HOW TO CURE SIBO, Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth: Step #2 Eat Resistant-Starch-Rich Tubers, Grains, Legumes and Pulses

The second step in Dr. BG's 7-Steps Paleo* Gastro IQ SIBO Protocol is:

"Ancient heirloom potatoes, tubers, roots that are low glycemic index (or high if good insulin sensitivity) and ancient heirloom grains, legumes, lentils/dal that are low glycemic index (or high if good insulin sensitivity), prepared the ancient way (soaked, fermented, etc)"

Potatoes, tubers, roots, grains, legumes, and lentils have been alongside man throughout our evolutionary past. Eating these foods is very important in keeping our gut microflora in top-notch condition. You saw in the Fat Burning Beast blogpost that a digestive system starved of carbohydrates, fermentable fiber, and butyrate leads to a high risk of colon cancer, but it also leads to a dysfunctional and less prolific gut microbiome.

The Standard Western Diet leads to a Standard Western Microbiome, one that has been starved of healthy, fermentable fibers, flooded with antibiotics, and allowed to proliferate with pathogenic bacteria. This leads to inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and auto-immunity. On the other hand, A paleo diet, with near complete avoidance of refined sugars, flours, gluten, and vegetable oils and plenty of starchy, fibrous plant matter will produce a functional microbiome, replete with beneficial bacteria, flooded with short-chain fatty acids, and ensure immune system homeostasis, glucose regulation, vitamin and mineral uptake, and production of vital hormones and neurotransmitters.

Often times when starting a paleo diet, one restricts carbs. This is an effective strategy for weight loss and may help eliminate unhealthy sugar cravings, but in the long run carb restriction will most certainly lead to a dysfunctional gut microbiome.  Both the Perfect Health Diet or Mark's Daily Apple Diet outline the optimal amount of starch that one should include in their diet. A daily food intake that is roughly half plant matter, including up to one pound of starchy foods is highly recommended.

[Grace~~ Dispelling fairy tales: I love Paul and Mark. (Particularly Mark's pectorals and gluteals and how he recognizes a good thing like RESISTANT STARCH for the gut microbiota and insulin metabolism) We have all evolved but I'm not certain if their respective diets entirely have.

What I like about PHD is the 150 grams per day advice for adrenal dysregulation because ketosis/VLC will instigate susceptible adrenals into hypercortisolism, and subsequent low adrenal and low T3 thyroid syndromes. PHD can heal this. However, the reliance on white rice and not the whole grains, whole legumes and RS-rich tubers will lead to gut dysbiosis for those who are vulnerable. Adding these back in are thus imperative. If I consumed 150 grams of high GI (glycemic index) white rice daily, I'd be T2DM within two seconds.  But if I consumed 150-200 grams of low glycemic index carbohydrates that included RS-rich starches, grains, and tubers, ME AND MY MICROBIOTA ARE GOLD *wink wink*.  And the net carbs are 75-100 grams/day.

MDA has two (ancient) popular posts which offend my gut ;) and the microbiota... (1) The Primal Carb Continuum and (2) All Grains are Unhealthy.  Fiber IS INDEED good for us (and Mark says so HERE).  They feed your microbiota and heal SIBO and promote gut longevity, proper processing requires soaking and fermentation of whole grains, legumes and pulses to make them edible.  So Mat Lalonde has already banished the lectin myths. Please see his AHS 'Invalid Inferences'...  How to make our legumes and whole grains work for us? Soak, soak, soak which ferments the starches. Soaking brings alive the microbes that reside on the grain or legume/pulse.  If Gluten Small Grass Grains and unsoaked legumes wiped out the Neanderthals, then it is perhaps food technology that brought Anatomically Modern Humans to the Great Leap Forward 40,000 to 50,000 years ago.]

If 'carb restriction' means eliminating gluten, industrially processed flour, and refined sugars, that is perfect! If it means eliminating potatoes, rice, and most other whole, starchy foods that's a problem.

The purpose of this blog is to teach you how to chose and prepare starchy, fibrous food in a way that will lead to a high Paleo* Gastro IQ.

Everyone knows potatoes and rice, but there is a whole host of other foods that fit the bill for exceptional gut health and getting a variety of these foods is extra-important when healing a broken gut. It would be a very wise move on anyone's part to seek out some of these:

Plantains
Green Bananas
Mt Uncle's Raw Ladyfinger-Banana Flour (high resistant starch content)
Jobs tears/Adlay/croix
Brown rice
Purple rice
Red rice
Black rice

Fermentation/Soaking Tips
Journal Source: HERE

Basmati white rice
Basmati red rice
Mung beans
Green beans
Red beans
Kidney, black, fava, navy, etc beans
Millet
Sorghum
Buckwheat
Teff
Amaranth
Steel cut oats
Lentils
Chana dal
Garbanzo
Quinoa
Taro
Jicama
Cassava
Yams
Konjac
Okinawan purple potatoes
Andean purple potatoes
Nagaimo (Chinese white mountain yams)
Raw or Roasted Potatoes



The list goes on and on, but you get the picture--no need to rely only on potatoes and rice! Each different variety packs a different punch. Beans and lentils are often frowned upon in paleo circles, but when properly prepared, they are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.

When it comes to grains and legumes, one of the biggest problems is phytates. An exceptional write-up on phytates and how to remove them can be found here. "...phytic acid does indeed bind with minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. If you depend on grains and legumes for a high portion of your diet, then those phytates (phytic acid) could lead to mineral deficiences." Fortunately our ancestors found ways to remove phytates and these methods can be used today to make these evolutionary important foods safe. It would be of great benefit for you to learn the techniques of sprouting and fermenting to increase your range of healthy foods.

A very interesting grain known as Job's Tears, Chinese Pearl Barley, or Adlay has some remarkable properties including effectively alleviating osteoporosis, leukemia, and rheumatism. Oats are an interesting topic of much debate, and don't let a Gluten-Free label fool you! Dr. BG said of Gluten- Free foods in 2010:

"Personally I believe gluten-free is not enough for an ultimately optimal lifespan and health. Gluten-free products often still are refined, vastly processed and full of high carbohydrates and problem oils (oxidized, pesticide-laden crops of omega-6 canola, safflower, cottonseed, etc) which spike and increase blood glucoses (BG) and promote silent inflammation. Chronic silent inflammation leads to cancer, obesity, fibromyalgia, mood disorders, arithritis, weight gain, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart attacks and strokes.

Gluten free however alone improves stomach and GI symptoms including bloating, constipation, bloody stools, iron deficiency anemia, chronic fatigue, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and gut dysbiosis."

The best advice we can give you is to include plenty of starchy carbs in your daily menu planning and learn to broaden your horizon. The more variety in your diet, the better profile your gut microbiome will develop.

If you have any questions or concerns about our food list or want to see any added, please comment!

HOW TO CURE SIBO, Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth: Step #1 Eat Fermented Foods

Prior Animal Pharm:
Fermented Foods -- Korean Pepper Paste Burns Body Fat, Soil-Based Organisms (SBO), Gut Microbiota -- New Study 'Kochujang, fermented soybean-based red pepper paste, decreases visceral fat and improves blood lipid profiles in overweight adults'




The first step in Dr. BG's 7 step protocol is "Fermented veggies made the ancient way with organic dirt-covered vegetables, ex. kraut, kvass, kim chee, kefir, etc. Read Sandor Katz."

Fermented foods are a must for anyone serious about their gut health.  It is the first step you should get a grip on before proceeding with Dr. BG's 7-Steps Paleo* Gastro IQ SIBO Protocol. Eating a variety of fermented foods will ensure a healthy gut stays healthy and a troubled gut returns to it's healthy state.  Try to eat or drink something fermented at least once or twice a week, every day is even better!  

Fermented foods are a cornerstone of the paleo diet.  Despite the fact that fermenting food as a means of preservation was a neolithic invention, those living during paleolithic times ate loads of fermented foods...overripe fruit, rotting vegetation, decomposed meat, and the contents of animals stomachs to name a few.  Later, as man became more civilized, he learned to control this fermentation process as a means to ensure a steady supply of food during times of scarcity.  

Just about any food item can be fermented:  Beans, grains, vegetables, fruit, honey, dairy, fish, meat and tea.  Every culture has its favorites, from the very familiar European sauerkraut to the not-so-familiar Japanese Natto and Stinky Tofu.  The Inuit were very fond of fermented foods.  They would bury fish, fish heads, sea-mammal flippers, seal oil, and whole birds in grass-lined holes in the summer and dig them up during the winter and next spring.  Another method was to stuff a freshly killed caribou's stomach with sea-birds and seal oil and bury for several months.  

Fermentation in food processing is 'the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions.  Fermentation usually implies that the action of the microorganisms is desirable...The term "fermentation" is sometimes used to specifically refer to the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol, a process used to produce...wine, beer, and cider.  Fermentation is also employed in the leavening of bread; in preservation techniques to produce lactic acid in sour foods such as sauerkraut, dry sausages, kimchi, and yogurt; and in pickling of foods with vinegar (acetic acid).'  

For purposes of gut health, we like to focus on fermentation processes involving lactic acid as these generally recognizable foods are easy and safe to make at home or can be readily purchased.  Lactic acid fermented foods include sauerkraut, kimchee, yogurt, kefir, and kombucha.  All of these foods, when properly prepared, will contain several strains of Lactobacillus, an important microbe for not only gut health but other bodily eco-systems as well.  

An easy homemade sauerkraut can be made following the lead of Dr. BG and her children, with their famous Hot Pink 'Kraut!.  

Another great resource is the website of Sandor Katz.  Updated frequently with new recipes such as Raw Black-eyed Pea Miso Paste and Fermented Radish you will have no excuse not to try some of these amazing fermented foods, made in your own kitchen.  


Traditional Russian Beet Kvass is easy and delicious.  We are told that "Beet kvass carries with it all the benefits of beets, marrying them with the benefits of fermented foods for a deeply cleansing tonic.  Rich in betacyanins – the pigments responsible for beets’ characteristic hue, beets possess strong antioxidant capacity with an ORAC value of 1,776 which may be why beets seem to help mitigate inflammatory states in the body which may contribute to cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes."  It is also probably one of the easiest fermented drinks to make.  All that is needed is a jar, water, and a beet.  Learn to love it!  

If you absolutely cannot prepare fermented foods at home due to space and time considerations, there are luckily numerous great products on the market that won't break the bank.  Kimchee, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, and kombucha are in almost every supermarket.  Look for fermented foods that have not been overly processed, pickled, or heated in ways that destroy the probiotic bacteria.  Also avoid overly sweetened products like sugary yogurt and kombucha.  

How To Cure SIBO, Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth: Dr. BG's 7-Steps Paleo* Gastro IQ SIBO Protocol

Credit: Shaping the (auto)immune response in the gut: the role of intestinal immune
regulation in the prevention of type 1 diabetes
[RS fiber + NSP fiber + SBO probiotic] versus [SAD + antibiotics + parasites/pathogen enteric infections]



Dr. BG's 7-Steps Paleo* Gastro IQ SIBO Protocol

HOW TO CURE SIBO, SMALL BOWEL INTESTINAL OVERGROWTH

1. Fermented veggies made the ancient way with organic dirt-covered vegetables, ex. kraut, kvass, kim chee, kefir, etc. Read Sandor Katz. [read post]

2. Ancient heirloom potatoes, tubers, roots that are low glycemic index (or high if good insulin sensitivity) and ancient heirloom grains, legumes, lentils/dal that are low glycemic index (or high if good insulin sensitivity), prepared the ancient way (soaked, fermented, etc)  [read post]

3. Soil-based probiotic 1-2 daily if not severely immune compromised (Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium butyricum, Bifidobacteria longum BB536, Lactobacillus plantarum, etc)  [read post]

4. Three versions of 'bionic fiber' to heal the gut depending what your baseline composition  [read post]

• VERSION A:  Inulin 1-2 TBS + Psyllium (if not allergic) 1 TBS + high ORAC green powder to taste (I like Amazing Grass, LOL) in 2 cups water
• VERSION B [the 'FAT BURNING' BIONIC VERSION]:  Inulin 1-2 TBS + Acacia Gum 1 TBS + high ORAC green powder in 2 cups water

If no conditions that are contraindicated (see below 5 situations):
VERSION C:  Inulin 1 TBS + Psyllium (if not allergic) 1 TBS + Acacia Gum 1 TBS  + high ORAC green powder in 2 cups of plenty water [+ 1 to 3 tsp variable fiber]

5. Exercise low-moderate intensity one hour daily continuously (10,000 steps) to move the gut/peristalsis and overcome broken myenteric musculo-neuro junctions  [read post]

6. Avoid allergenic foods (corn, soy, gluten/wheat, dairy, nuts, egg whites, etc). Avoid GMO products and livestock/poultry fed GMO crops (corn, soy, etc).  [read post]

7. Heal hormones and immunity -- take adrenal support, liver support, antioxidants etc (I use biocurcumin and berberine to combine with anti-microbials/anti-parasitics). Adrenal care is particularly imperative for those with reactive hypoglycemia and BG crashes when they go longer than 3-4 hours between meals.  [read post]

Optional
8. If the above fail, then you have more fastidious overgrowths and require 2-3 rounds of anti-parasitics/anti-microbials/anti-fungals.  See what worked for my family and I HERE.  If the above still does not fix SIBO, then consider mercury toxicity. Mercury saturates and kills microvilli in the small intestines and also disables enzymes including digestive enzymes.

(*hominids ate SGG small grass grains in the Paleo times fyi ~see Middle to Late Paleolithic: Neanderthals Consumed Grains and Legumes)



CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR POTATO STARCH (RS2, RAW STARCH):

• Part 1: Don't Take Resistant Starch Alone and Other Precautions; RS2 Needs to Be Taken With Other Fiber To Spread Fermentation Completely Across the Entire Colon
• Part 2: Real Food Resistant Starch (RS3) Trumps High-Dose Potato Starch Diet To Expand the Lean and Immunoprotective Core Microbiota (Roseburia, Eubacteria, F. prausnitzii, Bifidobacteria)
• Part 3: Don't Take Resistant Starch If You Have Moderate to Severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Temporarily
• Part 4: Don't Eat Raw Resistant Starch (RS2) If Pre-Cancerous or Cancerous for Colorectal Cancer, Temporarily
• Part 5: Don't Take Raw Potato Starch (RPS) Temporarily If You Have an Autoimmune Disorder

Gut I.Q. and the Distal Gut Microbiome as a Driver of Health and Disease

I'd add 'HOW THE DISTAL GUT MICROBIOME IS A 

DRIVER OF HEALTH AND DISEASE'

Source: theberry.com

Human Distal Gut Microbiome

I've been reading this cool article by Marchesi titled 'The Human Distal Gut Microbiome' that summarizes the effects of our distal gut (butt-end) microbiome on longevity, metabolism, disease and mental health.  Naturally having had SIBO, I can't decide if the proximal gut (front-end) or the distal gut is more important. Perhaps it depends on which is more ravaged and broken?  If I had diarrhea or chronic constipation, I guess I'd say distal. But since I've had neither, for me, it's the proximal gut.  When I had SIBO, I couldn't function or digest at my optimal. I was bloated after celery. Looking at water made me fat. This clearly sucks.  

A Few Updates: Post-Parasite Eradication

My family and I just returned from a sunny holiday in Macau and Hong Kong. We've all just finished our anti-parasite courses and the first I noticed is that we can eat dairy and gluten without almost no damage...full restitution of digestive function.  It's been 3 years.  Prior, I couldn't even eat peanuts or drink beer without waking up with ankle edema and abdominal bloating to 7-8 months preggers status for several days. I gained no weight on this trip of daily buffets, pervasively excellent feasting, and endless oral delights... I lost maybe half a pound. We ate some foods that were restricted forever -- Portuguese egg tartlets, ice cream, gelato, cheesecake, and cappucinos.  (TMI -- no fartage, no fatigue, no fat bloated belly).  

Gastrointestinal IQ: What's Your Gut I.Q.??

I'm into testing, not guessing.  Biohackers like fixed numbers and objective metrics.  These give data to track, follow and fix, rather than fuzzy logic or haphazard subjectives like 'I feel better' or 'I have more energy'.  

Body temperatures are alright... OTOH some urine cortisol 4 times a day plus full thyroid panel (rT3, FT4, FT3, antibodies) and full steroid panel (DHEA-S, anabolic progesterone, testosterone, and excess fat-inducing estrogens, E2) are more comprehensive and provide a fuller metabolic profile. 

Fasting or post-prandial glucoses are meh... But give me a darn HgbA1c (or fructosamine), fasting insulin and post-prandial insulin, then we can begin talking.  

What I'd really love to see are the mechanics of the mitochondria, fatty acid intermediaries and the gut dysbiotic end-products and organic acids. (Genova ONE= optimal nutri eval by urine; GI fx stool test; my samples here). What is living in the gut? Do you have the good spikes in Prevotella? Balanced Firmi/Bacteroidetes?? Viruses, CMV, adenoviruses? Mycobacteria? Pathogenic fungi and candida? Worms? Parasites? Protozoa? Pathogenic, opportunistic bacteria that were selected and fostered after those ten rounds of Z-paks from the primary medicine clinic or prophyactic Amoxicillin from the ol' dentist, which extinguished all manners of the soldier microcritters?

 (I'm sorry -- parasites are not paleo...Have you watched Planet Earth??! Even elephants and wild chimps hunt and seek out clay and other zoopharmacognosy to rid themselves of pathogenic parasites...) 

What is the microbiome in the proximal or distal gut? Guessing doesn't get you anywhere... You can speculate for a hundred million years and yet one won't know. I certainly didn't. I had pathogenic overgrowths and an allergy to heavy metals (mercury, titanium) which explains why despite perfect paleo and attempts at GAPS or SCD diets or FODMAP avoidance, nothing worked completely or brought a full, sustained return to normalcy.  Have you been there? Done that too?? 

I remembered what normal was (endless energy, flat tummy) but I think a lot people do not know because either they've never known normal or simply forgot because it was too way way way long ago... Some just have never had normal hormones, normal digestion, or normal mental function.  Yes these are all related to the gut because the gut microbiome is the major driver of all health and disease.  Perhaps this was not quite the case 10,000 - 25,000 years ago.  Certainly now with so many gut-disrupting factors that play into our epigenetics and core health, the gut cannot be ignored.  Fortunately the literature and technology are all catching up to clarify and highlight...

Why We Are Sick and Fat: Calories In (SUPERORGANISM) = Calories Out (MICROBIOTA) + Calories Out (HUMAN) + HEAT*Fluxxx

Source: Marchesi 2011.

Centenarians and the Microbiota

I'll go over this one below soon -- BIG THANK YOU TO TATER/TIM AND M.O. FOR THE PDF!!! What is it about healthy, long-lived centenarians? I dunno... Their immunity? Their guts? let's delve deepper and find out more...

Cultivable and pyrosequenced fecal microflora in centenarians and young subjects.

The above diagram is from the Marchesi piece (adapted from Biagi et al).

Biagi et al studied the microbiota of centarians (C), elderly (E) and young (Y).  Distinct differences were noted.  The microbiota of centenarians were distinctly unique and different from both the young and the elderly groups. Less Clostridium cluster XIVa, higher Bacilli and rearrangement of the Clostridium cluster IV composition were noted in the centenarians. Some things were expected in centenarians -- lower diversity, less of the good butyrate producers, less Bifido, and more pathogenic strains.

Quite unexpectedly, special characteristics of the gut ecosystems of the long-lived were discovered in this Biagi et al 2010 study which may define what an elite microbiota with a high G.I.Q. looks like.

(a) Enrichment of special butyrate producers Anaerotruncus colihominis et rel. (Clostridium cluster IV), and Eubacterium limosum et rel. (Clostridium cluster XV). Biagi et al concluded in a 2012 followup 'The increase of E. limosum is high (approximately 15- fold), and could point to a group of bacteria characteristic of the long life.'  E. limonus is a soil strain which lives in ruminants like sheep and cow. Its very good at converting METHANOL. In one in vitro colitis model experiment, E. limonus had positive outcomes.

(b) Increase in facultative anaerobes, such as bacteria belonging to the groups Bacillus. Does this include my favorite soil based organism Bacillus licheniformis or Bacillus subtilis?  Does B licheniformis and B subtilis produce supercharged bionic Gut I.Q....?!  What are foods that contain these?  ANSWER here.


Biagi et al also found the connection between "The decrease of both Clostridium cluster XIVa and F. prausnitzii group members was also correlated to frailty condition, hospitalisation, antibiotic treatment and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory therapy."  Clostridium cluster XIVa is also referred to as the Clostridium coccoides/Eubacterium rectale group which are potent cross feeders of resistant starch and raw potato starch in clinical experiments.  E rectale are poor RS fermenters but they live symbiotically with keystone gut species that eat and ferment RS to secondary food (substrates) which E rectale consumes like a hog on fire. Hattip: Tater/Tim.

Smart, Young and Resilient Gut I.Q.
Intestinal IS (Immune System) = HOMEO- and ALLOSTASIS

Source: Biagi et al, 2012

Smart Gut I.Q.

There are a couple of elements that I believe are fundamental in a stable, homeostatic gut ecosystem that will take one to advanced longevity:
--genetics (respect your ancestry... don't mess genetic expression with synthetic hormones, vitamins, endocrine-disrupting pollution, pesticides, GMO food/products, lifestyles, thoughts or people)
--super tight junctions and intestinal IMPERMEABILITY
--balanced flora
--special 'keystone leaders' like E. limosum, B subtilis, B licheniformis, and many others
--seed (return to the earth and intake healthy earth -- soil based organisms in fermented organic vegetables, fresh salads, and supplements if necessary (list here I like))
--weed (avoid mercury, toxins, food allergens/gluten and detox/chelate safely)
--feed with fiber (resistant starches, heirloom and native tubers, organic whole non-gluten grains, lentils, chana dal, legumes)
--exercise daily to move the gut (peristalsis), e.g. 10,000 steps or one hour mild to mod intensity. SIBO causes impaired gastric and intestinal peristalsis (and vice versa, sitting/atrophy can affect SIBO)
--misc (avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, CDAD (iatrogenic or antibiotic-induced C. difficile-associated diarrhoea), antibiotics, and other gut irritants like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) -- ibuprofen, motrin, aleve, excedrine, etc)

Resistant Starch Study Results and Positive Outcomes

Source: Conway 2001

Feeding the Microbiota: Non-Starch Polysaccharides (NSP), Resistant Starch (RS) and Mucous

RESISTANT STARCH GRANULES

"During the co-evolution of man and microbes, the human intestinal tract is colonised by some thousand species of bacteria. Gut borne microbes outnumber the total of body tissue cells by a factor of ten. Recent metagenomics analysis of the human gut microbiota has revealed the presence of some 3.3 million genes, as compared to the mere 23 thousand genes present in the cells of the human body tissues."

--Rijkers et al, Gut Microbiota in health and disease: a personalised summary of 
the 3rth workshop

Everything Our Microanimalia Do For Us

How Shall We FEED THEM?

Flint et al Nature 2012

Seed, Weed and Feed the GUT

I've talked already about many ways to seed the gut (fermented foods, SBO probiotics, dirt, etc) to complement the existing microbiota and weed the gut -- removing toxins, mercury, pathogenic overgrowth, parasites and worms.  How should we properly water and feed the gut?

The primary foods are fiber, mucous and starch that resists small intestine digestion. If the gut is diseased, crowding out pathogens and removing parasites is also important. If the microbiota lacks diversity, then diversity needs to be cultivated and nurtured.  Studies show the obese, inflamed, autistic and heart diseased lack microbiota diversity of species and phyla.

Feeding and nourishing the microbiota isn't a special skill... our ancestors thrived and survived in special microecological as well as macroecological niches... and so did the gut microbes.  How did ancestrally derived foods benefit the microbes and what do they specifically provide for us?  Do we rely on them for immunity? For activation of important immune factors (glutathione, our #1 master antioxidant)?  For activation of plant-derived antioxidants like lignans, etc?  For removal of toxic and carcinogenic bile acids?  To balance the steroid hormone pool?

Yes to all.

I like ancestral diets. They must've worked I figured because we are here...

Being Asian I enjoy starches and after regaining insulin sensitivity (after being 50 lbs overfat), I burn starches adequately during glycolytic activity. With VLC/ketosis, I had cortisol dysregulation and to heal metabolism fully I had to eat carbs regularly. Being previously metabolically broken and still recovering from some toxicity (heavy metals, contraceptive endocrine disruption), however, I don't overdo the starches because I'll notice that I regain bodyfat mega fast.  Typically intake may be 1/4 of plate at most meals).

Our family eat certain starches regularly -- carrots, radishes, steamed pumpkin, bamboo shoots, fermented sauerkraut/carrots/radishes, tubers (yellow, purple, white, small potatoes, yams), flours (tapioca, sweet potato) and soaked grains/seeds (psyllium, millet, sorghum, black sesame, rice (purple, brown, white, glutinous)).   The variety depends on what is in season and carried by the organic farms -- Mahota, FIELDS, BioFarm/Cityshop, etc.  All the above contain both fiber and resistant starches (RS) which the microbiota feed on.  Ultimately, both types of microbial food benefit us on many levels.

In fact some studies show synergism when both fiber and RS are consumed together compared to fiber alone (beta-glucan) or RS alone for insulin and glucose reduction and regulation. Behall, et al:  synergism -- MEN and WOMEN. Below is the outcomes from the female study examing the impact on BG and insulin with intake of beta-glucan + RS. The levels of both were modulated low v. high and vice versa. Higher beta-glucan and higher RS produced the most marked improvements in metabolism. High amounts of either were satisfactory as well (see yellow/insulin,  orange/glucose lines and green circles).  Low amounts of either fiber or RS, not nearly as wonderful metabolic outcomes in this study.

Behall, et al 2006

Beta-glucan is a special soluble fiber (NSP)-- it's not made by mammals. It's found in yeast cell walls, whole grains, and mushrooms.  It's been shown to not only affect the microbiota but also improve immune function, wound healing, metabolic dysregulation, cancer/tumour sizes, and inflammation.  A recent study tracked the fate of beta-glucan in the gut and immune lymphoid tissues.  Researchers found "these large -1,3-glucans were taken up by gastrointestinal macrophages and shuttled to reticuloendothelial tissues and bone marrow. Within the marrow, the macrophages degraded the -1,3-glucan and secreted small soluble biologically active fragments that bound to CR3 of mature bone marrow granulocytes. Once recruited from the bone marrow by an inflammatory stimulus, these granulocytes with -1,3-glucan-primed CR3 could kill iC3b-coated tumor cells."

Resistant starch (RS) is found to be quite as plentiful as beta-glucan and plant fibers however cooking breaks it down to a form that we can digest (enzymatic, mastication, acidic).  The amount remaining in a food that escapes our digestive juices varies by many factors -- species, maturity of the plant, cooking/cooling methods, food acidity, to name just a few. RS is different from beta-glucan and fiber due to its tightly bound double helical glucose polymer structure.  Yes it is coiled up like DNA....  Solubilization in cooking water 'releases' the starches into a gelatin matrix which our spit amylases and pancreatic carb-ases can breakdown to glucose for absorption in the stomach and small intestine.  Any undigested amounts enter the caecum and colon.  The amount of SFCA produced upon caecal and colon fermentation varies as well depending on an individuals microbiota species, large intestine health status, etc.

The average intake of RS in China is 14.9 g/day from wheat, rice and starch products (mung bean, sweet potato noodles); compared with average USA 3-8 g/day intake it is about 2 to 5 fold increased. However, I don't think this holds true any longer for Chinese urban dwellers. When my parents grew up in a small rural village in Taiwan (with pigs and 'home organic' e.g. subsistence farms), they were poor and only ate potatoes, yams, mung beans, rice, and vegetables with very scarce meat/fish/pork belly or chicken or eggs. I believe their childhood intake fiber and RS intake were far more than currently, if not triple or quadruple.

Combined with veggies, most people's diets contain a mix of carbohydrates: rapid digesting (simple sugars, disaccharides), slow digesting (complex carbohydrates), nonstarch polysaccharides (FIBER = b-glucan, xylan, glycan, gums, pectin, mucin, cellulose, hemi-cellulose etc), and resistant starches (RS) to fuel both our human cells and the microbiota.  Our microbiota in the large intestines will eat and ferment fiber, RS, and the mucous produced in the protective layer of the gut.

Most Dietary Starches Contain Both b-Glucan or other soluble fiber + RS

Source: Behall et al

For SIBO and intestinal permeability, it's actually healing to minimize fermentation if it is occurring pathogically in the small intestines... where it shouldn't be.  The surface of the small intestines is not designed to support extensive networks of microbial growth which requires thick mucous.  The integrity of the small intestines can easily be compromised and fail to serve its function (digestion and absorption) when inappropriate growth manages to perpetuate whether it's 'good' v 'pathogenic' bacteria, yeasts or mycobacteria or parasites/worms.

The ONE (optimal nutri eval) is one of the best tools to measure the microbial/fungal metabolic by-products in the urine by opportunistic and pathogenic species in the small intestines.  The GDX/Metametrix GI function stool test is unique to identify microbial overgrowth, dysbiosis, pancreatic digestive enzyme capacity, small intestinal fat/fiber/protein malabsorption, and parasites/worms as well as assess microbial sensitivity to herbal and pharmaceutical antimicrobials.

Diet absolutely shifts bacterial communities in the gut ecology -- simple sugars lowers the good, raises the bad. More fiber and RS both raise the good (in Bacteroidetes -- Prevotella, etc), lowers the bad (in Firmicutes -- virulent strains of clostridas, E. coli's, enterococci, streps).  This is borne out in pig, children and human studies.  Flint et al do a great review here which includes a raffinose study (fiber from legumes) that enriched and ↑ F. prausnitzii, Bifidobacterium spp.  Like many of the good gut flora, Bifidobacter tightens up the intestinal tight junctions as super tight as a nun's **ss, which is enteroproctive and immunoprotective again gastroenteritis, intestinal permeability and necrotizing enterocolitis in trials. Guess what?  Magnesium deficiency compromises Bifidobacter and intestinal permeability (or which came first?).  Bifido appears to enjoy magnesium. In rodent studies fed a mag-deficient diet, intestinal permeability and quantitative changes to cecal bifidobacteria were associated.

My kids and I have scr*wed up Bifido (not bad but could be far better -- 3.2; Brent Pottenger's Bifodobacter is over 20% more and rocks at 3.9)... and we have low mag...  Brent has also has had zero cavities and therefore zero mercury amalgams.  Perhaps my fam and I need to forage us  some raw unpasteurized human breastmilk because it is enriched with Bifido?

Below is a human study n=10 on the microbiota shifts comparing RS2 and RS4 intakes (55 grams/day x3wks, then 2 wk washout).  Even among resistant starches, there is selective species enrichment.

The authors state in the results:  "Ten human subjects consumed crackers for three weeks each containing either RS2, RS4, or native starch in a double-blind, crossover design. Multiplex sequencing of 16S rRNA tags revealed that both types of RS induced several significant compositional alterations in the fecal microbial populations, with differential effects on community structure. RS4 but not RS2 induced phylum-level changes, significantly increasing Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes (+++)while decreasing Firmicutes(-). At the species level, the changes evoked by RS4 were increases in Bifidobacterium  adolescentis and Parabacteroides distasonis, while RS2 significantly raised the proportions of  Ruminococcus bromii and Eubacterium rectale when compared to RS4. The population shifts caused by RS4 were numerically substantial for several taxa, leading for example, to a ten-fold increase in bifidobacteria in three of the subjects, enriching them to 18–30% of the fecal microbial community. The responses to RS and their magnitudes varied between individuals, and they were reversible and tightly associated with the consumption of RS."


Similar enrichment in enterocytes occurred in a rat weanling study feeding either basal diet or RS 5% for 28 days. I like this study because it demonstrated increased glutathione (our #1 master antioxidant; I have a GSTT1 deletion so mine is mildly compromised) by over 2-fold and improved pancreatic elastase secretion (digestive enzymes) in the RS fed groups.  [***Personally I eshew all rat studies unless they're vegetarian studies because (1) rats don't have a gallbladder and (2) they're not as omnivorous as humans or pigs so the data is incomparable, particularly the (ludicrous) meat/colon ca/nitrosamine studies.]



Shifting Microbiota Communities: GI Fx Stool Test and Optimal Nutri Eval (ONE)

Brent Pottenger's case:  Recall his Prevotella, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes are quite stunning and no biomarkers of dysbiosis.  He has likely very little mercury (no history of cavities). His diet: near carnivory, fermented full fat Greek + some veggies both raw/cook (per Pottenger's cats).  The microbiota sequencing reveals a beautiful display of healthy guts.  Previously he c/o acne and migraines which are signs of SIBO and intestinal permeability.

My case: The Prevotella, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes (2013) are impressively improved and robust compared with the initial 2011 when I had CFS, fogginess, fraility (sarcopenia), rank mood, and on/off body fat.  The SIBO is gone except for residual dysbiotic biomarkers from a parasite and Morganella. [yes wtf I dunno where the origin was but my children also have pathogenic overgrowth or parasites but we all different. I suspect I got it from one the irresistable poopers, see below]

Would you like to do a GI fx stool test and see your microbiota and do a ONE to evaluate nutrient deficiencies, dysbiotic markers and 8OHdG (DNA damage)?  Let me know and show me!  (Cost $99 and $129, respectively, plus admin fee $50).  Let's conduct paleo gut experiments.



What had I done?
--for two years

• gluten free, casein free, exercise/yoga (some barefoot on soil/lawn)
• removed mercury, gold, titanium parts and oral chelation on/off
• sleep, adrenal/gut support, antioxidants incl pycnogenol, omega-3, minerals
• Prescript Assist, FloraMend
• whole food diet (rainbow tubers, veggies, organic meat, lard/ghee)
• fermented pao cai, Beijing radishes, carrots

--for two months prior to the GI fx stool test

• Seed: Raw unpasteruized sauerkraut at nearly every meal and drank the brine, SBO probiotics
• Weed: charcoal and bentonite clay; removed gut irritants (alcohol -- studies here and here)
• Feed: Kraut and fiber rich foods (basmati rice, vegetables, potatoes, etc)

Energy Flux and Metabolism in Superorganisms

I consider this formula for energy flux:

Calories In (SUPERORGANISM) = Calories Out (MICROBIOTA) + Calories Out (HUMAN) + HEAT*Fluxxx

Rapid and slow digesting starches (RDS, SDS) impact blood sugars and insulin sensitivity by raising BG. The effect on insulin sensitivity and how they burn fat in the mitochondria actually depends on the individual, their insulin sensitivity and the carb/glycemic load.  See Major Paleo De-Mything.

On the other hand, insoluble or soluble fiber and RS do not raise insulin or blood sugars. In fact fiber and RS have been shown in several trials to behave like protein and omega-3 fats by raising insulin sensivity.  Both fiber and RS naturally have glycemic indices of 'zero', 'bulk' up food, increasing fecal transmit time as well as fecal microbial biomass. Combined with digestible carbs, RS and fiber both tend to prevent spiking of glucoses, thus blunting the effects of high GI (glycemic index) foods and sweets. Both fiber and RS definitely lower inflammation but appear to do so via routes which are intimately tied to the microbiota.

Role of the Gut Microbiota in Nutrition and Health

(Flint, Nature, 2012.)

The mouth and stomach digest ~10% of our carbs and the rest 90% is digested in the small intestines if all is functioning (pancreas, gallbladder, oral amylases, GI acidity, microvilli brush border enzymes, pepsin secretion, bile, peristalsis).  What escapes small intestinal degradation is later fermented by the microbiota in the large intestines (caecum, appendix, colon) to volatile organic acids, known as short chain fats -- acetate, proprionate and butyrate.  Although microbial byproducts provide some fuel to us  and the local enterocytes in the gut ecosystem (~10% of our total energy requirements compared with ~30% in other omnivores), actually much of the butyrate and other SCFA goes to provide energy to the microbiota . See above diagram 'Fermentation -- energy for bacterial growth'.  From my reading this amount varies. The SCFA collected at the colon depends on inflammation, IBD status, diabetic v. nondiabetic, etc.  I think it reflects SIBO and intestinal permeability factors which affect the microbiota.

SCFA play a role in the immune system and metabolic pathways by as binding fat-sensor receptors such as PPAR alpha, gamma, delta and GPR41/43.

How we chew the food and shear the particle sizes of resistant starch granules determines how much may be broken down in the small intestines. The first, top diagram above shows how digestive amylases 'etch' granules of resistant starches recovered in the intestines.  Food preparation also transforms the digestibility, crosslinks and polymerization of the starch matrix.  Longer heat, higher boiling/gelatinization, and maturity of the plant are all factors that predispose to higher digestibility and potential blood sugar impacts.   Cooling the starch and adding acidity (lemon, vinegar, fermentation) all lower small intestine digestibility by changing the coagulation of starches and protecting the starch granules from enzymatic degradation. Both refridgeration and autoclaving (high moist heat) polymerize the starch chains and raise RS.

So certain foods will have more RS as a result of food prep compared to the original food:
Fried rice or 'al dente' rice versus rice boiled in large volumes of water
Cold chinese rice ball snack rolled in lard/oil and seaweed versus warm steamed white rice
Sushi rice (room temp rice, sweetener +vinegar) versus warm steamed white rice
German cold potato salad with vinegar versus a boiled LARGE American monoculture GMO potato
Whole grain wheat pasta versus overboiled white pasta

Fermentation breaks down RS
Boiled poi (more) vv. Fermented poi (less)
Unfermented cooked rice v. Fermented Indian dosa rice or idli (less)

Autoclaving polymerizes amylose so raises RS
Processed (heating/reheating process) Uncle Ben's rice (but beware of the endocrine disrupting plastic it's encased in) v. freshly cooked long grain rice (less)

Evolution of RS

The amount of resistant starch appears to me to be related to the amount of protein in the tuber or grain/seed, on cursory review. I've tried to dig further but can't find anything.  The food sources which appear to have the most RS are the starch containing foods with intact cell walls and higher protein content legumes (9.5-11.1% dal, lentils, beans), whole grains (4.5-6%), or complete proteins (2% potato; 4.8-5.9% processed non-modified PS; steamed/cooled potato 31% and roasted/cooled potato 52.5%).  Perhaps amylose and other RS protect the peptides embedded in the starch matrix for tuber and grain/seed winter storage to buffer the Ice Age chill? Sprouting and germinating grains/seeds raise protein and nutritional content, but lowers RS.  Additionally, fermentation of starches is a trade-off -- fermentation lowers RS but raises protein/vitamin content.

I GAVE HER PROBIOTICS SINCE
THE FORMULA DIDN'T HAVE

ADORABLE POOPER

Why We Are Sick and Fat: Calories In (SUPERORGANISM) = Calories Out (MICROBIOTA) + Calories Out (HUMAN) + HEAT*Fluxxx

Gut Permeability = Why We Are Sick and Fat?
Photo credit: Gravitz. Nature, 2012.

Microbial Influence

We co-evolved with the microbes in our gut to escape pathogens, parasites, predation and starvation (emo, nutritional, mental, etc), whilst hunting for palatable food, prey and partners.  (Isn't your partner palatable?) Simultaneously we enjoy all benefits that our co-existing gut microanimalia provide -- digestion of indigestible fibers/resistant starches, butyrate/short-chain-fatty-acids, neuroendocrine modulation, boosted immunity and tolerance, to name only a few.  They weigh 1-2 kg in our daily feces, contribute to massive biofilms (slime communities) in our guts and sinuses, and line every interface where human interiors meet exteriors.  The microbiota are not a small forgotten organ any longer.

It has been realized for decades that 70-80% of human immune cells are in the GI system; I believe however a large proportion (70-80%??) of our total immune system IS the gut microbiota. The # of genes collectively in a microbiome are 150 times larger than the genome of their host human. Besides digestion and metabolism, our microbiota perform far more than we perhaps currently understand in cross-talking with the immune system, its maturation and role in homeostasis and energy balance.

Dysbiosis and Intestinal Permeability as Origins of Disease

Modified: GREER, MORGUN, AND SHULZHENKO, 2013

Emerging data like the study reviewed here showing the rodent T1DM disease model was averted by the presence of a soil based microbial strain known as SFB (segmented filamentous bacteria; genus Arthromitus) confirm and highlight the vital role played by commensal gut species in our immune system. I find it notable that the hearty and robust spore-forming ones that originate from dirt sources are producing some of the most interesting scientific findings since we co-evolved with ancient dirt for millenia.

Since the vast majority of microbial fermentation occurs in the caecum, appendix, and remainder of the large colon in humans, our small intestines are nearly sterile and absent of bacteria and fungi except at the end (ileum) where commensal species take residence.  Studies on TH17, one of the important arms of the immune system, show that no TH17 cells will appear in the small intestines until commensal microbes inhabit the area. Germ-free rodents will miss an entire arm of the immune system until colonization with introduction of a SFB-containing commensals.



Toxic and Germ-free Fetuses, Babies, Children and Adults

The collective status of our guts pretty much reflects the status of our current macroecological niche for humans I think... massively insolvent, blatantly bereft of vision, and irrevocably impoverished.  In China I read everyday of villages blighted with river and ground water poisoning by illegal corporate dumping of industrial waste.  Post-modern towns are plaqued with leagues of cadium or arsenic poisoned children. Even locally in our neighborhood Pudong, Shanghai, lead toxicity was detected in many children living near manufacturing plants called Johnson Controls International Battery Inc.  In the USA, coal burning which provides 30-50% of current energy demands has tainted the air/water/soil and caused mercury and arsenic accumulation in marshes and wetlands and the flora and fauna that reside there. Birds no long sing, woo, mate or care for their young appropriately.  Mercury-toxic birds are literally the canaries in our toxic macroecological niche.  What about human canaries, our children?  I think epidemic rises in toxin related diseases are accurate and reliable reflections because toxins disrupt the intestines and microbiotia:
--AUTISM (1:50 currently compared with 15 years ago 1:10,000)
--CELIAC DISEASE (6.4-fold increase in 20 yrs, Scotland)?
--OBESITY AND METABOLIC DISEASES

Our hyper-hygiene and dirt-avoidance culture extends to the over utilization of potent broad spectrum antibiotics piled into the feed of poultry, pigs, cattle dairy/egg production and in modern conventional healthcare.  In the a new study by Stanford researchers, the mechanism for why pathogenic gut strains invade after a single course of antiobiotics has been illuminated.  Pathogenic strains C. diff and S. typhi are shown to take advantage of the abundant sialic acid and fucose sugars that are left after antibiotic extermination of 'good' commensal gut flora.  The researchers also report in a model where C. diff and S. typhi were genetically altered to fail to utilize sialic acid, expansion by the pathogens was impaired.

Modern Obesity: Inflammation, Intestinal Permeability
Modified: GREER, MORGUN, AND SHULZHENKO, 2013

Toxins Delete the Good Microflora, Stimulate the Bad Microflora

When I had toxicity from gluten, oral birth control, antibiotic overutilization, thimerosal vaccines (tetanus, annual flu, blah blah blah), titanium and mercury amalgams, I had no idea that each and every one of these factors promote pathogenic gut flora, vitamin B12 deficiency, and kill or inhibit beneficial 'good' gut flora.

 Did these toxic factors make me fat?  Absolutely.

It was not [CALORIES IN = CALORIES OUT].

Fermented Fiber Produces SCFA Which Activate Immunomodulating G-Protein Receptors (GPRs): In pubmed studies, each of the above toxic factors are highly linked to gut dysbiosis and obesity.  Stopping or eliminating each of the above eliminated subsequent inflammation and obesity for me (combined with Asian paleo + exercise).  Understanding the human superorganism anatomy and physiology gives pause to recognize the role the gut flora had in the ups/downs of my health over the decades.  Recall about ~10% of total energy expenditures are estimated to be supplied by hindgut fermentation that occurs in the caecum and colon (versus 20-30% for other omnivores).  Production of SCFA, small chain fatty acids (acetate, proprionate, butyrate), and other downstream metabolite byproducts (succinate) bind receptors known as FFA2/FFA3 and SUCNR1, respectively, that control and regulate inflammation (TNF, interleukins, NFkB) and immune function.  Metabolite sensing occurs through these G-protein receptors much like how omega-3 EPA+DHA bind 'omega-3 receptors' GPR120 and elicit their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating actions.  FFA2 (GPR41) receptors are found in enteroendocrine cells, adipocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils and pancreatic islets; and FFA3 (GPR43), enteroendocrine cells, pancreatic islets and sympathetic ganglia.

I believe these effects on GPRs design a metabolic flux which tunes metabolism UP and DOWN based on the messages that our food, movement, minds, and microbiota co-create.  My new formula for comprehending energy balance might be...


     Calories In       = Calories Out (MICROBIOTA) + Calories Out (HUMAN) + [HEAT]*FLUXXX
(SUPERORGANISM)

Main pathways of energy metabolism for dietary fats, fiber and carbohydrates

Fermentation of indigestible fiber and resistant starch to SCFA

Photo credit: Nature Reviews

Diabesity:  Recall pesticides are highly associated with Diabesity.... Coming to China actually forced our family to go as much as we can 100% organic and non-GMO (although all labels are dubious).  In the States, when my in-laws cooked for our family I didn't have control (eg they were too cheap to buy organic).  In the USA, the organic label is also dubious to me but for the most part it's way way way better than in China.

MonSATAN GMO Seeds
Round Up Ready Crops (glyphosate) -- Alfalfa, Canola,
Corn, Cotton, Soybean, Sugarbeets

Recent research demonstrated that glyphosate (Round-Up Ready) allows growth of pathogens and kills the friendlies in studies of intestinal microecology in chickens.  EWP studies show babies and people's toxomes contain on average 200-300 known carcinogens, chemicals, heavy metals and pesticides. 100% of all participants (n=9) in the EWG #1 Commonweal Study had metabolites of organophosphate pesticides, and 55% -- organochlorine pesticides.   Do pesticides in our food and contaminating our water/soil disrupting our gut? I would say emphatically yes.  In China, Round Up Ready sweet corn is mega popular.  China imports that and millions of metric tons of GMO cotton, soy beans, corn, rapeseed and sugar beet.

For several years now, commercialized GM cotton, papaya, sweet pepper, tomato, poplar, and petunia have been grown without public awareness.  One journalist reports that 90% of China grown cotton is GMO cotton (2008).   The report also found 40 billion tons of soybeans were imported  in 2009.  GMO Soy likely goes into thousands of Chinese products here -- (rancid) cooking oil, animal/poultry/aquaculture feed, tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, etc. 40 BILLION TONS OF GMO. Asians love their soy OY OY OY... It's truly the land of sarcopenia and soy, no? Is this behind the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in China among children, adults and elderly alike?

Chinese companies offer a ton of Glyphosate (Round Up Ready)

Source: Alibaba

Horizontal Gene Transfer.  Does horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between DNA from consumed GMO corn and corn products to our gut microbiota occur? Another emphatic YES.  How do you reverse it if your microbiota is transformed? I wish I knew... Bacteria and fungi live in biofilms and exchange DNA within the matrix.  Like a meme gone viral.  Evidence for both DNA and lectin proteins from GMO Bt corn has been found in animals and humans that consume Bt corn. The DNA was found to survive and persist for a long time in the gut/rumen.

Photo credit: Heritage J. Nature, 2004.

I talked about Bt corn previously here: 50 Shades of F*ckd and Cancer.  Every pesticide corporation has a GMO Bt corn brand.  Bt is a lectin (like gluten) and disrupts intestinal epithelium in susceptible victims which can lead to gut dysbiosis and/or death.  It was very effective pesticide in the beginning.

Rootworms and other pests have rapidly shown field resistance to nearly every brand -- Syngenta's Agrisure and Monsatan's YieldGuard.  Dupont/Dow's Herculex has not as much, therefore Monsatan has reported they are planning to incorporate Herculex to synthesize TWO TOXINS into their new SmartStax corn -- in an attempt to overcome inherent field resistance. GMO is brilliant, no?

Unfortunately significant Bt lectin protein has been detected in fetus, pregnant women and non-pregnant women in already one clinical trial. Can we look forward to double the toxins next?  Can we afford to because we are kinda 50 Shades of F*ckd already...

Boobies and Breastmilk Microbiota

Symbionts Are Everywhere:  Our microvilli produce siliac acid and fucose (9- and 6-carbon sugars) at the tips for commensal gut flora to feast and graze on. I call it 'pharming the gut'.  Again, like much of life on earth -- hominids, insects, fish, frogs, mammals -- we have evolved with gut symbionts, encouraging them to take residence and producing incentives for their maintenance.  We should strive to avoid screwing our symbionts...

The baby-mother relationship is another example of the ultimate symbiosis.

Babies receive everything from mom -- life, love, heat, immunity (IgM), food, and water.  It's one of the most symbiotic relationships on earth outside of pair-bonded couples and tight knit families and communities. The baby is born sterile with no immune system, relying on mother's immunoglobulins to handle environmental viral or microbial assaults.  If advanced hominids and other mammals outsourced 70-80% of its immune system to gut microbiota, what does the timeline for acquisition of gut flora look like in babies?

Origin of the bacteria isolated from breast milk:
is there a bacterial entero-mammary pathway?

Photo credit: Fernandez L et al, 2013.

Initially breastmilk was considered sterile but like many things in science, this was inaccurate. Colostrum contains over 700 live organisms (European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility: Gut Microbiota Worldwatch). Are these important? Why? Lysates of strains such as Lactobacillus and Bifodobacter have been shown to tighten up the intestinal tight junctions. Several strains in probiotics have been shown to be associated reduced mortality in NICU settings and against often fatal necrotizing enteric colitis.

Although babies are born with leaky guts to accomodate mothers' large proteins direct access into blood and lymph circulation  (immunoglobulins, IgM), they appear to get a lot of help from natural commensals to switch and develop intestinal impermeability.

Photo credit: Cabrera-Rubio et al, 2012.

Where does mammary microflora originate from? Some researchers hypothesize there is a special conduit that transfers gut flora to the mammary glands, an 'entero-mammary pathway'.  Lymph circulation? It is unknown and not entirely elucidated.  Researchers looked at microbiota in breast milk (at 0 mon/colostrum, 1mon and 6 months), different areas of the mother's body and compared flora between elective C-section and vaginal/non-elective C-sections. Breastmilk from C-section moms resembles mouth/oral and skin flora; whereas, breastmilk from moms who went through vaginal birth or some modicum of vaginal delivery that ended in non-elective C-section (that was me) showed flora that matched the gut and feces. Birth does something to make proper milk.  "The fact that the milk microbiome of mothers who gave birth by nonelective cesarean section had a normal microbial composition that was comparable to that of breast milk from mothers who delivered vaginally suggests that physiologic (eg, hormonal) changes produced in the mother during the labor process may influence the composition of the bacterial community."

Another finding from this study was 'Milk from obese mothers tended to contain a different and less diverse bacterial community compared with milk from normal weight mothers.'

Are Toxins + Early Post-Natal Gluten Exposure J*cking Us?  Gluten peptides also traverse and are dispensed to the baby during lactation from a gluten-eating moms.  Does this contribute to the gargantuan rise in celiac and autism?  Babies are born sterile but breastmilk has over 700 organisms to colonize and modulate intestinal permeability. If babies are born under circumstances where mom doesn't provide the needed commensal gut bacteria (overweight/obese mom (me, again), elective C-section, antibiotics at birth), it could be plausible IMHO that peptides like gluten in mother's milk will cross directly into the baby's blood circulation without the 'blockage' or junction tightening effect from missing commensals.  Gluten on its own also opens zonulin, further impairing, I suspect, a baby's gut permeability.

We may need commensal gut critters not only for immunity but also for chelation and elimination of modern, industrial heavy metals.  Studies show several soil-based bacteria microbes chelate and bind toxic metals.






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