupboard or boiler cupboard and keep house at around 60, so that's why mine failed. Might work in summer, you'd think, but it didn't.
Ooh that's too cold for me - till I'm having a hot flush 😓
After reading this post I decided to do some fermented cabbage - started it yesterday.
Brrrr!
One thing to note, is that probiotics don’t actually colonise our guts. If you view your gut as an ongoing battle, with good bacteria fighting bad, at the moment the good are outnumbered and have a bigger battle. Probiotics are reinforcements, which we’re flying in from abroad. They will occupy until the battle is over, then go away again, leaving the resident good bacteria to finish the fight. In this respect, probiotics help, but you need to make sure you look after the good bacteria that’s going to be sticking around.
You need to do this by feeding the good bacteria a good variety of different vegetables and plant based foods. Our guts also thrive on resistant starch, which we get by cooling starchy foods (potatoes, pasta) and then reheating them before we eat them.
If you have Netflix, there was quite a good show on gut health – “ask the Doctor” episode 9. Worth a watch
sauerkraut juice is also good. Loving foods do a good one - available direct or via Amazon
I thought about shop bought sauerkraut but they usually appear to have some chemical additives, I’m not sure about. Or else they may be pasteurised, so some of the goodness has gone. How about the one you mentioned?
The ones I buy have no additives and are not pasteurized - that's why I buy them.
Can you tell me the one?
I already did: Loving foods and Healthy Supplies (Demeter). But you can also buy raw sauerkraut from Ocado, Abel & Cole, Planet organic, Natural Grocery, Buy Wholefoods online and even Amazon. Probably loads more places - just do a web search or see rawvibrantliving.co.uk/stoc... for one brand
Hi you should check out someone called Goji Man on you tube, he is the best person in my opinion to listen to when it comes to any type of Gut issues, I know you can also email him but he gets tons of emails every day, not sure if he replys to all of them. Hope things work out for you.
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