IBD, IBS, Gut Bacteria - What Works For You?

[Mittir]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I agree the recordings are easier to understand. I think it's because he is answering specific questions. He may be brilliant, but he's a lousy writer when it comes to organizing his thoughts. IMO.

I do not think he is a lousy writer. He has been teaching college level students most of his life.
In his mind he is writing for people who has some background knowledge on those topics.
He does not make an attempt to make things easy and fun like Danny Roddy and other popular
diet book writers. He also mentioned in an interview that these newsletters grew from classes in nutrition
he used to give.

 

[4peatssake]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I agree the recordings are easier to understand. I think it's because he is answering specific questions. He may be brilliant, but he's a lousy writer when it comes to organizing his thoughts. IMO.

Perhaps it's not his brain that's the issue. :P

Personally, I love his writing and the way he writes works extremely well for me. I consider myself fortunate in that regard. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes have to reread an article several times and I am continuously stretched but I consider that a very good thing. I may not always like it, but I do prefer to learn and grow rather than just be hand fed information I don't fully grasp or is interpreted by a second or third source. That's not all that sustainable in my view.

Just look at all the commotion around so called Peat experts like Danny Roddy, Matt Stone, Josh Rubin - etc.

Peat is what I would call a true fisher of men. He teaches us to fish (learn, grow and fend for ourselves in a very harsh, debilitating culture), rather than simply feeding us fish and having us remain dependent. That is what the current system/establishment has set up for us and why so many people are looking for a quick fix. To fully move beyond the culture and become self reliant and evolved is painful.

I find reading his articles easier than the recordings, go figure. I think it's partly a time issue for me now and I'm often looking for specific information and so I'm using Dan's search engine a lot. Thank you Dan!

We're all different and we have to find what works best for us. But we do have to do our own due diligence in order to fully grasp the basic foundation. Without a solid foundation, one can get into trouble very quickly.

I am still busy building my own foundation, finding out what works, what doesn't and getting to where I can simply enjoy the adventure.

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I definitely agree that it takes time to assimilate even one article. I read and reread articles every now and then and gradually more things come together, but I feel like My brain Leaks. I am not as old as my husbands's mother was when she commented on this tendency in herself at ninety or so. I am fifty-nine, but I do seem to have the problem of learning and quickly forgetting quite a bit. Maybe it's just that I never had something as challenging to take in. I do wish some writer could help Peat organize his knowledge or some of it into a more assimilatable health book for us ordinary hapless unhealthy people :) What he says in his articles is, well, really kind of mind blowing, but my brain seems to be stalled. It's like you need a way to study it, and when you're not so healthy it's harder to take in. I think I will start trying to compile notes on his articles to help me put it together. I guess what he is really doing, come to think of it, is teaching us to be our own doctor after a fashion. Sorry if I am not that clear. I like to write, but I don't think I'm always that good at it.

 

[HDD]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I wonder why I always feel so d*mn anxious/depressed/lethargic or whatever rigth before I can get to the toilet.......unfortunately I never read/seen someone experiencing the same and what it is all about.


There have been several times when my son will say he doesn't feel well. I usually inquire about his b.m.'s and within a short while he will report that that was it. We don't go into much more detail than that because he thinks I am weird to ask. My other son always seems to "go" when he gets nervous about doing something. And just yesterday, the woman I take care of was a little down and thought she might need to see a Dr. A little later she "went" and after she commented that that must of been why she was feeling bad. I don't know the scientific reason but it seems it is not uncommon.

Do you eat the carrot salad?

"Endotoxin formed in the bowel can block respiration and cause hormone imbalances contributing to instability of the nerves, so it is helpful to optimize bowel flora, for example with a carrot salad; a dressing of vinegar, coconut oil and olive oil, carried into the intestine by the carrot fiber, suppresses bacterial growth while stimulating healing of the wall of the intestine. The carrot salad improves the ratio of progesterone to estrogen and cortisol, and so is as appropriate for epilepsy as for premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, or arthritis. "

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I wish I could get his books, too and newsletters, but it sounds as if they are not available right now.
I think Dutchie asked about contacting Ray Peat. It sounds as if people do email him all the time. He doesn't ask for payment for a few questions by email, but as is mentioned on some interviews it's nice to send even a few dollars as a contribution to his work, and a thank you.

On the weird bowel/brain connection, you would wonder what causes that. Have you always done that? Somehow the signal to move the bowels must be getting mixed up. Actually, I would think this phenomena might be interesting to Peat.

 

[HDD]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I definitely agree that it takes time to assimilate even one article. I read and reread articles every now and then and gradually more things come together, but I feel like My brain Leaks. I am not as old as my husbands's mother was when she commented on this tendency in herself at ninety or so. I am fifty-nine, but I do seem to have the problem of learning and quickly forgetting quite a bit. Maybe it's just that I never had something as challenging to take in. I do wish some writer could help Peat organize his knowledge or some of it into a more assimilatable health book for us ordinary hapless unhealthy people :) What he says in his articles is, well, really kind of mind blowing, but my brain seems to be stalled. It's like you need a way to study it, and when you're not so healthy it's harder to take in. I think I will start trying to compile notes on his articles to help me put it together. I guess what he is really doing, come to think of it, is teaching us to be our own doctor after a fashion. Sorry if I am not that clear. I like to write, but I don't think I'm always that good at it.

It is very mind blowing! Not having a science background, the vocabulary alone is quite challenging. I started making notecards but got too busy so I cut and paste into my notepad. I need something better because I can't organize it. I think the notecards would be more useful.

 

[4peatssake]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I definitely agree that it takes time to assimilate even one article. I read and reread articles every now and then and gradually more things come together, but I feel like My brain Leaks. I am not as old as my husbands's mother was when she commented on this tendency in herself at ninety or so. I am fifty-nine, but I do seem to have the problem of learning and quickly forgetting quite a bit. Maybe it's just that I never had something as challenging to take in. I do wish some writer could help Peat organize his knowledge or some of it into a more assimilatable health book for us ordinary hapless unhealthy people :) What he says in his articles is, well, really kind of mind blowing, but my brain seems to be stalled. It's like you need a way to study it, and when you're not so healthy it's harder to take in. I think I will start trying to compile notes on his articles to help me put it together. I guess what he is really doing, come to think of it, is teaching us to be our own doctor after a fashion. Sorry if I am not that clear. I like to write, but I don't think I'm always that good at it.

I think you write great! :)

I'm of the mind that it's of tremendous benefit to study Ray's articles and listen to his recordings to get the best education possible. That's not to say that availing oneself of cheat notes - ala Danny Roddy, Matt Stone et al - isn't helpful at times. I do it too but I always come back to the source.

This forum too is a wondrous resource but none of it beats pure Ray Peat, IMO.
I also think it's good to have our minds blown.

I understand completely that it's harder for those who have severe health issues. Harder yes, impossible no. Ray Peat continues to make himself available to virtually everyone. Baby steps are great, build a foundation and ask for help.

But don't not do the most important thing - which is study Ray Peat.

I so hope he does start giving classes again in Mexico. I think I'll get on that and ask him very soon if he plans to do this any time soon!

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

That would be really neat if he did classes again, and maybe got them recorded for the Internet, or at least some.

I hadn't tried notes yet, so I'll see if that helps me, at all.

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

Dutchie, On the Internet lots of people complain of heart palpitations before moving the bowels. I remember a friend who is a nurse telling me that some idiot nurse in charge was ordering her to give a patient an enema, and my friend knew that this could kill the patient in the state they were in. So, she, being a moral person and intelligent refused. I think it ended with the bad nurse getting fired and made to leave immediately. I think there was some relation to the heart. On Wikipedia on enemas there is a short few lines saying that enemas can trigger the vagus nerve to signal the heart causing bradycardia. I was thinking a bowel movement might do it, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycardia

 

[Dutchie]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

Dutchie, On the Internet lots of people complain of heart palpitations before moving the bowels. I remember a friend who is a nurse telling me that some idiot nurse in charge was ordering her to give a patient an enema, and my friend knew that this could kill the patient in the state they were in. So, she, being a moral person and intelligent refused. I think it ended with the bad nurse getting fired and made to leave immediately. I think there was some relation to the heart. On Wikipedia on enemas there is a short few lines saying that enemas can trigger the vagus nerve to signal the heart causing bradycardia. I was thinking a bowel movement might do it, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycardia

Never heard of this heartstuff and never did enemas,but i already thougth it had to. do somehow with adrenals getting atressed of loosing sodium&iron bc my pupils are always dialated too.
I keep going back&forth with adrenals and. all other metabolic ***t it seems. I havent seen any whiteish plaque in my stools anymore so does that mean candida overgrowth is gone?

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

Dutchie, Well, it was a thought. So, you don't think your heart rate drops during one of those episodes?

I had one other thought about learning Ray Peat. I do see what you all are saying about a slow gradual assimilation of knowledge and understanding. That's why the school would be so nice for those who could do it. I do like Ray Peat's writing. I don't think I really care so much for what I've seen of the presentation of the people who interpret Peat. I just think it would be nice if someone could assist Peat himself (since this is not his interest) to make a book, or maybe a documentary. It would have to be someone who is sensitive to the work he does.

 

[pboy]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I get the feeling he doesn't want to write a book because he's always learning new things...I think in an interview someone asked him "So is there a website or resource where you've summed up all this information that I can look at?" and he said something along the lines of..."well...no, theres a lot of articles on the website, but most of the information comes out gradually in the newsletters". So I guess the best thing would be to subscribe to his newsletter (that also supports him ), listen to available interviews, and talk to people here who read the newsletters and email him directly for the most current info. I like listening to the interviews cause the subtleties in actually hearing someone talking, their demeanor, and stuff like that make it easier to interpret, dissect and understand...and give a better idea of who the person actually is and their intent

http://peatarian.com/?qa=resources/knowledge

lots of interviews there, quite a lot to digest, but I found most of them entertaining on top of being informative

 

[Mittir]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I get the feeling he doesn't want to write a book because he's always learning new things..

That is what he said once someone asked him about writing a book. In another interview he said that he originally planned to write a book on coconut oil but he changed his mind. Because he was afraid that food and pharma companies will go after his book. Then he decided to publish that online. That happened long time ago.

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

pboy, I have listened to some of the interviews. They can sometimes seem a little slow, but they do provide some different information, and it's nice to hear Ray Peat.

 

[edwardBe]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

More "food" for thought:
http://chriskresser.com/you-are-what-yo ... jeff-leach

Also, An Epidemic of Absence by Moises Velaquez-Manoff takes the ideas of the Chris Kresser topic further with arguments that the root cause of autoimmune diseases is excessive hygiene in the modern era. He argues that millennial co-existence with bacteria and even parasites calmed our immune system so that it didn't develop the propensity to attack our bodies.

He cites the lack of eczema and allergies among children raised on farms compared to urban children and relates that this process begins in the womb. Mothers who are exposed to a multitude of farm animals produce children that have few if any, autoimmune diseases, regardless of PUFA consumption.

There is much, much more than these thoughts in his book. Get a library card and check it out. Only one or two dollars per year for access to thousands of books.

 

[pboy]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I think this is a bigger issue for us all to consider, and it correlates to how we operate as a society on the whole. This is my perspective and it seems logical. Animals eat various foods in nature, foods that mostly protect themselves from microbes, but some get into their system, and are mostly passed in the stool. The bacteria like this because they can multiply on the indigestible food matter inside the animal where it is warm and then get passed later and then grow wherever they land. Its kind of like fruits...they taste sweet but the seeds are tough and bitter, so the animal eats the sweet part, doesn't chew all the bitter stuff, then passes the seeds in the stool somewhere else in the environment. So basically I think plants, microbes, and animals are all in a harmony based on the spreading of seeds and spores throughout the environment by way of food and nourishment to stool passing somewhere else. The problem is...in our society, we hardly ever eat ripe fruit without juicing, cooking, or blending them first, or not having them being ripe enough to where they don't irritate the gut (a signal from the plant that the seeds aren't ready), and we all pass stool into the sewer system instead of the environment...and we eat foul foods that smell bad, all share restrooms, and generally have a stressful lifestyle. Plant eaters in nature casualy pass stools multiple times a day...2 - 6 times, and almost constantly move eat and pass waste throughout the daylight hours. Our society has created a situation where we basically are almost forced to be constipated for at least certain portions of the day, or pass waste in a foul unclean environment, and never really spread seeds or microbes based on our diet. The more fruit and fermented food we eat, or food with fermentable fiber, the more we pass stool...which makes sense and probably would lead to better health and happiness in an ideal situation. But when you are wearing a belt and suit, or whatever restriciting clothes girls have to wear, and are in a stressful job with a dirty bathroom, or in traffic, having to hold in waste is actually more harmful and leads to excessive fermentation, especially when the food isn't ideal in the first place...so we then try to eat sterile seedless fibreless food to prevent excessive bowel or kidney action, to allow more peace in the corporate restrictive lifestyle. So basically, we have created a situation where the ideal leads to stress and inflammation, and what you have to do to get by for the most part in society leads to less inflammation, but pretty much a lethargic low mood situation. We should be moving acting and eliminating all day for optimal health...and it would make sense if nothing we ate smelled bad or created nasty stool (like how animals in nature operate) and always had clean restrooms, and time and peace in our daily lives to eat and act comfortably. So yea, fiber and probiotics may improve your mood if you live in a comfortable clean free environment, lifestyle, but to people having to operate in a relatively unclean or restrictive environment, lifestyle...it might be more inflammatory than its worth

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

The coolinginflammation site researcher guy has lots of articles relating to the topic.
http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/

 

[Swandattur]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

This researcher does think omega 3s are good, which, of course, Ray Peat is adamantly opposed to. I have to agree with Ray Peat on that just from personal experience since fish oil (and flax oil) makes me depressed. Still, the stuff about gut bacteria and how to aquire it is interesting. Only thing is, I don't live on a farm, but I have lived with cats and dogs and even horses at times that spent lots of time outdoors, and I still have trouble.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I have started straining the orange juice, and I have even less gas now. If you forget to wash your juicer for a day or two, I guarantee you will encounter the scariest molds of your household life.

 

[Zachs]

Re: I think gut bacteria is good for us...

I definitely believe that its a dominance of bad gut flora that is the cause of all these issues and not just that we have too much in the small intestine or whatever. Peoples have been eating starch based diets for thousands of years without issue. When the bad flora are dominate, they get to the starch/fiber first and cause the fermentation and endotoxin issues. Feeding good flora with fiber actually causes some good things to happen like they unlock many minerals bound in fiber and also the produce saturated fats in the Colon.

Personally i find that fiber from fruits help me with everything stemming digestive health and fast transit times. Starch and plant fibers i have mixed results with. Sweet starchs are great for me but other starches like plants and grains, not so much. Even the carrot salad just sits in my intestines and causes discomfort. Pretty much only soft fibers work with me.

Also starchs mixed with fat, especially animal flesh seems to cause the most issues for me so i usually eat it plain with salt and sugar like maple syrup.