There's been some talk of this in the chatterbox so I thought I'd make a thread for it.

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-5-heal-your-gut

Does anyone take probiotics? If so, which one(s)?

5/9/2014 2:29:37 PM

Not on purpose, but after reading this that I already do a lot of things right (no carbs, lots of fermentable food, etc...)

5/9/2014 2:41:20 PM

A holistic approach is more important here than just popping some probiotics.

First and foremost, foods and other lifestyle factors that compromise the trillions of bacteria in the gut should be minimized and ideally eliminated. That itself will have a much bigger impact than popping a probiotic.

Second step should be to eat foods that contribute to the growth of good bacteria.

Third step, if needed, take a probiotic.

However, if the first 2 steps can not be acted on for whatever reasons, then popping a probiotic is better than nothing.

I took a good high potency probiotic some years ago, can't remember the brand name now. Will check my amazon history and post later.

5/9/2014 2:44:23 PM

No carbs is doing things right?

5/9/2014 2:45:02 PM

Quote :

"A holistic approach is more important here than just popping some probiotics."

cetainly

5/9/2014 2:45:50 PM

^^ no modern wheat. wheat is turning out to be quite bad for human health. even better if you skip other grains too. but i think ancient non-hybridized grains eaten in moderation are ok (barley, oats, quinoa, amaranth, kamut, spelt).

but, best to avoid all grains and legumes and eat vegetables, flesh, dairy, and fruits, in descending order of volume.

5/9/2014 2:55:52 PM

No it's not.

5/9/2014 2:59:47 PM

Crap Factory

5/9/2014 4:08:48 PM

Quote :

"wheat is turning out to be quite bad for human health"

I know this is a waste of time, but still...

[citation needed]

5/9/2014 4:27:09 PM

^ bro don't you read all the popular diet guru blogs?

5/9/2014 4:28:21 PM

I, for one, love me some bread...my gut's just gonna have to



[Edited on May 9, 2014 at 4:33 PM. Reason : .]

5/9/2014 4:29:58 PM

The problem for me is citations tend to be circular and unreliable. Linking to a new blog isn't a citation.

5/9/2014 5:16:19 PM

It's not wheat, its carbs in general. Limit them and you will feel better almost instantly.

5/9/2014 5:58:45 PM

I thought it was pretty common knowledge that repetitive spikes in your blood glucose levels from eating large amounts of processed food were a bad thing.

Most highly processed foods (including processed wheat) have very high glycemic indexes.

Regardless of whether you believe processed food to be bad for you or not there's a shit ton of evidence out there that eating whole foods is still way better for you.

^^I don't think so. There's been plenty of studies on the mediterranean diet and a shit ton on blood sugar levels related to food intake.

Quote :

"It's not wheat, its carbs in general. Limit them and you will feel better almost instantly."

This is completely false. I keep saying carbs get a bad rap. There's plenty of healthy fruits, vegetables, and nuts with a decent amount of carbs in them. You've got to look at the glycemic index, glycemic load, and the amount you eat. There's a HUGE difference between getting full on pasta and getting full on like butternut squash.

Avoiding processed complex carbs makes you feel better almost instantly. There's nothing wrong with eating bananas and sweet potatoes.

5/9/2014 6:02:03 PM

Don't worry about processed, everything is processed, just count the carbs

5/9/2014 6:03:43 PM

That website seems like BS...

in particular, this is just a laundry list of conditions, that cover a large chunk of the population:

Quote :

"Leaky gut can manifest as skin problems like eczema or psoriasis, heart failure, autoimmune conditions affecting the thyroid (Hashimoto’s) or joints (rheumatoid arthritis), mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, depression and more."

Are they saying all of these are related to gut bacteria? Seems unlikely.

I do agree though that gut bacteria has been a major overlooked part of healthcare up to now.

And hasn't research shown that eating probiotics does nothing? To my knowledge, the only known way to stabilize gut bacteria is with a transplant that involves scooping fecal matter from someone with healthy gut bacteria, and then jamming it up your butt and rubbing it off inside the unhealthy person's gut.

[Edited on May 9, 2014 at 7:00 PM. Reason : ]

5/9/2014 6:58:53 PM

Most pro-biotic products are hooey

5/9/2014 7:10:07 PM

Quote :

"It's not wheat, its carbs in general. Limit them and you will feel better almost instantly."

Limit them to what? And based on what?

5/9/2014 7:12:25 PM

Science, carbs are terrible

5/9/2014 7:23:28 PM

At this point you're just trolling.

5/9/2014 7:29:31 PM

I take probiotics every time I get put on antibiotics. I am currently taking some aimed specifically for nursing chicks. Also put my son on them when he was having unexplained gut issues. They seem to be helping but it is hard to tell since his gut is maturing so much.

5/9/2014 7:35:18 PM

Quote :

"Science, carbs are terrible"

lolz

5/9/2014 9:04:31 PM

It's not rocket science: eat a diet based mainly on whole, unprocessed foods and then don't sweat the occasional pizza or night out, making allowances for eating preferences/allergies. But yeah, probiotics are beneficial, especially if you're on antibiotics or antifungals.

Like today, I had eggs and veggies for breakfast, a salad with homemade tahini dressing for lunch, and then I'm drinking beer and having pizza for dinner. The gut will be fine with it.

5/9/2014 9:31:04 PM

I stopped reading after this:

Quote :

"Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut"

ermahgerd toxins!

5/9/2014 9:53:08 PM

Toxins is a pretty good flag to ignore something

5/9/2014 11:13:46 PM

5/9/2014 11:37:48 PM

I stopped reading after this:

Quote :

"Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut"

ermahgerd toxins!

5/10/2014 12:25:14 AM

This thread is pseudoscience.

5/10/2014 12:52:55 AM

what the hell is a toxin... I'll be happy for them to define that.

NM FOUND IT

These four food toxins – refined cereal grains, industrial seed oils, sugar and processed soy

without which most of the world would pay drastically higher prices for food and or starve.

I'll give you a simple rule.....


EVERYTHING IN FUCKING MODERATION... And for 99% of people you'll be fine, half the symptoms these people claim are because they read some chain email, or they want to be on the latest diet binge so they can drop 4 pounds this summer, next summer they will be fighting against fat, protein, meat, soy, or whatever the latest "Fad" is.

The problem is in many of these folks heads, not their stomach.

[Edited on May 10, 2014 at 1:36 AM. Reason : yay science.]

5/10/2014 1:32:00 AM

Carbs really do seem to affect my weight, so I've tried to eliminate them as much as possible.

I basically gave up bread, beer, sweets, pasta, and rice and haven't been exercising much since January and I've lost about 25 lbs. If I actually ran/worked out like I used to, I bet the results would be even better, but I work a lot and I'm fucking lazy

5/10/2014 2:32:24 PM

Calories affect your weight. By cutting carbs you cut calories. Carbs aren't special.

5/10/2014 3:56:31 PM

Bttt

7/27/2014 7:03:07 PM

http://time.com/2912311/eat-more-gluten-the-diet-fad-must-die/

7/27/2014 11:37:30 PM

can we move this thread to chit chat since everyone is generally screwing around

7/28/2014 12:50:28 AM

^^

Quote :

"the crock pots and fondue sets and woks everyone in America seemed to buy at once in 1988 and stopped using sometime around 1989."

Really? I could swear there is a crock pot thread on TWW, and that crock pots still have a very large following among the general population.

7/28/2014 3:20:45 AM

I fucking love my crock pot. Probably use it 2-3 times a month to make enough food for a week or so. I do more cooking with that than anything else other than maybe my grill.

7/28/2014 9:56:58 AM

What kind of sick human disses a crock pot?

7/28/2014 10:22:07 AM

I, too, love my crockpot. And the wok. But I do own a fondue set that has only been used once.

Also, this:

Quote :

"The anti-gluties will surely tell you they feel better, fitter, more energetic, that their withdrawn child has suddenly blossomed and that their man—following the Guide For Guys—is healthier and happier. But the placebo effect—even the placebo effect by proxy, seeming to see better health in someone else—is a very real thing. Most of the time, however, it has nothing to do with the perceived cause."

placebo effect / anecdotal evidence are key in pseudoscience.

7/28/2014 11:37:33 AM

people feel better after cutting gluten because in the process of cutting gluten they are usually eating fewer carbs and usually also less food in general

7/28/2014 2:51:06 PM

Quote :

"Don't worry about processed, everything is processed, just count the carbs"

orly

7/28/2014 3:03:18 PM

not gonna lie the best ive ever felt in my adult life was after two months of strict paleo diet

worst ive ever felt in my life was in college i tried a milk and banana diet for two weeks that ended badly

7/28/2014 3:12:41 PM