This morning I’ve been reading on butyrate again, trying to put together the next post about probiotics and generating butyrate (which may still be a long way off, darn it).
Butyrate is generated by your gut bacteria for YOU to use in your own body. It supports your gastrointestinal health and “a million” other things (diabetes and cancer, to mention a couple small problems). It comes from your gut bacteria munching on the vegetables and fruits you eat. (It can also be made from whole grains, such as oats.) My go-to foods for butyrate production are leftover potatoes (baked potatoes, steamed potatoes, fried potatoes, you name it) and green bananas.
Foods rich in something called “FOSs” feed those butyrate machines too: onions, garlic, and asparagus. (And as much as I like garlic and onion powder, you need to go for the REAL onion and the real garlic to get butyrate). We use no less than one onion a day in our home. And I can’t even count how many cloves of garlic.
Well, this morning while butyrate-reading, I came across:
Butyrate, neuroepigenetics and the gut microbiome: Can a high fiber diet improve brain health?
Basically, it was explaining how butyrate may affect brain function. It was fascinating. I LOVE it when personal experience is validated with the science I read. I never want to misinform and lead people down the wrong path, even if it applies to eating better. (Because the battle a person has to fight now today to “eat right and real,” is a real battle.)
When I changed the way I ate a few or so years back, I noticed a dramatic improvement in moping days (as in they decreased in number). Even now, when I eat too much sugar or grains or processed oils, my moping days like to come back. Being a tiger for protecting my brain, I get back to eating as real as I can and how I know is best for me.
I was trying to think about how best to describe to people how I think we should eat. From my varied reading, there is a huge allowable variation for human health.
But basically, I guess I’d sum it up as:
Eat like a vegetarian who is back in the Garden of Eden. Round it out with the most connected- with-nature animal products you can find when you want them. (If you don’t, no problem. Just make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need in the place they’re lacking.)
What do you think of this thought? Does this capture the idea? Does this keep us focused on the food rather than the cholesterol, fat, and sugar content? Does this take away the significance of labels and names? Because that’s what it comes down to for MOST (not all, there will ALWAYS be exceptions—speak, Elijah) of us. Eat it whole, baby.
Check out the article if you like science and you ever get moping funks. Nah, I’ll bet none of you ever do that. And remember, after you get it down to real food, you may need to make further tweaks to help with individual things like weight loss, headaches, irritable bowel, and so on.
Terri
The HSD 
Wow, you read my mind!!! I have been doing tons of research on this same thing and working with a knowledgable healer through my yoga and guess what oats, cold potatoes and green bananas and some other things I have found are healing my gut. Let’s try to speak girl for five min one day. I am as busy as u but it might be worth our while. Peace!!!
The potatoes and green bananas seem good here. Oats, I don’t know. I’ve tried those over and over and over. To no avail. Maybe it’s a “mental block.” 🙂
By the way, the resistant starch is supposed to stay with reheating of potatoes, so you could gently reheat your potatoes if you want. But sometimes, they’re nice just cold!
Terri
Everywhere in every study it all goes back to butyrate. IBD, cancer, diabetes, autism, even cystic fibrosis…
I think that the best way to eat would be vegetables,fruits, fish, whole grains and little bit dairy fat, no red meat. Your thoughts sound same.
But what do you think about dairy fat, organic whole milk? There are lost of quite new studies about how dairy fats may help to prevent deseases and obesity, still it`s recommented to avoid dairy fat (at least here in Finland).
Hi, J! How are you!?
I think things have to be tweaked for a person–and heck!—it may even change as they age or as their disease states change. (I mean, the gut microbiome we know does change as people age.)
And I’m not sure that red meat has to be excluded, but I do feel that regular consumption would ideally be a grass-fed, non-grain fed, who is allowed to roam. And I don’t think we need grains, and in fact I feel better off of them personally (at least for now and the last few years), but neither do I think they need shunned if a person desires them (and is getting the equivalent nutrients elsewhere).
As for dairy, that is a mixed bag. I think if a person tolerates it, there’s no need to avoid it. (However, some people don’t know what signs of intolerance are or how long it can take to see the signs. For example, my husband had a chronic cough for years and then we discovered it was triggered by dairy.) Unfortunately, dairy is a very common allergen/intolerance-food. VERY. But, dairy has some GREAT nutrients! But it is so confusing!
Most of the dairy that is bought at the store is very processed—vitamin D added, pasteurized, homogenized. Even if I can’t prove that, let’s say, homogenization is detrimental, I still get squirmy inside; it doesn’t sit well for me in my mind to be processing food. (There are some exceptions! Of course! I mean yogurt is processed. I soak my beans–and that’s “processed.” I eat peanut butter and that’s processed… and so on.) But, as for dairy fat in a person who tolerates it, I just don’t see the “buzz.” (To continue on and on and on…I think that fermented dairy is better than non-fermented, like cheese and yogurt. But then again, the yogurt available at the store is usually not the best. Although, not being in Finland, I can only speak for US yogurt. Ideally, yogurt would be fermented over much longer than 4 hours. I ferment it, when I make it, up to 24 hours. And no sugar added. No gums. No stabilizers.)
So bottom line, if dairy is tolerated, then good, honest preparations of dairy are likely good nutrition. Just my opinion.
Hope all is well over there!
Love the “eat right and real” concept!!
Loved your “Raccoon eyes” post!
In my research of thyroid issues, I come across information on butyrate. They recommended high quality dairy. I tried some half and half in my morning coffee the last few mornings, but my itching issues flared up again . (Probably need to trial some raw dairy instead.) I’ve ordered some butyrate supplements to try instead. Interesting stuff.
That is a bummer about the cream. We can’t get butyrate much that way, either. I do wish we could, but it’s not worth banging my head into a wall for. Right!? 🙂
I have had a couple of readers comment just a smidge about thyroid and butyrate, not enough for me to internalize and absorb. You’ll have to keep me informed! 🙂
Well, kids all staring at me. Do keep me posted on all of the above mentioned in your comment! XX, Terri
I’m glad you posted the article. I have a very high fiber diet (approximately 150 g/day).
I used to have funk days too, but I haven’t had one in a very long time. I approach every day with enthusiasm and I never get bored, even when I have nothing to do. I was not like this before.
I’m wondering if it also makes a person better able to learn. I’ve always liked reading fiction and watching TV. Now I don’t. They are too slow. I’m now reading history, science, and philosophy and enjoying them greatly. Again, not like this before!
Your eating advice is nicely consistent with Michael Pollan’s. Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much. It’s how I like to eat.
Oh, hello, Wilbur! I’m so happy you commented. I’ve read your comments on Vegetable Pharm and was very enthused by them back when! I’ve often wondered what you would say to people who struggle with GI complaints that interfere with them consuming fiber like you do. So many comment to me that they can’t possibly do this because they have issues with FODMAPS/SIBO/IBS/ETC. And I hear them, but I’m not sure what to say. I have the line, “Find one [vegetable]. Find something.” But I don’t know if that’s good enough. What would you say? (And I like Pollan’s advice, although I eat meat myself. I listen to my body (and brain 🙂 ). But I know some people thrive with meat. Others not so much. I have a meat eater and I tell her she can eat that, but she HAS to eat the veggies I give her.)
I was lucky – I had no idea what I was doing. I went in with zero expectations and hit the lottery. There was some discomfort early on. And I had IBS before starting, so my GI distress was never worse with more fiber.
I’ve been reading a lot about how the brain works. Chris Kresser posted an interview about FMT in which they discussed a Thursday effect (they had a name for it, but I forgot it). Doing an FMT, people will complain on Thursday about being sick, being worried that they’d screwed up, etc. it happens on Thursday because the FMT is started on Monday and it takes about 3 days for the new bacteria to make themselves known.
The kicker for me is that they don’t warn people because people will automatically have the symptoms if they are told in advance. This seems strongly consistent with what I’ve learned about brains. I think that being too sick to be helped is a strong part of some people’s identities, how they view themselves. Not everybody, but some. I don’t want to be dismissive or insulting – there is lots of evidence that this is simply how the mind works. I don’t believe these people can be helped until they believe they can.
Even more intriguing is that the gut has many hundreds of millions of neurons, hence “the second brain.”
I’ve experienced this myself over the past few days. I had tooth pain a few days ago, so I went to a dentist. He was adamant that it was due to an infection. But I don’t get random infections anymore. He prescribed Amoxicillin, which I am dutifully taking. I’m worried about the effect on my gut, which is a big part of my identity. I’ve felt symptoms of constipation, diarrhea, flu, too much gas, no gas, hunger, and more. Except I haven’t. These are just random fluctuations that I have everyday (unrelated to any symptom) that I believe my unconscious is serving to my conscious because of my worries. I’d never even notice any other time. Funny how they all go away when I’m conscious of it!
Yes, some vegetable in some amount. If it’s too much, cut it in half. Or some benign fiber supplement in some benign amount. That’s how I started. There must be a suitable starting point for most. If someone argues that there is not, I don’t know how to help.
Well, good thoughts for a fun night of conversation! Nicely said. I really like the phrasing (regarding plant intake), “There must be a suitable starting point for most.” I noticed Terry Wahls states that her patients (who consume upward of 6 cups of colorful veggies/sulfur veggies/etc) who have GI issues, she feels like their troubles improve if they stick with it.
And I like your description of the mind-body segment too. Reading Dr. Sarno tipped me into that arena, and boy, oh boy! Am I grateful. Could kiss that guy. Personally, I see so much benefit has come out of my “simple” health issues, that I have to trust there is a reason for all things. I had never read that about the FMT! So fascinating! But it is hard to understand, in general (the mind-body stuff). Nobody wants to think they’re choosing their illness. I once read about an MD who said that they think that the severance of religion/spirituality from [the field of] medicine was a very bad thing. I think he may be right.
Please do take care, you and your family. The world is a web, and I’ve liked reading your comments on Tim’s site and mulled over a couple of things you’ve suggested. Thanks!
I forgot to say that the antibiotic hasn’t done anything for my tooth! I knew it wouldn’t, and maybe that’s why.
I’ve had Sarno on my reading list for a long time. I think I’d like it. If you (or others) like this area, two books I really like are “Neurologic” and “Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How The Brain Codes our Thoughts.” The first has lots of clinical examples that are fascinating. Like a woman with disassociative identity disorder who is legally blind in her main personality but sees very well in another. The book discusses how the unconscious mind pulls this off – having unconscious gut issues would be child’s play! The second is more sciencey but also great.
Thank you for your well wishes. The same for you and your family. I enjoy reading your blog, not just for the gut stuff but also for the homeschooling part. Well, more accurately, the stay-at-home part, which I do. I share a lot of your happinesses and frustrations, and it’s nice knowing someone else has them. Sometimes I feel less guilty for having them!
Forget shoes. I’m a sucker for books. Said books are in my Amazon cart.
And thanks for your words; being a “live” show, so to speak, those kinds of things are important to me.
You are 100% on the right track. I learned not long ago of KYNA while researching potatoes. Kyneuronic Acid. The “neuro” should tell you this is a brain thing, lol. From this paper:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772988/
“According to electrophysiological studies, KYNA exerts a modulatory effect on neurotransmission in the brain…”
And where do we get KYNA?:
“According to research by Turski et al, KYNA is present in various kinds of food and, therefore, is a constituent of a human diet. Interestingly, the concentration of KYNA varies significantly among analyzed food products. As can be seen in Table 6, content of KYNA in a majority of analyzed vegetables is higher in comparison to content of KYNA in various kinds of meat. Nevertheless, it is honey that contains the highest concentration of KYNA among all analyzed food products. It is also worth noting that KYNA content in broccoli is very high. Both honey and broccoli are believed to possess pro-health properties. On the other hand, high concentration of KYNA was found in potato and potato related food products, such as French fries or crisps, which are not commonly thought of as healthy food. Further research by Turski et al indicated that the content of KYNA in potatoes may depend on variety of a potato.”
Was there honey and potatoes in the Garden of Eden? I’d like to think so!
Tim
That was very interesting! Thank you! Did you, by chance, mention KYNA in your book (The Potato Hack)? I’m trying to decide if I’ve heard of it before or not. If you didn’t mention, I never have. But now I have! Did you see how much of it St. John’s Wart had!? Fascinating! It was tough to tell the effects in the GI tract from it, as it seemed the results are conflicting. But, to me, no matter. I know that it’s important to eat as fresh and whole as one can–and the article mentioned herbs. I’ve been wanting to run a post on that, as I’ve read some and just feel that they are so important for people to incorporate. Here is a very good example of that! These little powerhouses (herbs) contain things like this (KYNA). For some reason, I’m pretty confident there were honey and tubers in the Garden. Well, baby is up from nap, so must close. Hope this isn’t too scattered of a comment.—Terri
Page 136!
Perfect. Thought so (that that’s where I saw it) but I wasn’t sure and hadn’t looked in the index yet–and wasn’t even sure it’d be in the index.
Woot, interesting chart there, and right up my alley. It backs up a crackerjack formula that I came up with on a hunch for anything involving slow transit plus crankiness (because in most people they seem to coincide, right?). It’s just dandelion root and St John’swort tinctures in equal parts. And it works really well. Not an instant fix mind you, it needs to be taken before meals for a few weeks but it really seems to resolve these sorts of issues in the long term (if it’s accompanied by a good diet). It’s a little diuretic at first but that’s self limiting. Both also promote good sleep, which is an overlooked but really important part in all this.
Thing is, I don’t know if this would work with commercial St Johnswort preparations, they tend to be crap. But almost anyone can make their own tinctures of either of these, they’re common weeds after all.
Ak, posted that in a hurry. To clarify, the “great chart” I refer to is the one in Tim’s link, above.
Christine!!!!! That chart is RIGHT up your alley! Geesh! I didn’t connect the herbs in my spice drawer with you–because I think of you as a “wild plant gatherer.” Duh! Those wild plants are herbs with names I probably know! AND I didn’t know St. John’s wort was a common weed. I don’t gather my own plants, but I love to use herbs and spices.
Crankiness with slow transit… I AM NOT cranky, mind you. 🙂 (Oops. Was that cranky?) I just call it fussy. (I’m teasing here.)
As for the kyneuronic acid component leading to a relief in slow transit, I don’t know. It looks like in one case it slowed motility and another case it increased it as described in the article. Not that I think that these herbs wouldn’t mediate a relief in slow transit via other mechanisms. We know that St. John’s Wort helps some with their mood, and that the gut has these same neurotransmitters.
Have a great Sunday!
The dandelion is the part of the formula that relieves the transit issue, but as you say, who knows if it is the kyneuronic acid; it’s inulin rich so there’s that, and to my way of thinking, it all turns into a debate about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. As for the St J, I have my own theories on that, thanks to a decade or so of playing with it: http://garblingthedandelion.blogspot.ca/2015/07/st-johnswort-not-antidepressant-well.html
(btw St. John’swort = klamanth weed, considered a noxious weed in many states)
BUT getting back to the theme of your post here, whenever I hear about anyone having so much trouble with vegetables I want to take them into my home for a month and feed them soups. Do you think the idea that raw must = better is part of the problem? Onions, especially, when cooked properly, are gentle and healing. When not, they can be hard on anyone.
Of course soup is my first instinct for treating any malady. It’s a mother thing. My heart tells me that such people need to think *nourishment*, rather than nutrients.
Great info. On soup: I love soup too. Of course, I like summer best in South Dakota, but I get a little disappointed the family doesn’t want soup in summer.
I don’t get hung up on raw much, either. I think raw IS hard on guts. And cooking inactivates some plant chemicals that aren’t so good for us. Allows certain nutrients to be captured better (for NOURISHMENT 🙂 ). Then, as you know, some nutrients are better captured when raw. So both. I did GAPS introduction for a time, and at that time, only boiled veggies were recommended.
So perhaps we should change the working idea to…Eat like you’re in the Garden of Eden with a stove. What think you?! Better?
I’m going to go try to buzz through your St. John’s article. Klamanth? There’s a “klamanth” seaweed too.
“Eat like you’re in the Garden of Eden with a stove.”
Ha! Yes!!
Hi Terri,
Have ever had any problems with resistant starch at all?eg. bananas, boiled cooled potatoes etc
My fodmap intolerance started after appendectomy where i was treated with strong antibiotics. then after a year i developed ibs-c.
To correct the dysbiosis, i did the antibiotics treatment and fecal transplant. After the fmt, my fodmap intolerance level is better, but thr ibs-c is not fully recovered. based on stool test (prior fmt), it showed that my butyrate and scfa levels are low.
i’ve been trying to increase my butyrate by adding resistant starch to my diet. i followed the posts from tim steele and richard nikoley with raw potato starch combined with sbo probiotic, because i thought it’s the easiest way to play with the dosage if i want to start slow. i started with 1/4 tsp and slowly increased to 1tbs… while my BM was better, the gas & bloating persisted. after 4 days with 1tbs i had reflux, so i stopped. i’m thinking that maybe i should start with green banana and cooked boiled potatoes instead.
i read that RS is fermented rapidly in the caecum and increase the bifido count. i wonder how i could avoid sibo with RS in my diet.
would you mind to give some suggestion for me? thank you 🙂
-vicky
Dear Vicky,
Hello! Let’s see. First off, sorry you’re still struggling with this after going through all you mentioned. I actually found what you have found with RS forms. Most forms (all?) help my motility (yay!), but the trade-off for that is increased abdominal distention (for foods or powder form). Since I’m feeling great otherwise (another yay!) and am fairly happy with my GI motility, I try not to let myself wonder too much about it (but I still do…) and keep incorporating RS foods and lots of plant matter in. When I really tank up on RS, then the bloating does get worse (with my build, my 7 year old tells me I look pregnant); so based off my personal experience, I think that some people may have issues with RS and SIBO. On the other hand, I think Tim has had people tell him it helped their SIBO-like issues! What helps one makes another worse.
But the question: How to avoid SIBO with RS in my diet?
I don’t have a good answer. What has helped my bloating (my measure of my mild likely SIBO) with this? I’ve found that keeping my motility going helps (magnesium). I’ve found that intermittent fasting helps (but often slows my motility, not always). I’ve found that good life habits help (aerobic exercise, getting outside, good sleep, meditation, finding time to be alone). I’ve noticed fennel seems to help some. I’ve wondered if the ileo-cecal/colon massage and gargling I do (easy to do, cheap, non-harmful, why not!? 🙂 ) help a little. I’ve tried a zillion probiotics–SBO and C. butyricum included–some people swear by them, but I can’t say I noticed anything. (I’ve tried SBO several times. I need to try C. butyricum again to make sure I didn’t notice anything. I like to try things a few times before I decide if it helps me or not.) I still go back to butyrate supplement when things seem to be falling backwards.
The experts on SIBO say that a person just may need several rounds of antibiotics, herbal or otherwise, to keep knocking it down. They say you need to make sure stomach acid is optimized and that your digestive enzymes are adequate.
I am not at this point to try this, but I wonder about making sure that Archaea microorganisms are covered by the antibiotics used for us constipation SIBO-type people, as they are often associated with IBS-C and methane.
If you ever find the magic-bullet combo for you, please come back and share!
Best Wishes,
Terri
Vicky –
There are other fibers known to produce butyrate and other SCFAs. Inulin is good. And, if you get the right type, it does not ferment as fast.
If you can handle raw onion and lightly cooked garlic, you might be able to handle inulin. Sunchokes and dandelions seem to be different (for s lot of people). Many of the supplements include a very short chain inulin, maybe because it is sweeter. But that will probably ferment fast, like RS. I have used Viv agave for years and love it. I know it’s expensive. But you might try a bag to see if it works, and if so find something more economical.
Good luck.
Thanks so much for adding. Much appreciated! Most definitely agree there is more than one way to get butyrate, not just resistant starch. Cross-feeding of bacteria is big, too. So even by taking lactic acid producing bacteria, you cross feed butyrate producers, even though many scoff at simple lactobacilli. Different substances in plant matter lead to butyrate production, as Wilbur says, particularly inulin, FOS, and beta-glucans. That’s why I insist that there is a way to feed your gut if a person is persistant enough to find something they tolerate.
Thank you Terri and Wilbur for your feedback.
I think I could tolerate some inulin, so maybe I’ll up my inulin portion gradually in my diet and see how it goes…
Terri, last year while waiting for my fmt, i tried vsl3 out of desperation. That time my ibs-c was so bad that prucalopride, 5 movicols/day still couldnt move me. The vsl3 helped me alot, suddenly my BM began to form, my food intolerance improved a bit (before vsl3, I could only eat white rice & protein!) and I could reduce the laxative. But only after fmt I could tolerate more and higher fodmap food.
I personally dont believe in antibiotic treatments. there is no way the antibiotics will only kill the bad bacteria and not harm the good bacteria. And when the good bacteria is gone, what can guarantee even fmt to repopulate it back?
Antimicrobial is the same, only maybe it can cause less harm because it’s not as potent as real antibiotics.
And even with rifaximin which is said to be fully absorbed in the small intestine, some bacteria like klebsiella & proteus do not respond to that. After rifaximin, vancomycin & flagyl, my dybiosis changed to klebsiella & proteus overgrowth…..And I dont think only methanogens cause ibs-c…. everything is complex down there 😦 So antibiotics wont fix the problem, I believe.
If our slow motility is caused by dysbiosis, i think fmt might hold the key point (along with diet etc). But until the experts could find a way to match our gut bacteria with the donors’ then fmt is a mix bag, even though the donor is super healthy….. it’s like a lottery….
Have you guys ever done any test like uBiome or Genova?
I hope the inulin works and doesn’t cause any setbacks for you. Good luck!
I have tried many, many probiotics. I like VSL#3 too. And the juice from Bubbies pickles, which I try to consume with fat, as that reportedly helps with propulsion of the probiotic past the stomach acid.
I hear you on the antibiotics/antimicrobials, although I do consider the idea which I’ve read indicating that we don’t lose bacteria because they really dig in the crypts and in the biofilms. So maybe they’re suppressed or knocked down, but not eradicated. Which would then allow them to repopulate with proper nurturing. Would love to find the articles eventually I read about this and post on them. (But that will be about in forever.) So I know that some people really benefit from antibiotics/antimicrobials and others are hurt. (Imagine…such complexity…) I personally have tried rifaximin and neomycin when I first started this abrupt diet change four years ago, and things did improve—improved bloating and gut did have irregular BMs (which at the time was new for me). But, as in line with your thoughts on antibiotics, I just didn’t want to do any more rounds. Since I’m not clinical anymore and can’t be sure what helps patients, I just want people to read all sides in these comment threads, both pro for certain things and cons.
How long has it been since the FMT? One of my posts a while back reported on the topic of constipation for some being an attack on the motility cells, kind of autoimmune-like. If this is the case, I figure it may take some time and great environment to help restore that motility to normal. Like when in carpal tunnel the median nerve is damaged, those patients can have some functional restoration to that nerve, but it can take many months. And I haven’t dug into FMT deeply as things improved and I don’t feel I’ll need to go there. But for a while, I did think about it.
I don’t know. All I do know is that I’m moving in the right direction, slowly and surely, and sometimes things bump backward but they seem to rebound.
I have done Metametrix stool studies about four years ago. That’s what showed low butyrate and SCFA for me. And how I learned about butyrate. Although now I’ve read bunches which says we can’t count on the butyrate levels on those tests. Whatever. 🙂 Complex. 🙂
Terri
My fmt was just 2 months ago, Terri.
So I’m really scared if I screwed up by experimenting with resistant starch 😦
But even after fmt, my constipation isnt fully resolved, that’s why I keep trialling with other things. I understand that I need to ‘feed’ the bacteria from fmt, but I’m confused of what I should be on. Ive avoided gluten, dairy, soy and sugar. The resistant starch is confusing, since If i stop them, then the bacteria related to it might be gone for good, but if I keep going, so far I keep getting gas & stomach distention 😦
I’ve read research where mice given broad spectrum antibioitics & low fibre diet. After sometime the diet was changed to high fibre, but some bacteria weren’t detected anymore even the diet had been changed for a while. So, yes, unless it’s really really necessary, I hope I wouldn’t need to take antibiotics anymore……
Here’s my thoughts on what I’d try to be thinking. Take it or leave it. I’d be telling myself:
1. Listen, Terri, let yourself fully feel your fear and confusion. Take some quiet time in a chair and just let that overcome you. Then let it go, embracing the fact that life is leading you. There are no mistakes. Fear and confusion and health are not compatible buddies. The FMT has helped, and that is therefore a path that has led me somewhere new. Follow.
2. Eat real food, rich in what you tolerate, trying to provide plenty of “green stuff” (broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage, spinach, cucumber, onion, garlic, mint, basil, kale, arugula, sea vegetables, ETC—plenty of the ones tolerated–not forcing one) and also a chosen starch or two (potato, rice, beans/lentils)–sometimes eaten hot and sometimes eaten after it has been cold—and heck, even pick a fun grain or seed if you feel it (chia, flax, quinoa, oats, etc). Consider your ancestral background a bit.
Stop fretting about food, Terri. Stop it. Eat honest to goodness real food (you know what real food is and you know how to eat it and yet take care of your sweet need too–and you know there’s room for a touch of this rice cracker or that type of cheese or that GF bread but not that) and move past that. Listen to your body. It tells you what to eat and not to eat. Those bags under your eyes tell you. Your gut tells you. Your mood tells you. Your skin tells you. Your stuffy nose tells you. Yet, sometimes it needs told when it’s time to move on because it’s scared. You’re scared. Move on.
3. Sure, Terri, try some powders and/or supplements you think might be effective (“fiber” type powders, etc) and see how it goes. Always in curiosity, not fear or even hope that this will be the one. Curiosity.
4. Leave plenty of time for the gut and bacteria to have rest between meals, this includes any powders. Stacking meals and snacks just to get “good stuff” in doesn’t give the bacteria and gut time to complete their processes.
5. Work on your brain, Terri. Harness it’s gifts. Re-work its negativity. Re-read The Loving Diet—but don’t worry about the diet part. You’ve been there, done that.
Anyhow–LOL at the “whonky” thoughts. Sorry, Kiky, (is that what you’d prefer to be called by?) for going that direction. As I said, take them or leave them [my thoughts–my husband says I have too many–:-)]. I haven’t had FMT, nor have I had the health issues you have, so it’s not fair for me to assume that what works for me will work for you or anyone else. I know people want told to take XYZ, do it this way, you’ll see this, expect this, hold steady when you feel this, stop when you see that. I wish it worked that way. Each internet site you visit has a platform usually. Each person you ask will tell you something different.
But if you’re eating real food, particularly rich in non-processed plant matter, I think you’re feeding those bacteria. Be confident! Everyone will tell you something different. I think back to my proofs in geometry and how there were many ways to work them. I think about the complex ICU patients I took care of. How I’d get their “hearts tuned up” by diuresing them only to have their kidneys fail because kidneys love fluids–so I’d next work on their kidneys and then their hearts would yell at me that it was too much fluid—it was always a balance–a searching for the way to bring all the organs to health but at times having to put strain on one till I brought the other around.
There are many ways to do this. Find your way. Have courage and confidence. Of course, work with your doctor to always be safe.
You can do this thing!
Terri
I just realized my post cpl days ago didn’t go through…
thanks for the tips Terri.
my fmt was just a couple months ago..
i’ve been working really hard to find the right diet for me….i’m confused of whether i should ‘challenge’ myself with new food, because the new bacteria from fmt will need to be fed, or just stay with whatever I’m comfortable with now…..and when i challenge myself, i cant be sure whether i’m actually feeding the right bacteria, or the pathogenic bacteria….
let’s wish each other good luck, Terri 🙂
Good morning, Kiky! I think the post went through. It went through twice, I believe. So I kept the one and deleted the other because it was exactly the same. Technology!
“Let’s wish each other good luck…”
I’m grinning, thinking of that song, “…And we will all go down together…” But no! We won’t! Succeed we will! You’ll figure it out! You may get discouraged at times and regress, but in the end, with your perseverance, you’ll eventually be on the evident up side of progress! Diet is good, but don’t forget the brain to gut connection (not just the gut to brain connection!!).
Terri