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Should you eat your traditional diet?
Should you eat your traditional diet? By traditional diet, we are referring to what your ancestors ate. While this makes common sense, there are a few arguments against to consider. Pros Your gut microbiome is likely to thrive when provided the foods it expects based on your genetics. A healthy gut microbiome is key on overall health. Your metabolic pathways are likely to respond better to your traditional foods, for example you might have a better glycaemic response eating carbohydrate-containing foods that are staples in your region of origin. If you grew up eating traditional foods, your palate is already adapted to those flavours. If you live in the country…
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Exercise, gut health and gastrointestinal issues
Exercise is generally regarded as beneficial for health. Gut health is not an exception, athletes tend to have microbiomes with increased composition and/or function. However, too much exercise can be detrimental. This is an overview on exercise, gut health and gastrointestinal issues. Exercise and gut health Most people will agree that exercising is beneficial for health. When comparing the microbiomes of exercising individuals (including athletes) with those of sedentary individuals, scientists have found: More bacterial diversity and/or richness, generally regarded as beneficial to health More short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolic pathways, important for intestinal integrity and other aspects of health Increased metabolic pathways of amino acids (including branched-chain amino acid,…
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Book review: Healthy Gut Healthy You (Dr Michael Ruscio)
Healthy Gut Healthy You is the long-awaited book by Dr Michael Ruscio, an American functional medicine practitioner, researcher and podcaster. Dr Ruscio started off as a chiropractor and discovered functional medicine during his own healing journey. He focuses on treating the gut as the first step for improving a wide range health conditions, many of which don’t manifest as gastrointestinal discomfort. In both his book and his podcast, Dr Ruscio offers a very sensible clinical approach. I think this is a product of working with real patients and noting what actually works. He avoids dogma and excessive testing, restrictions and treatment. Healthy Gut Healthy You The book has 5 parts:…
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uBiome Explorer: Meet your gut bacteria
Several months ago a good friend let me know uBiome was offering kits for (almost) free. What is uBiome? Hint: it’s not a personal care brand. uBiome is a company that sequences your stool sample to analyse the composition of your microbiome (ie, gut bacteria). They offer the following producs: SmartGut (doctor-ordered gut health test), SmartJane (doctor-ordered women’s health test) and Explorer (discover your microbiome without the help of a doctor). uBiome Explorer retails for US$89 as a one-off purchase but I only paid US$19.99 to cover shipping. uBiome’s headquarters are located in the US, so it took a while for my kit to arrive (101 days after purchase). Sampling…
