Tag: Diet

Microbiome Diet, Did You Know

Synopsis of Diet Plan. This diet involves three phrases, and, throughout all phases, dieters are encouraged to take “microbiome supersupplements” (ingredients such as garlic, berberine, wormwood and grapefruit seed extract), digestive enzymes, prebiotics and probiotics. Kellman also suggests apple cider vinegar supplementation.

2
Plate Diagram of acceptable foods

3

Synopsis of Diet Plan

The first phase is devoted to the removal of unhealthy bacteria, replacement of digestive enzymes, reinoculation with pre- and probiotics and repair of the intestinal wall. Dieters follow Phase 1 for three weeks by removing processed or packaged foods, juices, some fruits, gluten, all grains, sugars and sweeteners, dairy products, eggs, soy, processed or deli meats, peanuts, potatoes and most legumes, among other foods. The second phase lasts four weeks, and dairy, eggs, fruits, gluten-free grains, legumes and sweet potatoes are added back in. Dieters are asked to follow the diet with 90-percent compliance. The final phase, which lasts in perpetuity, promotes all foods allowed in Phase 2 with 70-percent compliance.

4

Nutritional Pros and Cons.

Kellman urges readers to eat foods that feed healthy gut bacteria and avoid foods that nourish harmful gut bacteria, a commendable dietary approach. He also encourages readers to change their relationship with food and describes the perils of stress eating. By Phase 3, the Microbiome Diet calls for a generally healthy diet with 70-percent compliance, allowing for more flexibility and the occasional indulgence.

Bottom Line.

Kellman believes all health begins in the gut and he thoroughly explains the relationship between gut bacteria and health, as well as the value of mindful eating and creating a healthy relationship with food. Unfortunately, the benefits of healthy gut bacteria are often overlooked – or perhaps poorly understood or publicized – as is the potential risk of harmful gut bacteria on obesity and chronic disease.

The Microbiome Diet centers around the idea that the key to optimal body function—and in turn, high metabolism and weight loss—is a thriving internal ecosystem of bacteria. “Research reveals that when the microbiome goes out of balance, people often gain weight, even when they haven’t changed their diet or exercise,” Kellman writes. “An imbalanced microbiome often dooms just about any diet to failure. When the microbiome is balanced, however, people often lose weight, even when they don’t make any other changes.”

It makes plenty of sense: 90% of our cells are bacterial, and there’s strength in numbers. “These intestinal organisms—bacteria—digest your food, govern your appetite, control your metabolism, orchestrate your immune system, influence your mood, and even help determine how your genes are expressed,” Kellman says. “They have a major impact on whether your heart is healthy, whether your bones develop properly, and whether your brain feels sharp and clear or fuzzy and unfocused. They sustain the gastrointestinal tract so your food is properly digested and you get all the nourishment you need. They produce crucial vitamins and other nutrients. They even manufacture natural antibiotics.”https://www.byrdie.com/microbiome-diet

FOODS TO REMOVE:

Processed foods of all kinds are out of the question, as are sugar, eggs, soy, gluten, dairy, yeast, dried fruits, and fungus. Even gluten-free grains like quinoa and brown rice and starchy vegetables and legumes like potatoes, peanuts, and kidney beans are off-limits, as the sugars in those foods can feed bad bacteria. 

FOODS TO ENJOY:

Most non-starchy veggies and fruits are just fine, with a special emphasis on fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and kombucha (which contain digestion-friendly bacteria strains). Chickpeas and lentils are the only legumes permitted, and Kellman advises sticking with coconut oil or ghee. For protein, beef, chicken, low-mercury fish, lamb, and shellfish are all fine (though as low-processed as possible).Kellman also suggests a variety of bacteria-promoting supplements to ingest daily, the most important of which being a probiotic and prebiotic. And here’s where things take a turn for the amazing: A couple cups of coffee per day are allowed, as are wine and beer, since they’re fermented.

The Microbiome Diet Phase 1-The 4 R’s

The 4R approach to intestinal health works to rebalance gut flora by:

  1. Removing foods that interfere with a healthy microbiome, disruptive bacteria, pathogens and toxins
  2. Repairing the gut wall
  3. Replacing needed stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes
  4. Reinoculating with large amounts of healing, probiotic bacteria

Diets high in refined carbohydrates, fat, sugar, processed foods, coloring, and fillers are what creates the perfect storm to allow opportunistic strains of bacteria to overgrow, as well as pathogens to dominate the balance of the ecology. By removing them, the intestine can heal and the composition of the microbiome begins to change for the better. Patients are advised to avoid the following for the first 3 weeks:

  • Packaged foods
  • Gluten
  • Soy
  • Fillers/Color
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Trans/hydrogenated fats
  • Potato/Corn
  • Deli meat
  • Peanuts
  • Fried foods
  • High mercury fish
  • Fruit juice
  • Eggs
  • Grains
  • Dairy (except butter/ghee)
  • Legumes (except chickpeas/lentils)

The focus should shift to an organic, plant based diet that includes “Microbiome Superfoods”. These are foods that contain prebiotic fibers necessary to feed and nourish the healthy strains of intestinal bacteria, giving them the energy to grow, multiply and thrive. Since these fibers are indigestible by us humans, they make it into the intestine intact, where they are fermented and broken down by our tiny friends. In the process, compounds called Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) are released, which have many positive effects on our health. It’s a win/win for everyone! Asparagus, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, Jicama, onion, leek, and radish are all terrific examples of prebiotic foods.

Probiotic foods are equally as important, as they loaded with huge amounts of healing bacteria. Fermented vegetables, kimchi, sauerkraut, plus sheep, and goat’s milk products like kefir and yogurt, contain exponentially more healing bacteria than supplements do. A true Microbiome Diet includes liberal use of these foods to boost the quantity and types of strains that should be found in great numbers in the ecology.

Fruits such as apples, berries, cherries, coconut, grapefruit, kiwi, nectarine, orange and rhubarb are also included. To round things out, healthy fats from nuts, seeds (natural nut/seed butters), avocado, fish, and oils from flaxseed, sunflower and olive are all great choices. When it comes to animal proteins, make the healthiest choice possible by focusing on organic, free range and cruelty-free versions.  

We will explore more on the 4R’s and healing supplements in Part 3.

Phase 2 – The Metabolic Boost

After the first 21 days on the diet, the intestine have begun to heal, inflammation is down, and positive shifts are already taking place in the microbiome. In this next phase, we continue to omit damaging foods, while adding in the following for the next four weeks.

  • Dairy – goat or sheep’s milk products such as milk, cheese and yogurt, kefir of all types including cow’s milk, and coconut yogurt
  • Eggs – organic, free range
  • Fruits – mango, melon, peaches, and pears
  • Gluten free grains – including mmaranth, buckwheat, millet, oats (certified GF), quinoa, brown rice, basmati rice, and wild rice.
  • Legumes – green beans and all types of beans, including black, kidney, red and white
  • Sweet potatoes and yams

Phase 3 – The Lifetime Tune-Up

At this point in the process, the intestine is healing or has fully healed and so has the microbiome! A good rule of thumb is to always try to avoid the damaging foods, listen to your body, and follow your inner guide as to what foods work or don’t work for you. By maintaining The Microbiome Diet principles, the health of the bacterial communities is ensured.

https://kellmancenter.com/2016/11/the-microbiome-diet-101-part-2/For complete food lists and meal plans please refer to The Microbiome Diet by Raphael Kellman, MD available on Amazon.com.

DIET, diabetes/INFORMATION

See the source image

Here’s How Long It Actually Takes To Heal Inflammation/ Information Share

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-long-it-takes-to-heal-inflammation

1. Focus on your diet.

Taming chronic inflammation starts with what you put on the end of your fork. In other words, your best defense to fight inflammation starts with your very next meal or snack. Researchers find that a pro-inflammatory diet significantly increases weight gain and your risk for being overweight or obesity.

The best way to shift that balance is to eat fewer inflammatory foods and much more anti-inflammatory food. The latter include wild-caught fish, loads of nonstarchy vegetables, low-sugar fruit like berries and avocado, raw nuts and seeds, and cultured and fermented foods. Stop and consider, for instance, that our ancestors ate nearly an equal ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids—whereas today we are eating 20 times (sometimes higher) of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. We’re eating fewer anti-inflammatory foods, but the inflammatory ones we consume (sometimes from not-so-obvious sources like almond milk or factory-raised eggs) can crowd out the healthy ones.

Take soybean oil, prevalent in pretty much any restaurant you eat, which can decrease the amounts of the anti-inflammatory fatty acids EPA and DHA. Even if you’re avoiding the usual suspects like sugar, gluten, and other high-sensitivity foods I often talk about, inflammatory foods can be slipping into your diet. Grain-fed meats, vegetable oils, roasted nuts and seeds, and pretty much any processed food in your grocery store fuels inflammation.

2. Heal your gut.

You cannot fix inflammation without fixing the gut. When your gut lining is disturbed, it cannot absorb nutrients optimally and inflammation develops. Eventually problems like leaky gut lead to food sensitivities and even autoimmune disease.

A downward spiral occurs as gut inflammation becomes systemic (or full-body) inflammation, creating pain, headaches, and other symptoms that you might never suspect originated in your gut.

Healing gut inflammation requires time and patience. The right protocol eliminates food sensitivities, incorporates plenty of anti-inflammatory foods, and includes gut-supporting nutrients like L-glutamine, probiotics, and prebiotics. Here’s a three-day plan to get you started.

3. Get the right nutrients.

If you’re not eating an anti-inflammatory diet and incorporating other lifestyle strategies delineated here, taking supplements that can lower inflammation won’t help much.

But combined with the right diet, supplements can help tame inflammation. Among the favorites I use in my practice daily are:

  • Curcumin: Turmeric is that beautiful yellow-orange spice, but its main claim to fame is curcumin, which provides anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and gut-healing benefits. Sprinkle organic turmeric powder onto all your food, but to get the full anti-inflammatory benefits, consider a concentrated curcumin supplement.
  • Fish oil: The two main, anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), are important anti-inflammatory promoters in the body that are often deficient in the American diet. Studies have shown that these omega-3s help reduce inflammation in the gut and elsewhere. Make sure you source the right type. I only recommend practitioner-grade supplements.
  • Probiotics: These healthy microorganisms support optimal gut-flora balance, but evidence shows they can also reduce inflammation. It’s always best to source a high-potency probiotic from a reputable company that focuses on gut health. Read my guide to choosing probiotics here.

4. Avoid environmental toxins.

Many of the over 80,000 chemicals we are exposed to daily have not been tested for human safety. They are everywhere: in our furniture as fire retardants, in cosmetics as heavy metals, in our household cleaners as emulsifiers, and in our food as preservatives. These toxins create all sorts of problems. They disrupt our hormonal balance, keep our immune system revved up, and increase our risk for diseases including cancer and autoimmune disease. Chronic inflammation plays a role in all of these problems.

Just like we are all inflamed, we are all toxic. To reduce that toxic load, you’ll want to minimize the toxins you’re exposed to daily that are under your control.

That might mean becoming more mindful about what cosmetics you use, what household cleaners you keep around, and what skin products you spread on your body, as well as drinking clean, filtered water, eating mostly organic plant foods, and if you are a meat eater, mainly consuming clean protein sources like pasture-raised meats.

You’ll also want to eat plenty of detoxifying foods, including leafy and cruciferous greens, along with spices like turmeric. Once or twice a year, consider working with a professional to incorporate a plan that provides your cells the nutrients they require to optimize detoxification. And a gut cleanse is a great way to clean out the pipes and dump some of those accumulated toxins.

5. Move your body.

Research shows that regular exercise protects against chronic low-grade systemic inflammation present in diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I like to use the word “movement” as opposed to “exercise” because movement encompasses a broader array of activities.

Yours might include yoga, brisk walking, or weight resistance exercises. Research shows high-intensity interval training, which is fast and effective, can reduce the inflammation that contributes to disease like cancer. But remember this—if you’re a CrossFitter or do any high-intensity exercise, then stock up on the anti-inflammatory nutrients I mentioned above. Moderate exercise reduces inflammation, but extreme exercise (like marathon training and Tough Mudders) will increase inflammation.

The important thing is that you do something that challenges your body without abusing its limits.

6. Manage your stress.

Stress is a major and underestimated factor that affects inflammation, even when all other lifestyle behaviors (like diet and exercise) are on point.

Stress increases inflammation, regardless of how good you’re being with your diet. It activates the fight-or-flight response that makes you feel like you’re under attack when you’re not. It can lead to elevated blood pressure, palpitations, and reduced blood flow to the intestines, resulting in poor digestion and assimilation of nutrients.

Some of my patients live under and handle such elevated levels of stress on a daily basis they consider it normal. They have become desensitized to the thought of stress, but their bodies have not been desensitized to the ravages of stress. Essentially, they’ve ceased to notice what a huge impact stress has on their lives. I often point out to my patients how full their plates are and how even if the load they carry (between work and social life) feels “normal,” it shouldn’t be their “normal.”

Forty percent of Americans get less than the seven hours of recommended sleep per night. When compared to the amount of sleep Americans got in 1942, we are getting one hour less per night. That’s outstanding considering modern technology should be making our lives easier, not harder. The problem is the health ramifications of sleep deprivation.

Studies support what I see regularly in my practice: Sleep deprivation can trigger or exacerbate inflammation. Multiple mechanisms are at work here. Sleep loss adversely alters the body’s inflammatory markers, but then you are more prone to make unwise food choices, fuel up on caffeine to get through the morning, and feel more stressed throughout your day with less sleep. Keeping inflammation under control requires eight to nine hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep every night.

Sleep hygiene is important. At least one hour before bedtime, shut down your electronics, block out sleep-disrupting blue light by putting on your blue-spectrum-blocking glasses, dim the lights, and pull up a good book to read (on paper).