#What are prebiotic foods

[pleaseeeimjustagirl]

Prebiotics vs. Probiotics

Prebiotics

What are they?

Prebiotics are compounds(foods) that help promote the growth of healthy bacteria in your gut.

Prebiotics are fertilizers for the good bacteria living in your digestive system.

Prebiotics are resistant to the body’s enzymes and gastric acids, which means they cannot be digested or absorbed as they travel through your digestive system.

Benefits

Support gut health

Ease constipation

Make you feel fuller

Regulate blood sugar

————————————

Probiotics

What are they?

Probiotics are the good bacteria already in your digestive system.

Benefits

Boost immunity

Enhances skin health

Balances vaginal PH

Reduces inflammation and acne breakouts

Increases nutrient absorption

Improves gut health

Source (1)

Source (2)

[mindblowingscience]

What's good for your aging gut may also be good for your aging brain. The first study of its kind in twins has found that taking daily protein and prebiotic supplements can improve scores on memory tests in people over the age of 60. The findings are food for thought, especially as the same visual memory and learning test is used to detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. The double-blinded trial involved two cheap plant fiber prebiotics that are available over the counter in numerous nations around the world. Prebiotics are non-digestible consumables that help stimulate our gut microbes.

Continue Reading.

[blissfullyecho]

A Very Niche Level-Up + Looksmaxxing Idea List for 2025

This list is for the girls that get it. It’s niche and not for everyone, but I’m throwing up at the fact that every “how to level up in 2025” post talks about journaling sad pages 24/7, drinking 8 cups of water a day, and walking 10k steps. How original.

Again, this is a very niche set of ideas. If you can’t relate then you can’t relate. But if you enjoy a good plastic surgery post and luxe lifestyle, maybe you will :)

1. Upgrade your car. We’re getting the Lexus’, the BMW’s, the Mercedes, the Jag’s, etc.

2. Upgrade your home. We’re living in high rises, we’re living in coastal areas, we’re living up in the mountains, we’re living where Amazon can drop our package off and we don’t have to worry about a porch pirate; we’re living in nice areas and in nice units/homes.

3. Breast augmentation.

4. Rhinoplasty.

5. Medical grade skincare.

6. Fresh, organic whole foods; focusing on lean protein, nuts and seeds, mushrooms, onions, leafy greens, pro/prebiotics, sea moss gel, etc.

7. Russian manicures and pedicures or a good acrylic set. Dip powder had its thing for a while but I’m not going to dip my nail in a powder everyone else dipped their nails. I bet they don’t even wash their hands and if they did, they prob didn’t even use soap.

8. Laser hair removal. Everywhere. If you want a design down there that’s cool, but you literally use the bathroom and it drips in the hair. “Oh but I use a wipe”. Okay, next time you need to wash your hair.. don’t use shampoo. Use a wipe. Invest in a bidet but still, hair shouldn’t be in your 🍑 or near the sensitive areas of your 🦋 the top is fine but if you have a period, pee, or “the other thing”, hair should be no where near those areas.

9. Lip filler. Everyone can benefit. Ask for a pout that sticks out a little bit. I don’t suggest a lip flip, I couldn’t do anything with a lip flip and it was driving me nuts.

10. Fake tan. Sunlight is fine but a spray tan just makes you look a million times better. Every skin tone and every race benefits from a spray tan. Trust.

11. Muscle definition. Muscle looks so much better than fat AND bones. You want muscle. Did you see how Bella Hadid had her foot on our necks at the VS fashion show this year? I was sickkkkkk.

12. Long hair. But if you have a face shape like Hailey Beiber, short hair looks better.

13. Makeup. Remember water-based products and oil-based products don’t mix, so make sure you choose your products wisely so your makeup doesn’t separate and you look a mess.

14. A better paying job. I left my hospital job and now I work in luxury real estate and international yacht sales.

15. Red light therapy for face and body. I have a body red light therapy dome that I got online for around $3,000 (USD) and it’s life. The one I have for the face is from Sephora and I spent like $400-$500 on that one. Whatever it says on the website.

16. Lashes. If you’re a pro at strip lashes, then yes. But I get my lashes done. Do not go crazy. Natural lashes are in so I ask for a classic whispy set focused for thickening my lash line and NOT for length.

17. Morpheus8 for skin tightening. I used it on my inner thighs and it literally saved my life

18. Lipo. If you’re a good candidate, get it. Sometimes belly pooch is hard to lose. I don’t have a pooch but I’m sure when I have kids I will.

19. Vampire facials. I can confidently say my best facials were vampire facials. My med spa charges around $950 for each facial

20. People can tell you’re wearing Shein. Their clothes are cute online but I’m going to hold your hand when I say this, they never look flattering in person when they’re being worn. People can see the loose thread and the see-through material. They also don’t fit anyone well and makes a lot of you look square. You get what you pay for in clothing. Learn about the basics of clothing and you’ll quickly only buy quality.

Yeah this list isn’t meant for everyone, but walking 10,000 steps isn’t going to take you to the next level. Neither is drinking water. They’re good habits, but they’re not going to level you up. And yeah I understand my list requires having money, but this is literally what my blog is about.

My 2025 Mindset Level Up book is here!

[theambitiouswoman]

hello :) i’m trying to improve my gut health so i was wondering if you know what i should eat / take to have a healthy gut? thank you ♡

Hi angel <3

Eat foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts are high in fiber, which can promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.

Fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, kimchi, and kombucha contain probiotics that can help balance your gut flora.

Prebiotic foods feed the good bacteria in your gut. Examples include garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas, berries, tomatoes.

Drinking enough water helps keep your digestive system working well. Add some lemon in your water too.

High-sugar and low-fiber processed foods can negatively impact gut health. Limit the amount of processed foods you eat.

Stress can affect your gut health, so try meditation or yoga.

Try to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night.

Exercising regularly also helps support a healthy gut.

Eat less sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Drink bone broth daily. It helps with intestinal healing and prevents diseases.

Make sure you are taking enough magnesium.

I will write a gut healthy grocery list on a separate post :)

[kryptonbabe]

What does a 90's Superboy comic book has to say about the biochemical evolution of early life on Earth

I love bad science in comic books and I'm glad there's so much to choose from, from the 1940s to today. Even though I'm a biology teacher and usually dislike when media gets Evolution so wrong, spreading disinformation about an already complex scientific theory, I still have a soft spot for these comics that try to implement evolutionary concepts and fail. And this Superboy issue does just that, but in such an entertaining way, I had a few good laughs and saw it as a learning opportunity.

In this issue there's a Superboy "animated series" pilot being produced featuring the real Kon el and his entourage, this is a brain child of Rex Leech, Superboy's manager at this time in the comics. We see the "animation" as the characters watch it in the comic. In the pilot episode Rex reveals that his daughter, Roxy, was turned into "primordial slime" (panel above) by a villain. This is a reference to the "primordial soup" concept from the heterotrophic theory proposed by the scientists Oparin and Haldane. They stated that a prebiotic liquid with lots of elemental molecules evolved into organic molecules due to the intense conditions the primitive Earth faced (thunderstorms, volcanic activities, asteroid bombardment etc). Then, said organic molecules later grouped in cell-like structures (coacervates) capable of replication, thus creating a primitive form of life.

Roxy IS that prebiotic soup, a slime contained in a glass, that tragically gets shot during the pilot, leaking into an underground pool of undetermined origin water (in which Superboy says he occasionally bathes in).

Behold then, that by the end of the pilot (panel right above), Rex, Conner and Dubbilex discover the pool of mysterious water changed, now that Roxy was mixed into it... EVOLVING into algae (according to Dubbilex) and a fungus (according to an emotional Rex - happy to see his daughter once again alive in the form of this green goop). To be clear, algae and fungi are as different as insects are from trees, they're not only into separate biological kingdoms, but while algae has a machinery to make photosynthesis and produce their own food, fungi cells need to extract their energy from their surroundings (soil, trees, animals, you and me) and they have a cell wall made of the same material as insects exoskeletons! So, pretty different...

But the most insane thing about this development in the story is the implied idea that Roxy is evolving, going from organic slime to unicelular algae to fungi and... what's next? According to Rex (in the panel below - when the animation episode ends and real life Roxy is upset about being turned into a fungus) - A slug - oh yes, the next big step in evolution.

This was so funny to me because it's a different way to portray that old and very wrong idea that the evolutionary process is like a set of stairs in which life is slowly going up, higher and higher, getting "better and better", step by step. While truly, a more realistic view of evolution would look like a twisted tree of ramifications, some going nowhere, some staying apparently the same, and some getting more and more twisted by the minutes (yes, those would be bacteria).

Evolution is not a progression from less complex to more complex, evolution is simply changing, adapting, transforming through time. Birds would consider humans lesser beings for our lack of wings the same way most of us consider flatworms lesser for their lack of, well, lots of stuff, arms, backbone, blood, a respiratory system. And yet, we're all equally well adapted to our respective habitats, we are on the same level because we are alive and thriving, there's no hierarchy in evolution.

To think that Roxy would go from primordial slime to algae to fungi until potentially reach the complexity level of a human being is, as Dubillex put it in that panel above: bad science. However I had so much fun reading this story. I don't know if it's right as a biology teacher to have such an enthusiasm for bad science in comics, but I refuse to deny Art! I'd love to bring this issue to my students so we could read it in group and interpret together the message implied in Roxy's "evolution", and what is wrong about it. It would be a nice way to make the students read the comics I enjoy and learn something about real science.

My favorite thing about this issue is that the butt of the joke does not seem to be the theory of Evolution, but the distorted view someone can have of it. I didn't highlight it here, but in the end, there was a lot comically wrong with the pilot besides the Roxy "evolution" plot. So when Dubillex acknowledges to Rex that his pilot episode is not educational, but presents poor science, it's clear to me we're laughing at Rex's perception of scientific ideas and not at the ideas themselves. Which is refreshing. Yes, this is my favorite issue of this Superboy run so far and yes I'm biased. Thanks for reading this!

From Superboy #4 (1994) by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett & Mike Parobeck

[violetsandshrikes]

ok you have made good science and health posts. Is it worth taking a probiotic as part of my selfcare routine?

Note: Not a doctor! Not medical advice, only a summary of useful information out there.

Ehhhhh, it's one of those things that is debated. Some research points towards usefulness, other research says it doesn't do much. There's also issues with what strains are in said probiotic, if they're even useful for you, if they can even survive your digestive tract (and your personal microbiota)…science is mixed on this too.

A recent review (2024) has concluded there is evidence enough for doctors and patients to consider using specific probiotics for uses in specific people (like supporting gut function during antibiotics, reducing respiratory tract infections, etc.), but not enough evidence to recommend it unconditionally in the population as preventative medicine.

This is another recent (2024) review that's similar, but they've helpfully included a couple pages at the end of specific studies, probiotic strains used, and their specific impact/mode of action studied on specific illnesses/diseases.

Interestingly, they've also just dropped another 2024 meta-analysis that suggests probiotic use saw a 51% reduction in symptoms reported by COVID-19 patients, including cough, headaches and diarrhea. They included 9 studies (3 of which were clinical trials), so they likely will need a larger sample size to say conclusively, but that could be a promising angle in a post-COVID world.

To add another confusing angle, postbiotics are becoming of increasing interest in research. They're bioactive compounds that are produced when probiotic bacteria are feeding on prebiotic foods in the colon (like fibers), and it's beginning to look like health benefits associated with pre/postbiotics actually come from postbiotic production. I have yet to see any available on the market, but apparently they are out there. I would also be aware that as a new frontier (and product) I couldn't say much about their individual efficiency, product contamination, etc.

If you decide to:

You can just make sure to frequently consume probiotic foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi, etc.) although I would also suggest you make sure you're eating enough fiber to feed the friendly bacteria already inside you.

Bacteria is very specifically named. You'll have a genus, species and a strain - Bifidobacterium longum W11. All three = you got it right, and this is important because probiotics are researched down to these specific strains. It also means that when you read a probiotic bottle, if you don't see all three of those names (as a general rule), it's probably useless to you.

Check your labelling, especially generic store brands. Yogurt starter is typically made with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and if they advertise these as the "probiotic benefits" they're usually full of shit - these strains usually get destroyed in your stomach by acid and don't provide any benefit.

If you have a weakened or compromised immune system, don't take probiotics without medical advice. This includes if you're having chemo, you're critically ill or you've recently had surgery.

Lots of people experience gas, mild abdominal pain and changes in stools when first using probiotics, but you're probably going to want to keep a note of that for your doctor, just in case. Plenty also have additives and digestive aids, so look out for allergic reactions and things like soy/gluten if needed.

Probiotics are measured in colony forming units (CFU) - the number of viable cells. They might say 1 x 109 for 1 billion CFU or 1 x 1010 for 10 billion CFU. Some contain up to 50+ billion CFU. A common mistake made is assuming higher CFU = better for you. Most countries only require labelling to list the total weight of the microorganisms in the product (which can include both alive and dead microorganisms, not viable ones). Probiotics can die during their shelf-life and must be consumed alive to be of use. Ideally, you're looking for products labelled with the number of CFU at the end of the product's shelf life (vs at the time of manufacturing).

If in doubt, ask a doctor or pharmacist.

[aloy-sobek]

Vet Bills and a Sick Kitty Boy

Hello all, over the past month and a half I have incurred some medical bills for my cat Alistair, that while one bill hurts but isn't world ending. Multiple have put us in a bind.

Our Total: $430/$1176.86

My Paypal: tielfingriley or paypal.me/tieflingriley

The Story:

So my sweet yet very hungry boy Alistair, had been having stomach troubles. He's 12 years old, so not uncommon for a cat his age, and he has always had a bit of a sensitive tum, but this was different. He was projectile vomiting mostly water, and I had noticed he was loosing weight. He is a long cat, and his healthy weight sits at 15-16 pounds.

So we take him to the vet and the do a initial blood panel with a special panel to check a for a heart protein, it is here that I learn my asthmatic cat also has a heart murmur! But because of the special check it had to be sent to THE ONLY LAB IN THE US THAT CHECKS FOR IT, which meant it was pricey

Good news, blood came back fine. His heart and kidneys weren't failing but he was still vomiting water at this time. At this point we were moved to a different vet who noted his long term tum issues. Informing me that long term inflammation can lead to Gastrol Intestinal Cancer. (Maybe) They only DEFINITIVE way of checking was to slice him open and do biopsies, which wasn't ideal. Instead we opted for an Ultrasound, it would check for inflammation, which would say absolutely yes or no on inflammation, but would still be a maybe on the cancer (however its the same treatment either way). But could also check Liver, Pancreas, and Gallbladder. I of course chose this because it was far less invasive to the boy. Alistair did need to be sedated. He isn't a violent cat, but he is a squirmy noodle.

This is when things got really spicy for us financially. You see this happened RIGHT before my birthday. Like legit I found out my cat had maybe cancer the day before. And my husband a few weeks prior had bought me a rather nice gift of storage drawers? IDK what you would call it but furniture for my art supplies to be stored in. It was a bit pricey but I was having a rough time and a history of astronomically shitty birthdays. (As you can see, the universe has a sense of humor)

So the Ultrasound came back. Yes there are signs of inflammations, so cancer is still a maybe. However, what had the doctors eyes and was concerning her more was the pancreas. It was, extended and incorrect. She believed that it wasn't producing a enzyme to help break down food, particularly fat, for absorption. Essentially, on top of the inflammation, Alistair was slowly starving to death. However before just popping some pig panceas pills inside my boy, she wants to make sure. So more blood work, TO THE ONLY LAB IN THE US OF COURSE, an another bill.

Now we are waiting on this information. He is on some pro and prebiotics that have stopped the vomiting entirely. However his weight is still quite thin. I am unsure if we will have more hefty bills. For reference a checkup at this vet is 50 bucks. So normally its not to rough on us, and check up plus vaccines is 100 which is a planned event. None of this was planned to say the least.

AND NOW THE SAPPY SHIT

Alistair saved my life. I know logically getting a cat as a means to not kill yourself isn't the best thing to do, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Ive had him since September of 2012. I love that fluffy biscuit stealing bastard with my entire heart. I have a tattoo on him on my arm, my first and currently only tattoo. Because of him, I was able to live a longer and healthier life and I want that for him.

Despite being a cat, he loves biscuits, potato chips, and the tops of muffins but only the tops. He can and will open cookie jars for cookies. I have explained he is an obligate carnivore and he has explained like a good southern he cant turn down a carb.

He will fist fight you for cheese. Love to play fetch with a hair tie. Isn't a lap cat with the exception of me. LOVES NAPS, and likes to watch Markiplier.

He's a very good boy with separation anxiety, and tummy issues who just wants to nap and eat and I think we can all relate.

Oh...and he has a little mustache

Thank you to all who donate and to everyone who spreads the word to help us get out of this debt.

[angelacademy]

Clear skin is more than just skincare: Gut Health

(A science based read)

What you eat is shown through your skin and on body. If your constantly shoving junk down your throat, junk is what will be shown on you. Essentially what you eat is what you are.

Eat bad -> bad skin

Eat good -> good skin

If your constantly breaking out and you feel icky. You need to figure out what is up with your gut health.

Research suggests many skin disorders are linked to an altered or unbalanced gut microbiome.

“When the relationship between gut microbiome and the immune system is impaired, subsequent effects can be triggered on the skin, potentially promoting the development of skin diseases.”

“13 Several dermatologic conditions, such as acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea are linked with intestinal dysbiosis. 223 Many studies have associated gastrointestinal health with skin homeostasis and allostasis, and there is evidence of a bidirectional interaction between the gut and the skin.”

Diet, drugs and other consumed substances affect skin through gut microbiome:

“Several studies have related the diversity and pathogenicity of the gut microbiome to skin disorders, which can be significantly altered by long-term dietary patterns. 43,105–107 Diet can affect the skin condition both positively and negatively through alteration of the gut microbiome, indicating that there is a relationship between the skin and the gut. 16 Not only diet, but also many synthetic and natural products consumed by humans as drugs can provide direct and indirect evidence on the connection between gut microbiome and skin.”

High and low fat diet:

“In the gut, a diet high in industrial trans-fatty acids increases the number of harmful microbes (such as Desulfovibrionaceae and Proteobacteria) while suppressing populations of advantageous microorganisms (e.g. members of Bacteroidetes, Lachnospiraceae, and Bacteroidales). 121 Refined and hydrogenated oils (e.g., soybean, sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, and vegetable oils) can cause inflammation in the gut, which then manifests on the skin.”

Industrially produced trans fat can be found in margarine, vegetable shortening, Vanaspati ghee, fried foods, and baked goods such as crackers, biscuits and pies. Baked and fried street and restaurant foods often contain industrially produced trans fat.

Prebiotics:

“133,134 Prebiotics, such as fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, inulin, polydextrose, lactulose, sorbitol, and xylitol are a promising group of compounds that modulate the gut microbiome and can also provide skin benefits.”

“The effect of prebiotics on the skin condition is also obvious. For example, a Lactobacillus extract helps to reduce the size of acne lesions as well as inflammation by reducing skin erythema, improving skin barrier function and lowering the microbial counts on skin.”

types of prebiotics include:

Chicory root

Garlic

Onion

Dandelion greens

Apples

Bananas

Jerusalem artichoke

Asparagus

Probiotics:

“Probiotics can prevent gut colonization by pathogens and support anti-inflammatory responses by producing metabolites with anti-inflammatory properties. The most common probiotic microbes currently in use belong to the genera Bacillus, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus, Escherichia, Lactobacillus, Saccharomyces, and Streptococcus. 143,144 Several beneficial effects of probiotic consumption have been demonstrated on many dermatological conditions, thus proving the existence of the gut-skin axis.”

Common types of probiotics include:

Lactobacillus: This is a common probiotic found in fermented foods, such as yogurt.

Bifidobacterium: This probiotic is found in some dairy products and helps with the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Saccharomyces boulardii: This is a type of yeast found in many probiotics. You can find these probiotics and more in supplements and select foods.

Yogurt

Buttermilk

Cottage cheese

Miso soup

Sauerkraut

Kefir

Kimchi

Tempeh

Protein:

“The proteins from animal-based food sources may have better effects on gut microbiota compared to plant-based food sources due to the higher protein digestibility of animal proteins and the fact that the digestion of plant proteins may be limited by the presence of antinutritional factors found in plants [67]. Animal proteins have more balanced essential amino acids than plant proteins [68,69] and are thus considered higher quality protein.”

“Dairy and meat protein intake at a recommended level increased the abundance of the genus Lactobacillus and maintained a more balanced composition of gut microbiota compared to soy protein, which is beneficial to the host [25,26,28].”

“Your body makes lots of different peptides, each of which has a different role. Scientists can also make synthetic peptides in the lab. Companies have been adding peptides to skin care products for decades.”

High protein foods:

Salmon

Chicken breast

Tuna

Red split lentils

Tofu

Greek yogurt

Fibre:

“Dietary fibre is comprised of plant-based carbohydrates that cannot be metabolised by digestive enzymes encoded in the human genome, such as amylase. Instead, fibre can only be metabolized by certain species of gut microbiota through anaerobic fermentation, with the main product of this reaction being SCFAs.”

“Dietary fibre is a carbohydrate in plant foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and legumes, which have been dominant in human diets for millions of years. From the Paleolithic era, when the hunter-gatherers mainly ate fruit and wild grains, to the agricultural era, when crops began to be cultivated, the ancients consumed more than 100 g of various digestible and indigestible dietary fibre from plants per day [1,2].”

Fibre rich foods:

Chia seeds

Lentils

Broccoli

Avacado

Carrots

Red kidney beans

Raspberries

XOXO

[gothe]

what i’m getting in: protein, vitamins, antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics.

what i’m lacking: magnesium, omega 3s.

as of now i’m unable to get enough magnesium & omega 3s in naturally so i might resort to supplementing which i’m not a fan of because i prefer whole food sources

[rainyfestivalsweets]

2/4/24

The MLM hack list

Alright. So there are a bunch of MLM diet companies that make a shitload of money of of us and yet our obesity rates in developed countries are thru the freaking roof.

How many times have you gotten the messages on Facebook, Instagram or whatever and it's like: Hey girl, haven't seen you since high school, let's get coffee... OR... they just post the precopied message & ask about your goals, & proceed to add a flurry of hyperpositive social media messages, like my friend recently did to me.

Did anyone in high school like you? Not me! Do that screams danger from the start. I was horrendously bullied in elementary school. I was gone to a parochial school for a couple years so the only reason that I avoided constant bullying in high school was because... they forgot who I was.

Here are some ideas I stole from various companies, cheaper:

Herbalife: this company's stuff works, for 2 reasons- you replace 2 out of 3 meals with shakes. However, alot of people are not successful if they make their shakes at home and if they add in all the snack bars. People do, however, lose weight if they get their shakes from a "nutrition" shop. Why? Because they blend those shakes super thick with a metric shitton of ice & I think alot of them add sf pudding, which enhances the thickness. Also, you get an iced tea, normally with added fiber. So the answer is- you have 2 drinks that take a long time to finish AND give you added caffeine & fiber. So? Just do it at home: keep your shake calories low, make it extra large & thicker than a snicker, & follow with a caffeinated tea & add fiber to it. I like the herbalife brand but I order it off Amazon so I don't have to get the whole shpeel. Now brand has "prebiotic fiber" that is cheaper. There is also benefiber from Walmart. It is cheap, so why not?

Beachbody: you don't need to spend a billion dollars on protein shakes or meal replacement shakes. I do, however, love some of their workout systems.

Tai Slim: this company's great idea was the chocolate gluccomannon chews, I just didn't know ot at the time. I have tried to order it but have been unable to so maybe they don't make it any more. So my hack would be- the chocolate calcium chews, some gluccomannon tablets, & a large glass of water.

Modere: this company was all over tik tok & reels for awhile, while the reps were trying to schlep people into this scheme. The Golden Child was the liquid CLA chocolate, probably because it tastes like a chocolatey treat while it is actually a CLA supplement. CLA can be purchased at almost any health food store, way cheaper.

Plexus: the pink drink. More research needed on this, but I think it is just a fiber drink. Hack: gluccomannon powder & a Starburst all pink flavor packet.

Most of these companies often sell an associated "fat burner:" often something with caffeine, ecgc from green tea, etc. You can get something similar at a health food store for a fraction of the price. If you want something fancy, there is Ember from the Ambrosia Collective. Use the Google. MFINGCOO is a discount code that I think still works, but it isn't mine.

Buy In for then"tribe:" Weight watchers (not an MLM, just a diet culture sales supergiant but they still somehow acquire affiliates, idk if that qualifies as a True MLM), beachbody, herbalife are pretty cultish in nature-- they rope you into a bunch of meetings, calls, and online groups. If someone calls you to ask why you weren'tat Power Hour, you may have bought into a cult! It works by reprogramming certain thought & behavior patterns..... Basically a bunch of people are sharing ideas regularly and getting involved in their cultish antics.& promoting it on social media. (Example: OMG have you tried the new WW/herbalife/beachbody PROTEIN BAR?? Only $15 for 4!! What a deal! LINK IN MY BIO) You can do this on your own by finding your own people. You can get your own seminars by watching a lot of youtube. Anything that focuses on reprogramming you to cook at home and eat primarily whole foods will probably work. Join free groups. Disregard anything outside of what works for you ( I have to ignore a lot of dessert recipes because they cause bingeing for me).

Lipozene: pretty sure this is just gluccomannon. You can find gluccomannon tablets way cheaper at a health food store. Walmart also was carrying a generic version.

Hydroxycut: pretty sure the active ingredient here is HCA? I don't have a bottle currently to look. But isn't HCA just garcinia? So much cheaper at a health food store. I personally cannot take hydroxycut, it makes me RAGE. I like, get upset and freak out at work, so I don't even think I am willing to try it again.

It works: I think the skinny coffee would be comparable to the "slim coffee," which was cheaper but seemed to be chromium. You can just pick up a chromium supplement... & seriously, you can just drink coffee. Don't add calories to it.

Apple cider vinegar gummies: Just take shots of apple cider vinegar. You can buy a gallon at walmart, it will last a long time. Play with shot recipes, you can do good girl moonshine (ala Trim Healthy Mamma), & use it liberally for dressing recipes.

L-Glutamine: don't remember the company, but this is available at more health food stores, not for $100 a container.

Maybe I have bought so much shit so you don't have it. Is there an MLM company I missed? 🤔 let me know and I will check it out for future posts.

Remember- whatever you do, stay safe. Research your shit. Focus on your daily habits and remember that what you are eating outweighs almost any supplement you could buy. Eat whole food, walk, have an exercise routine & stop expecting a 30 day result for a body that took you 40 years (or whatever) to create.

I definitely don't think the ozempic trend is worth the cost, but if there is no other way for you & you have the money, it is worth a shot. Just don't expect your insurance to pay for it. Many insurance companies are currently not covering it, and I don't really know if they should consider it.

Surgery? If there is no other way and you want to, go for it.

The way that these things work though, is by changing what you are eating. Period. These are all systems to change what you ingest and you can change what you eat for free.

I am still on Nomorbidity & Alkemi from the Ambrosia Collective. I have not found suitable replacements for them but I am also not looking hard, they have a reasonable price point to me.

Edited: To reword, as WW is a diet culture vulture, not quite an MLM. Just a big money making company.

[0cal-sweetener-queen]

My current supplement plan

⚠️Disclaimer: this is highly personal and based off my cronometer calculations + the fact that I’m currently anemic. I recommend EVERYONE supplement heavily when restricting, but figure out what you need individually.

Daily Supplements

- Iron with Vitamin C (for better absorption)

- Hair Supplement with a bunch of B Vitamins (including Biotin) + Zinc

- Calcium with Vitamin D (for better absorption)

- Omega 3 (especially important for brain function)

- Magnesium + Potassium

Additional Habits

- Daily fruits & veggies (especially berries🫐)

- High protein diet (1.4g or more per kg of bodyweight)

- Nutrient enriched vegan foods

- Probiotic & prebiotic foods

- Making sure to eat the nutrients I don’t supplement in high enough doses

Sodium: salt on food, broth on fasting days

Selenium: 1 brazil nut a day

Copper: seafood, nuts & seeds, tofu, cocoa

Potassium: bananas, avocado, legumes

Iodine: seafood, seaweed, iodized salt

Other Supplements/Aids

- Fiber tablets, I usually take a few in a day to suppress appetite & help with digestion

- Diet Sodas, Coffee & Energy Drinks for appetite suppression & energy

- Different teas to help with specific concerns (chamomile for tummy aches, green tea for metabolism, stinging nettle for water retention, etc.)

- I smoke very little but sometimes I’ll grab a cigarette to help avoid binges when I’m stressed or hungry

Thoughts

I’m considering adding collagen but for now I think I’m good.

As soon as I loose my period again I’ll get my hormones tested and maybe start on the pill again to prevent osteoporosis. Hormones play a very important role in bone health!

[cameronfrye666]

How I Unf*cked Myself (a digestive health story)

TLDR (yes a very long TLDR, but this post is proportionally long)

Chronically fatigued and sick as a kid

Repeated courses of antibiotics (probably 20+) and 2x Epstein-barr infection between age 8 and 17

Around age 18 started noticing really weird food intolerances

Couldn’t drink alcohol without insane hangovers lasting 2 weeks+

Couldn’t consume foods high in refined sugar without going into days-to-weeks long episodes of hyperactivity, insomnia & extreme stress

Felt relatively shit eating most carbs

Tried fixing with diet change and vitamin / mineral supplements. Helped some symptoms but didn’t fix the issue.

Tried fixing with various probiotics. Incredibly mixed results - eventually found a regimen that worked for a period of time but, again, didn’t fix the issue.

After a hellish reaction to prebiotic fibre supplements, consulted a gastroenterologist and was diagnosed with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, Gut Dysbiosis and an active H. Pylori Infection. Significant Improvement of symptoms following:

10x 14 days Rifaximin (550 mg 3x daily)

H. Pylori Eradication Regimen (one week amoxicillin, clarythromycin, metrodinazole and omeprazole)

2 years of:

Keto / SCD Diet

Either Candibactin AR&BR, FC-Cidal, Dysbiocide & ADP supplements, or Allimed Neem & Cinnamon, alternating every 2 months between them (two caps of each product 3x daily).

Occasional use of natural motility agents depending on symptoms (ginger / artichoke formulations and iberogast). 

This whole process sucked beyond description, if you have gut / digestive issues it is probably affecting your general health & wellbeing more than you realize. 

Intro

I don’t really have anything left to say other than that it was a more painful experience than I think I could ever accurately describe. Gut health seems to be one of the last remaining big frontiers of human health, and I hope they figure it out so no one has to experience this again. I am still moderately lost in the issue but it has at least gotten a lot better recently.

Story

The Descent

February 4th 2012 is a day that I will likely never forget for the rest of my life. I woke up from a relatively short and disrupted sleep around 10am. A close friend of mine who had slept over the night before was sitting on the living room couch watching The Social Network with my dad. It seemed a sensible, logical thing to join them. So I sat down on the couch, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t.  It's hard to explain exactly why I couldn't, but I just felt this immense inability to relax and settle down. Every bone in my body was vibrating, like this immense persistent energy rush. 

I had also had a fair amount of red bull and other sugary soft drinks as mixer the night before, so I chalked this feeling up to a sugar / caffeine spike and decided to try and get on with the day. I had some breakfast, got showered etc., attempted to do some school work and participated in a family Sunday dinner. By about 10pm it began to become clear that this feeling of immense overpowering stress was not dissipating; if anything, it had gotten worse.

The next two weeks were an incredibly disorienting, painful and confusing experience. Rather than alleviate, the symptoms more or less persisted, although they would ebb and flow throughout the day. I started to notice that I felt the best first thing in the morning (important to note that "best" is a very relative term here) and worst from the late afternoon into evening, with a notable spike directly after dinner hour. I was living in a complete fog. I lost all emotional contact with the world around me. All I felt all day was this persistent restlessness and stress and a complete inability to get rid of it no matter what I did (showering, watching movies, lying down in bed etc.). I just felt like someone had mainlined adrenaline into one of my veins and wouldn’t turn off the tap. It is the most excruciatingly painful thing I have ever experienced, or think I am ever likely to experience. In some way, it is almost impossible to explain in normal words. 

It was at the end of these two weeks that I finally decided to consult a doctor. Everyone here will likely be unsurprised to hear that he suggested I was suffering from a temporary bout of anxiety. Although I have certainly been anxious about my fair share of things in the past (studies, personal relationships etc.), I could feel that this was something quite different. On top of that, there was just nothing in my life bothering me at that time. I had great friends, had already been accepted to the University of my choice and was staring down the barrel of four months of school where my academic results didn’t matter anymore and then a three month summer break. I was offered some tranquilizers or anti-anxiety meds for my symptoms, but I wasn’t really interested in trying them as I wanted to get to the root of whatever the issue was. 

The only other suggestion he had for me was to maybe take a look at my diet. He noticed I was twitching a lot and I offered that I had recently suffered some bad muscle cramps as well, so he suggested that after a bout of mononucleosis earlier in the year and a long winter with little sun, I may be deficient in a few things. He prescribed me a short course of magnesium and vitamin b-12 supplements and sent me on my way.

Over the next month, with the supplements only sort of helping and with me still watching my life essentially completely fall apart around me (barely able to attend school, permanently unwell, chronically stressed, insomniac etc., almost complete loss of social life) I consulted a few more doctors. They more or less all had the same response: you can try antidepressants and/or tranquilizers, but otherwise, sorry, we can't help you. A few also questioned the nutritional supplement prescription.

It was at this point that I started to feel I was more or less on my own in whatever this was.

Part II: Ascent #1

The three months following the initial onset of my symptoms were probably some of the worst of my life, which, considering everything I’ve experienced over the last decade+, is really saying something. I was in a completely emotionally disconnected state, basically felt only stress on a daily basis, and had no idea what was going on.

The only real nuggets of information I had that I trusted were that (i) it might be nutrition-related and (ii) caffeine and/or alcohol were clearly bad for me. I started doing a load of research into what causes nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, how to correct them, and what a healthy diet looks like. Prior to this I had been more or less unconcerned about what I ate or drank in a day, although my diet was reasonably healthy mostly just due to my mother's cooking.

My readings on diet led me to make a few changes. First, I changed from a magnesium oxide supplement to magnesium bisglycinate, for better absorption. Then, I switched to an entirely refined-sugar free, whole grain diet high in unprocessed meats and vegetables. Lastly, I started taking almost nightly electrolyte salt baths (either epsom salt or dead-sea salt).

Although none of these changes cured me by any means, very slowly, I started to feel somewhat better. I could feel moderate improvements on a daily basis. Some days were better than others, but overall things were on an upwards trend. From this point onwards I became almost completely convinced that my symptoms were the result of a nutritional imbalance and that I would cure them through diet and supplementation.

Then, something very strange happened, which, in retrospect, should have pointed me in the direction of my ultimate diagnosis. I went into hospital to have my tonsils removed (as mentioned I had been very sick as a kid), and when I came out later the next day I had a very strange level of emotional clarity. Somehow everything was less painful, and although the crazy stress symptoms weren't totally gone, the improvement in just 36 hours felt drastic. At the time I thought maybe it was painkillers I had been given, perhaps the IV drip they put me on post-op? In retrospect, it was most definitely the high-dose amoxicillin I had been taking since the operation for reasons I can explain later on.

Part III: Stasis #1

That summer things more or less stabilized. Nothing was ever quite as good as the days and week following the tonsillectomy, but the insane debilitating stress didn't come back either, so overall I couldn't complain. From a mental point-of-view I was sort of able to return to normal life other than having to watch my diet and avoid substance. I started university in the fall and was successful despite the obvious social constraints that came along with my new health regimen.

The years following this were pretty up and down. I was able to get through my university courses, have some semblance of a social life, and never returned to the manic stress state of my initial descent. That being said, I never felt "quite right" again. It is hard to place, but my health just still felt very poor. I had low energy, slept a lot, often felt quite irritable, and had very poor performance in sporting activities despite previously being a strong athlete.

The main salient point that came out of this period was that I started to notice that high-sugar foods could bring on shorter-term episodes that mimicked the time period of the original onset of my symptoms. In one instance, I almost failed a university exam after consuming a jelly-filled donut the day before and becoming almost literally incapable of processing information for a few days afterwards. Suffice to say, I completely cut sugar from my diet from this point onwards.

I also tried a few Myers' cocktail IV drips (basically a mix of magnesium, calcium and b-vitamins) during this time period as part of my thinking on the issue being caused by nutritional deficiency. I would feel pretty great for a few days following them (improved sleep, able to focus while studying, good energy for exercise) but then go back to my same poor-health state afterwards. This only compounded my belief that the issue was purely nutritional in nature. Alongside this I consulted some nutritionists and diet specialists, and they recommended me some further supplements and dietary changes, but none of it made that overwhelming of a difference compared to the changes I’d already made. 

Part IV: Descent #2

For four years life went on in the position described above, at least from a health point-of-view. I had found a regimen that kept me functional and stable, and for the most part stuck to it and tried to forget about it all and get on with life. It was great to find some stability, but at the same time as an early twenty-something in University, having to stick to a pretty strict diet and lifestyle just wasn’t all that much fun.

So somehow I got the idea in my head that having found this stability, I must actually be cured of whatever it was and could go back to eating & drinking whatever I wanted. I got an 8-month research placement in France in 2016 and decided that I would just let loose and enjoy myself during that time. Upon arriving I quite quickly returned to being totally free with what I consumed, although perhaps still went light on very sugary foods. For the first few weeks, I felt great. I mean maybe not totally physical well, but it was just so mentally liberating to not think about this stuff anymore. I had a lot of fun going out with my new roommate, going on dates and just living life in a more free way. 

Around the second month of being there I started to notice some chronic unwelness creeping back in. My sleep was starting to become quite poor, I had terrible focus at work and wasn’t accomplishing much, and would feel really unwell after most meals. I ignored it for a while.

By the third month, it was almost panic stations again. I don’t know why I didn’t react to this sooner, probably I was just trying to deny how bad it was getting again, but by mid-March (I had started worked in January), I was bordering on being physically non-functional again. I couldn’t do much other than spend most days in bed when I wasn’t at work, felt constantly agitated, was achieving essentially nothing on a daily basis (thankfully I was working in a French R&D centre where very little was happening at the best of times), and just felt constantly ill. It was not quite the return to the extreme stress of the first episode but I was still really unwell and uncomfortable most of the time. 

I wasn’t really sure what to do, but I knew I really didn’t want to do another 6-months of diet control just to get back to a sort-of sufferable health state, so I started coming up with ideas for a quick fix. The only thing I really had was that those IV cocktails had made me feel pretty great, and since I was still in this mode of thinking it was all due to nutritional deficiency, I hoped that might be an easy solution (the logic being that alcohol and poor diet had lowered my micronutrient levels and I could just reverse it). It seemed this wasn’t available privately in Paris, so I went to London for the weekend just to get one. 

What happened after that infusion is one part of this story that I still do not understand whatsoever. Within hours of getting the Myers drip, rather than feeling great, I felt catastrophically unwell. I did not sleep that whole night and for most of the rest of the weekend, and returned to Paris in a complete fog. The feeling persisted for some weeks. I have a few ideas of what it could have been - too much B-complex which can give you energy rushes, some kind of micronutrient overdose / toxicity since I was still taking lots of supplements on top of the IV at that time, or some kind of immune reaction - but really I don’t know. Suffice to say I never took one again.

Part V: Ascent #2

The terrible reaction to that IV drip started to put the idea in my head that maybe this whole thing wasn’t just related to nutrition and / or a micronutrient deficiency. So I started doing a lot of searching online about what else can affect digestion, intolerance to certain foods, and associated unexplained chronic health symptoms. The thing that kept on coming up was the gut microbiome. I had heard of probiotics before, and knew that yoghurt was supposed to help your digestion, but outside of that I was pretty uneducated. All I could really tell was that it might be worth a shot trying a probiotic supplement to see if it would help.

So, being me, I went online and found the strongest, highest-dose probiotic supplement I could find, or at least on amazon.fr . It was the Renew Life Ultimate Care probiotic with a dose of 200 Billion live cultures (I didn’t know about vivomixx and other 400Bn+ clinical products at the time). The night it arrived, I popped a dose and went to bed, and then another first thing in the morning. By the time I had eaten breakfast and arrived at work around 9am, I felt violently ill. I was sweating, had a pounding headache and felt like I was going to vomit at any moment. I managed to hold it together for the morning, barely managed to stomach lunch and then went home as soon as people started to leave (around 4pm). 

I immediately went to google and started searching for what could cause this, and the main thing that came up was something called the Jarrisch-Herxheimmer reaction. I’m not sure what the clinical validation for this is, but the general understanding is that when something starts killing off pathogens in your body (which probiotics will do when they enter a pathogenic environment), they release toxins and inflammatory cytokines (can do a search yourself) into the body / bloodstream and you feel really unwell. Basically you are starting a fight between good & bad bacteria in your body and you feel the effects of it.

In some sense I was kind of excited that this had happened. The fact that I felt so violently unwell from taking probiotics perhaps pointed to the fact that I did have some kind of gut issue, which was a potentially useful revelation, although in the meantime I still felt horrendously ill. Most advice indicated that the reaction was temporary until you got “over the hump” but by day 7 I was still sick and things were only getting worse, so I stopped taking the pills altogether. 

After looking into how I could manage this better, it seemed like low-dose pills or small amounts of probiotic foods could be a way to manage the reaction while still improving, and as there was a health food store on my street, I decided to start experimenting with Kefir. The first night just to see I drank 2 cups of the stuff and of course felt violently ill again. I then embarked on a months-long journey of upping my dose from just tea-spoons to being able to tolerate about 1/2 to 1 cup per night. 

Within about six months I was able to dose freely with Kefir, and was eating other probiotic foods like sauerkraut and kimchi, all to positive effect. I managed to return to school following the end of my research placement, and although I still didn’t feel great, I would say I had made it back to another “stasis period”. 

My next hypothesis for improvement was to switch from probiotic foods to a supplement again, although just because it was simpler to take than cups of kefir and / or plates of sauerkraut every night. I experimented with quite a few that I found online. I tolerated most of them that had a dose of 100Bn bacteria or less, although somehow still felt better eating the fermented food. Eventually, I tried the Renew Life Mood & Stress probiotic (no longer in production) because it had some strains that were clinically proven to reduce stress levels, which had been one of my main symptoms in bad periods, and it seems to work quite well. I wouldn’t say it completely changed how I felt on a daily basis but it kept me stable to the point that I could stop having to drink Kefir all the time and things felt mostly alright. I felt as if I had found the answer at least for a little while.

Part VI: Stasis #2

This period was the longest in this whole mess. For six years from 2016 to 2022 I just took my daily probiotic supplement, kept a fairly clean diet, and once again got on with life. In this time I graduated from University, moved cities within Canada, and then moved to London to found a start-up which I am still a director of (it has nothing to do with gut health). Until 2018 I would occasionally drink when social engagements came up, but I still always felt somewhat sick after. After feeling ill for almost two weeks after drinking heavily at a company Christmas party, I gave up alcohol entirely. I also never really returned to high-sugar foods for how unwell they had made me feel in the past and also just lack of need (I always found not drinking much more socially inhibiting that not eating deserts and the like). 

It was in the spring of 2022 that, after 5-6 years of stasis, I once again became fed up with the whole thing. I was a young professional in my late twenties at this point and just didn’t understand why I had to take a probiotic supplement (of which I could only tolerate doses on the lower end) and eat a strict diet just to feel somewhat normal. I had considered longer-term solutions like getting a Fecal Microbiota Transplant to try and solve the issue once and for all, but most things like that were only offered privately, were expensive and the providers that did exist seemed a bit suspect (most FMT-type treatments are only available in clinical trials or for C-dificile infections at the moment). 

Somewhere in here a nurse I spoke to at an FMT clinic I had called told me to try going keto and see if it helped. I did it and felt pretty awesome for four months but lost a ton of weight (I was already very skinny) and found it very hard to maintain (especially socially). I eventually gave it up returned to a whole-grain high-protein diet. 

Part VII: Descent #3

After considering various options of how I reasonably could take action to improve my health and general life condition, I came up with the solution of finding a Nutritionist experienced in gut health issues. I had spent a lot of time avoiding medical professionals after my initial bad experiences with doctors and nutritionists either not being able to help or actually being actively unhelpful by questioning all of the symptoms and whether my reactions to foods were just psychosomatic, but I decided it was time to try again. I found a registered dietician in London who also had a PhD in gut microbiome research, which seemed like a great fit.

I shared my whole story with all of my symptoms and current condition, and although she had some questions about my sugar reaction and some of the weirder extended stress symptoms, she mostly accepted the story and that I clearly had some kind of untreated gut health issue. Her recommendation was that my diet was already positive (although could try introducing a few more carbs) and that the probiotic I was taking was as good as could be recommended by current knowledge in the field (noted that it is generally quite personal which ones work for some people and others not, and they don’t really know why). 

In terms of path forward, she recommended that I try introducing some more prebiotic foods and potentially a prebiotic supplement. Going down the list of my daily diet, it was already quite prebiotic / fibre-heavy, so we decided to try a supplement. The idea is that the prebiotic fibre helps feed and grow more of the probiotics you are taking in the supplement, and will improve your gut health. 

I started taking a daily dose (12g) of inulin, the best-validated prebiotic supplement available. The first few days I didn’t feel great and had pretty upset digestion, but nothing crazy. After about 3-4 days, I started having a reaction similar to the first time I ever tried high-dose probiotics. I felt pretty spaced out, generally ill, and hadn’t much appetite or desire for food. I interpreted this as being another Herxheimer reaction, so decided to stick with the supplementation. After about 1 month I still felt really unwell. Most days were a struggle to get through, I was in a total fog, and felt a lot of the extreme stress sensitivity of my initial low-points creeping back in. I spoke to the nutritionist and we decided that I would reduce my inulin dose or stop taking it all together. I reduced my dose by 1/2 and then by 1/3 but still felt increasingly unwell, so two weeks later stopped taking it all together. 

The next month was very uncomfortable. I felt quite ill most days, had general nausea / feelings of disorientation, wasn’t really tolerating most foods, and wasn’t sure what was going on again. In a last ditch, I decided to stop taking all supplements (at this point just my daily probiotic). For about two weeks after stopping the probiotics I didn’t feel all that different, but then somewhere around 12-14 days in, things started to go seriously south. Day by day, or even hour by hour at one point, I started to feel things degrading at first back to the all-day stress symptoms I had in the very beginning of this whole journey, and then to a version like 100x worse than that.

At one point I didn’t sleep for almost five days. My heart was permanently bounding out of my chest, and I was just in excruciating pain every single minute of the waking hours. I had to quit my job for a period of time, and my life was otherwise completely turned upside down. Without going into too many specifics, as I have tried to focus at first on the health aspect here, this is also the closest I came to thinking that perhaps life had just not really worked out for me and it was time to consider giving up on it. For whatever reason I still don’t completely understand, I stuck with it and suffered through the worst.

The greatest intensity of these symptoms lasted for about a month. I went back on the keto diet just because I had felt well on it in the past and didn’t really know what else to do, and after 5-6 weeks I was able to return to work, although only part-time, and somewhat get a handle on my life. I still felt pretty unwell most of the time, and had become quite isolated personally and socially because of it, but at least it felt like the adrenaline tap had lowered a bit and I could mostly suffer through each day. 

From a health-hypothesis point of view, I was a bit at wits end. I had contacted the nutritionist again and although she agreed the prebiotics can cause an adverse health reaction in some individuals for reasons not well understood, she didn’t really accept most of what I was saying around the extreme stress symptoms returning, and seemed a bit doubtful of me and what I was presenting. I decided that was about as far as we could continue together. Although I don’t deny I was in a terrible mental state at that time (which would be the case for anyone given the circumstances), I was completely convinced, and am unwavering to this day about the fact that the principal source of my issue was a serious, unadressed physical condition.

Part VIII: Ascent #3

All I felt I really had left was to go to a hospital and just accept whatever treatment they proposed (whether tranquilizers, sedation, some other drug or therapy I wasn’t aware of) or lay it all out for an experienced gastroenterologist / digestive specialist and just see what happened. I had often thought of seeking a specialist doctor, but was wary as pretty much all GPs and other doctors had been quite dismissive of my symptoms and assumed condition in the past. Here, however, we were quite literally in the “nothing to lose” position. With how things had gone the last months and my current life situation, I felt that if I didn’t fix this once and for all there was quite little point in continuing to live. 

Luckily, I am at least somewhat a person of means, and in the UK there is quite an availability of private medical specialists who will see you for a cash fee. I went to one I had found from a private doctor review website who seemed to have some experience in chronic digestive and gut health issues. I explained to him this entire story, perhaps not quite in such detail and with such emotional weight around specifics of how bad it felt, but largely my reaction to certain foods, how I had tried to manage it over the years, and my current situation. 

Firstly, he broadly accepted most of what I was saying, which was quite relieving in the first instance. His answer, although inconcrete, was that digestive health is, even for him and other experts, a very poorly understood area. He couldn’t say exactly why this was happening to me, but if I had the time and money he was willing to start looking into it with me and see if there were any potential solutions. For the first time, I felt as if an established member of the medical community was accepting their own blind spots in whatever this issue was , and willing to try and help.

His first suggestion was to run some tests to rule out more common and well-understood digestive disorders like Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. These all came back negative. Upon these results, he suggested that given my reaction to the prebiotic fibre and previous reaction to carbs and high-sugar foods, the most likely explanation was a chronic case of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth or SIBO.  The way to diagnose would be a sugar or lactulose (another prebiotic) breath-test, and the treatment being a course of a choice of antibiotics to wipe out the overgrowth and try to correct the dysbiosis (gut microbiota imbalance). 

I was quite open that I didn’t really feel comfortable trying a sugar or prebiotic-fuelled test at that time, given how precarious my health and life position was and my previous reaction to both of those substances. He suggested that since the point of the test is to see if either the sugar or lactulose cook up any bad bacteria and produce gas, and I had already shown a very negative anecdotal reaction to both with associated gas production, he was happy to just prescribe an empirical dose of the antibiotics. 

This is now going back a bit, but as a child I was given a tremendous amount of antibiotics. I am fairly convinced that that is what caused all these issues for me, or was at least the main contributor. So naturally I was a bit wary of another doctor giving me more antibiotics, although I trusted this new one quite a lot. I eventually found online that there is some validation of natural antimicrobial and anti fungal substances being helpful in treating overgrowths and gut dysbiosis, so I decided to explore those options first. They are mostly all formulations of herbal oils and concentrates. It’s the sort of thing I would have been quite skeptical of before all of this started, but at this point I had had so many unexpected negative and positive reactions to different foods, supplements and treatments that I was more or less willing to try anything.

The best validated one is called Candibactin. It’s a combined treatment of mostly Oregano Oil and a Chinese Herb called berberine. I ordered some online and decided to give it a whirl. By my third dose, I was having an extremely intense version of what I experienced when I first took probiotics. Persistent headaches, sweating, lack of appetite, general unwellness and pain. It felt like an extremely intense flu and at some point I felt like I was spiking a fever. I chalked this up to the Herxheimmer reaction again and stuck with it. Once again, by about day 7, the symptoms were still extremely intense and I had to give up on the treatment. Interestingly, although I was in extreme discomfort, my digestion had normalized in this time (I will spare you the description). I didn’t really know what to make of this but it is interesting that the supplements had at least done something. 

Following the experience on the herbal supplement which I had no desire to repeat for the moment, my symptoms somewhat stabilized although didn’t return to what they were prior to starting them. I wouldn’t say I felt notably better or worse but just “different”. I decided it was time to give the pharmaceuticals a go and see if I could tolerate them or if they were helpful in some other way, so I took a two week course of Rifaximin (the drug they give for SIBO). Being on Rifaximin was an extremely painful experience, but not quite as bad as the herbal supplements so I managed to push through it and by the end it had had quite a positive effect on me. I still didn’t feel great after the Rifaximin, and continued to work only part-time, but it had definitely done something. 

Somewhere in here I also commissioned a microbiome stool test, which showed I had a quite significant dysbiosis (low levels of lactobacilli with almost undetectable levels of bifidobacterium, and a strong overgrowth of H2S-producing pathogens). It also showed I had an active H-Pylori infection and extremely poor absorption of fat and other macronutrients. Off the back of it the gastro prescribed me a triple-course of antibiotics to clear the H-Pylori and attributed the poor absorption to persistent SIBO. The triple-therapy for H. Pylori was a horrible experience and I actually ended up in hospital and was told to stop taking one of the drugs (Flagyl / Metronidazole) because it was giving me tinnitus, insomnia and general disorientation, which apparently can be a side effect, but the treatment otherwise worked. 

After this latest course of antibiotics, I was, as before, not in a life-ending position, but my health was still quite bad. I was not accomplishing much at work, and I had essentially no social life. I decided something had to change, so I told my work I would take two months off after Christmas and do whatever I needed to do to solve this thing. The two remaining options I had before me were to try the herbal formulations again, or eat a completely liquid diet for 2-3 weeks to try and starve the pathogenic overgrowth (actually a clinically validated method of treating SIBO).

I first tried a fat-based version of the elemental diet first (most are sugar-based and I didn’t want to test that again), but it caused extremely painful stomach-burning feelings, which apparently can be caused by caprylic acid in the MCT oil it is primarily composed of, and I stopped after two days. After meditating on it for about five days I decided to just re-start the herbal formulations and endure whatever pain it caused me until this thing was hopefully cured. 

So began two years of varied supplementation and antibiotics. I switched off the Candibactin formulation at one point to another called FC-cidal & Dysbiocide, as is recommended to avoid building resistance, although this is less common with the natural products, and also took multiple further courses of Rifaximin as things weren’t progressing as quickly as I’d hoped. The experience was painful but in different ways than it had been the first time around, and also took a lot longer than I expected, although I suppose after 10 years at it that shouldn’t have been surprising. I am not entirely sure why being on the herbals the second time around was less extreme than the first. I don’t know if they were less effective than at the first exposure, or that something about my situation had changed, but it was different in some way. It’s also worth noting that pretty much the whole time I was taking the herbal supplements & Rifaximin I stayed on a Keto or SCD diet (specific carbohydrate diet, basically no starches and reduced carb), although I’ve moved off this in recent months as I’ve started to feel better.

Part IX: Today

Something seems to have worked. I can’t point to it concretely or specifically, I am not a microbiologist or a gastroenterologist, but my life feels so much better now than it did when all this kicked off, and I feel very positive about the future. I am actually back on a 3-month course of Rifaximin that my gastro has prescribed me at the moment to see if we can totally kick the issue, and will probably follow-up with some kind of diet / supplement regimen for some time after that, but either way my symptoms are so much improved by what I've done in the last two years that that feels like a success. I can't say that the problem is gone forever or would never come back but I definitely understand it a lot better and have a lot of tools to make sure that my life doesn't fall apart again like it did those last three times.

I still don’t really know what this all means to me personally. The process of getting better (trying the prebiotic, having my health collapse, taking the various pharmaceutical & herbal antibiotics) almost destroyed me as a person. At some point I had distanced myself almost completely from my job, my girlfriend at the time, most friends and pretty much any semblance of a normal social life or any life at all. For the better part of a year life was really just an existence of suffering every day and hoping to make it to the next one. Despite that, and that of course things always can or could have gone differently, I unfortunately feel as if at a high level I had no other choice. I was completely unwilling to spend the rest of my life living below my full potential of enjoyment, and was always going to do whatever it took to get there. I am sometimes shocked that I managed to survive all of this, but I am here, still living and will try to deal with whatever the experience has done to me in the same way I dealt with the issue itself: by living it, experiencing it day by day, not turning away from it, and knowing that no matter how dark the world can become, so long as you are still here, it is not really over. 

Although the physical symptoms were and have been excruciatingly painful, one of the most difficult things about this whole experience has been the level of misunderstanding and invalidation, both from the medical community and from some friends, family, other personal acquaintances and the general public, around what happened to me. I understand that it is a difficult story to follow, but unfortunately it was all very real and somehow I managed to find a route out of it for now. One day the medical community will figure this out and understand what happened to me and others like me (because they are also out there in very sad corners of the internet - links below), and share it with the world to build our collective understanding and compassion. Until then it is strange to be one of the few people to know all of this and what this experience feels like and has felt like, but I am trying day by day to come closer to people and understand why we aren’t yet equipped as a society to address these kinds issues on multiple fronts. I don’t blame anyone for not understanding what was happening to me, but the few who did and were willing to listen at the time are angels and I’m not sure I would have gotten through it without them.

Eventually I hope I will fully recover from all of this. Physically, mentally, emotionally, because it has touched every aspect of my life over the last twelve years. Until then I am just here living every day in this strange situation of being a survivor of such a horrible, confusing and largely misunderstood problem. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ibs/comments/jpkol3/how_probiotics_destroyed_my_health_long_storyrant/

[mayonaka-mizu]

c@I log 10.5.24

- green juice 25 c@I

- 1 serving tuna w 1/2 serving kewpie mayo 165 c@I

-1/2 of a cucumber w salt pepper & garlic powder idk but it’s not much so i’m okay not counting it and all of the seasonings said 0 c@I

- ~3 oz. shredded white meat chicken 110 c@I

- Halfday raspberry prebiotic iced tea 30 c@I

total: 330 c@I

i’m happy with that, i feel very full and the tuna w cucumber slices was SO FUCKING GOOD AND LOW C@L/ LOW C@RB/HIGH PR0TEIN I HIGHLY RECOMMEND !!!!!!!

my main goal for weekends is to not go above 500 and i stayed well below it so im happy! i didn’t get to go for a walk today but i will have plenty of time for that tomorrow so im not worried. i miiiiiight have to eat at a restaurant tomorrow, i feel bad not going but i also don’t wanna have to eat restaurant food :/ someone lmk what i should do X{

[raiha-storm65557]

Prompt #9

“Get out! I don’t have time for this!” Sidekick practically yelled at Villain who was sitting on the window sill before turning their head back to their notes. It was already enough that Hero was bothering them all day about doing their paperwork for them, they really had no patience left for Villain. Villain was shocked, the meek little thing could actually stand up to them. And that all on their own! But Villain was no fool, they knew a stressed out person when they saw one, “Alright, let me take a look.” They mumbled while shuffling over to Sidekick and looking over their head at the notes the kid was so closely studying. “Probiotics, prebiotics, omega 3 fat-acids, overdosage… what do you need all this for?” the criminal asked confused about what kind of crime fighting this could lead to. “It’s for my exam tomorrow!” Sidekick exclaimed annoyed at the Villain, “that stuff is in your food, you know!”. They were dumbfounded at that answer, they didn’t expect Hero’s little friend to be studying in the culinary fields.

Guess who forgot to study for their exam tomorrow

[tinyreviews]

Rabbit Hole: Fiber and Health

The difference between soluble and insoluble fiber

Soluble and insoluble fibers are both essential components of a healthy diet, particularly for gut health, but they differ in their properties and how they function in the digestive system.

Soluble Fiber:

Dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance.

Fermentable by gut bacteria.

Benefits for Gut Health:

Feeds Gut Bacteria: Acts as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Regulates Blood Sugar: Slows down digestion, leading to a more gradual release of glucose into the bloodstream.

Lowers Cholesterol: Binds with bile acids, helping to lower blood cholesterol levels.

Improves Digestion: Softens stool, making it easier to pass and helping to prevent constipation.

Insoluble Fiber:

Does not dissolve in water.

Adds bulk to stool.

Benefits for Gut Health:

Promotes Regularity: Adds bulk to stool and helps it pass more quickly through the intestines, reducing the risk of constipation.

Prevents Diverticulitis: Helps prevent small pouches from forming in the colon, which can become inflamed or infected.

Supports Weight Management: Adds bulk to the diet without adding calories, which can help with feeling full and reducing overall food intake.

What are good common sources of fiber?

Soluble Fiber: Oats, barley, nuts, seeds (e.g., chia seeds, flaxseeds), beans and legumes (e.g., lentils, chickpeas), fruits (e.g., apples, oranges, pears), vegetables (e.g., carrots, Brussels sprouts).

Insoluble Fiber: Whole grains (e.g., whole wheat, brown rice, bulgur), nuts and seeds (e.g., almonds, sunflower seeds), vegetables (e.g., cauliflower, green beans, potatoes with skin), fruits (e.g., apples with skin, berries, bananas), bran (e.g., wheat bran, corn bran).

Do gut bacteria break down fiber to produce beneficial compounds like vitamins? What other beneficial compounds do they produce?

Vitamins

Vitamin K: Certain gut bacteria synthesize vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting and bone health.

B Vitamins: Some gut bacteria produce B vitamins, such as biotin (B7), folate (B9), and riboflavin (B2), which are crucial for energy metabolism and overall cellular function.

Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)

Acetate, Propionate, and Butyrate: These SCFAs are produced when gut bacteria ferment soluble fiber. They have numerous health benefits:

Butyrate: Acts as a primary energy source for colon cells, helps maintain the integrity of the gut barrier, and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Propionate: Metabolized in the liver and can help regulate glucose production.

Acetate: Used in various metabolic processes and can influence fat storage and appetite regulation.

Other Beneficial Compounds

Gases: Such as hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, which are normal byproducts of fermentation and usually harmless.

Phenolic Compounds: Fermentation of polyphenols (a type of antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables) by gut bacteria can produce bioactive phenolic compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs): Produced from the fermentation of certain fats, CLAs have been shown to have anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Health Benefits

Improved Gut Health: SCFAs, particularly butyrate, nourish the cells lining the colon, reducing the risk of gastrointestinal disorders.

Enhanced Immune Function: A healthy gut microbiome can help modulate immune responses, reducing inflammation and protecting against infections.

Metabolic Health: The production of SCFAs can influence metabolic health, helping regulate blood sugar levels and reducing the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Mental Health: There is emerging evidence that SCFAs and other metabolites produced by gut bacteria can influence brain function and mood, potentially impacting conditions like anxiety and depression.

Specific benefits of SCFAs

Digestive Health

Nourishment of Colonocytes: Butyrate serves as the primary energy source for colonocytes (cells lining the colon), promoting a healthy gut lining and reducing the risk of gastrointestinal disorders.

Gut Barrier Function: SCFAs enhance the integrity of the gut barrier, preventing the leakage of harmful substances from the gut into the bloodstream, which can lead to systemic inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory Effects: Butyrate has potent anti-inflammatory properties, helping to reduce inflammation in the gut, which is beneficial for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Metabolic Health

Blood Sugar Regulation: Propionate can help regulate blood glucose levels by influencing gluconeogenesis (the production of glucose) in the liver.

Lipid Metabolism: Acetate and propionate are involved in lipid metabolism, which can influence cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Appetite Regulation: SCFAs can influence the release of hormones that regulate appetite and satiety, such as peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), potentially aiding in weight management.

Immune Function

Immune Modulation: SCFAs play a role in modulating the immune system by influencing the activity of various immune cells, including T cells and macrophages, which helps maintain immune balance and reduce chronic inflammation.

Anti-carcinogenic Properties: Butyrate has been shown to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancerous cells in the colon, reducing the risk of colorectal cancer.

Brain Health and Mental Well-being

Neurotransmitter Production: SCFAs can influence the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, which is involved in mood regulation.

Blood-brain Barrier Integrity: Butyrate can enhance the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, protecting the brain from harmful substances.

Anti-inflammatory Effects on the Brain: By reducing systemic inflammation, SCFAs can help protect against neuroinflammatory conditions, potentially lowering the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

General Health Benefits

Reduction of Systemic Inflammation: SCFAs help reduce systemic inflammation, which is linked to numerous chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity.

Bone Health: Propionate may have a role in calcium absorption and bone health, although more research is needed in this area.

The above is the result of my curiosity going down the rabbithole with ChatGPT. I post my rabbithole curiosities to this blog.