The Critical Role of Gut Microbiome in Health and Disease

The recipe says to take whole bulbs of garlic with the skin still on, place them in jars, and cover with apple cider vinegar, and leave for as long as possible.

Apple cider vinegar is fermented.

Thank you for saying so!

I have tested one type of resistant starch before, potato starch. It is very healthful, but in the potato form, it gave me a ridiculous amount of gas which precluded me from continuing the test beyond one month.

It seems like some of the precursors to Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) can promote gas as part of the process, beans would be one example, but fortunately not all of them do. Pistachios do not seem to give me gas and I usually eat 3 little cups of them a day. The cup I use is like the ones that they use at restaurants to serve a side of dressing in. My particular cup holds exactly 4 ounces of water when filled to overflowing. I use it as a scoop to dip in the bag of pistachios and I fill it to a rounded top 3 times a day and that is my snack food. That allows me to get a consistent amount of pistachios each day.

Those two FMT studies that I linked to in the article transformed the way I look at treating health issues because while I always knew that maintaining a healthy gut biome was good for your health, I never truly realized how important it is, until I read those studies! Their results were fantastic by any measure. The sad part is that the US is not really pursuing FMT as it should and it is just speculation on my part, but I suspect it is because FMT would essentially take trillions of dollars away from the pharmaceutical industrial complex. There is so much money at risk for them that I can see where they would go to great lengths to see that FMT never really gets off the ground here. Those two studies came out of Asia, which is leading the world in the research into FMT.

That is why I wrote the article because it may be able to replicate FMT with none of the reported risks of FMT and it would be less expensive than FMT.

Good luck and good health on your journey, Madelyn!

Art

It would be helpful to know how much B-12, how many pistachios, etc, you are taking each day. There are plenty of us out there who want to experiment right along with you! I've been gut sick for decades.

Thanks,

Clare

Thank you, Art, for writing this up and sharing.

I've just recently been doing some research myself on increasing resistant starches in the diet to promote a healthy microbiome and heal the gut. Green banana flour appears to be very effective at feeding probiotics and increasing their production of SCFAs. I've even found a couple of recipes that utilize green banana flour. Now after reading your article, I'm inspired to take action! Off to go order some green banana flour and finally start taking the melatonin powder that's been sitting on my counter. I do eat pistachios frequently and will continue to do so! Be blessed!

If we can get the SCFAs increased, supplementing melatonin should not even be needed anymore as the SCFAs should build it up in the gut to healthful levels which in turn should also apply its positive effects to the gut and the brain via the gut/brain axis!

Art

Thank you for such an informative article on the gut microbiome (our second brain, they say).

I'm also very impressed that you are experimenting on yourself and sharing the results!

As you know, I've used your borax remedies with great success and I now take melatonin on a regular basis (still at the low-dose stage, though).

Excellent work, Art.

Cheers,

Tessa

Hi everyone, I couldn't recommend more the book of Alanna Collen, 10% Human: How Your Body's Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness Paperback – Illustrated, May 10, 2016 more on this subject. I learned more in one read, than I did over many, many years of putting pieces of the puzzle together.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23644794-10-human

or Amazon:

https://amzn.to/3xecYxR

https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/gut-microbiome.html

I have a story of extreme High Blood Pressure (over 200) and how I corrected it within 15 days, returning it to a good healthy range of 117/73. If you find yourself in a situation where you suddenly have high blood pressure where you had never before I suggest you look for outside influences that might have caused the situation. Let me tell you my story and let you draw your own conclusions.

I am a 53 year old healthy male. I do not take any medications and am proactive with my health. I believe that nutrition (from whole food sources not vitamins from bottles which a very high number on the market are of a synthetic nature and just don't work) is the key to good health. When a problem occurs with my health the first thing I do is sign onto Earthclinic and look for solutions based on a whole foods approach. By whole foods I mean as close to grown from the earth as possible. This means herbs, roots, food based vitamins/minerals, spices, vegetables, wheatgrass, (and so many more) and products made from these).

So last year I had some dental problems which necessitated numerous rounds of antibiotics - 3 rounds of amoxicillin and one round of penicillin over the course of a year. I had a recurring infection in a front tooth. I did not want a root canal instead I opted for an implant and was using the year to save up for the procedure. I foolishly thought that antibiotics could handle any flare ups until I could get the procedure done.

When I went into the specialist to get the implant he checked my blood pressure as he would have to put me under to do the implant. At that moment he bluntly told me that he would not do the implant and that I needed to see my doctor immediately. If I did not, I could suffer a heart attack or stroke at any moment. He went on to say my blood pressure was over 200, well in the danger zone. He refused to do the implant until I was on medication and my blood pressure was in the normal range.

I left the dentist office in shock. I had never had high blood pressure. As soon as I got home I got on Earthclinic looking for help. I found a post on how one cup of Kefir (fermented yogurt drink) every day could help lower your high blood pressure and that a compromised gut biome from taking too many antibiotics could cause a wide range of health issues one being high blood pressure.

By gut biome I mean the healthy microbes and bacteria in your gut that helps you break down food and assimilate it for the body's health. At this point I was willing to try anything. I did not want to go on any medication. I decided I would do a test to see if kefir and fermented food in general would work in lowering my blood pressure. I purchased an inexpensive blood pressure monitoring cuff from Amazon for around $25 and headed to Walmart to purchase some kefir (in the refrigerated yogurt section) and a health food market to get some fermented Sauerkraut and fermented pickles (because they are fermented - I.e. live foods - fermented sauerkraut and pickles must be refrigerated. You'll find them in the refrigerator section of a health store where they sell pickles).

I figured the more fermented food the better. I would drink one cup of kefir in the morning, eat 1/2 cup sauerkraut at lunch and dinner (twice a day), eat 1-2 pickles for snacks, and drink one ounce of the fermented sauerkraut and/or fermented pickle juice a day (fermented juice is loaded with probiotics). One word about sauerkraut, I am not a fan of many of the brands on the market except one - I'm not sure I can say the name on earthclinic but it is one word, begins with B, and is seven letters. I found this brand to be very tasty. They also make the fermented pickles, just as tasty).

The experiment was simple. I would consume the fermented foods in the proscribed manner mentioned above and check my blood pressure every morning before any food or coffee. I didn't notice any change in my blood pressure until around the 5th day. That day it dropped two points. and from there it rapidly dropped. After 15 days my blood pressure was 117/72 in the healthy good range.

I continued with the routine for another two weeks then weaned myself off the kefir. I still eat one 1/2 cup of sauerkraut or one pickle or drink one ounce of fermented juice a day as a good health routine. It has been a year since doing this and I feel so much better. I find I sleep better, have less stress, less depression, and a higher overall sense of well-being. I just had a full doctor's checkup with full blood work and everything came back excellent.

The doctor gave me a clean bill of health. So get out there and try fermented foods - they do work.