There are postings on the internet about gut health and our overall well being. Whether you are type 1, type 2,…etc. please share your experience with the group about the positive effects on blood sugar and other benefits to your health from paying attention to your gut health. What do you do? How did you learn about improving gut health? There seems to be two approaches: 1. eat certain types of food, 2.eat certain supplements.
I just began taking Bob’s Red Mill Potato starch (starting with a small quantity) and will keep you posted of my results.
I am currently finishing up my supply of Jarrow Jarro-Dophilus. I have been taking it for over a week and would not say that the results are noticeably positive. They are not negative. Am I supposed to give it more time? higher dosage? or perhaps I already have enough of the strains of the bacteria in Jarrow? I used to take Culturelle and did not notice any effects on BG.
The following links are provided FYI -
Have you had positive experience with resistant starch? cooled rice,potato?
Have you had positive experience with inulin?
Do you take kefir? Does yogurt and kefir contain a different type of good bacteria from the bacteria that feed on resistant starch? The bacteria that we lack may be soil based organisms. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-soil-based-organisms-beneficial/
I’m glad you decided to post this. You and I have been corresponding about gut-health during the last several days and how probiotics and resistant starch have helped me.
I was diagnosed with gastroparesis back in 2012. That’s what prompted me to make many changes in my daily routine including adopting a low carb high fat way of eating. I also started walking every day. I’ll spare you the description of gastroparesis symptoms but it involves digestive upset due to the impairment of the vegas nerve, the autonomic nerve that connects the brain with the digestive organs and tells these organs what to do when.
I started to use potato starch for its resistant starch qualities as an experiment to see if my gastroparesis symptoms would ease. I started that in January 2014 and it worked demonstrably well. I continue to take potato starch every day and I added a probiotoc supplement as well.
I think the microbiome is a relatively unexplored part of our physiology. The gut plays a huge role in our immune system function. The number of bacteria in our gut outnumber our human cells by a factor larger than 10:1.
I think anyone, diabetic or not, could benefit from learning more about how our gut works. Thank you for raising this important issue.
Not currently, but in my past, I have had bouts of IBS. Its been in remission for about 5 years. If I eat certain foods it can flare up but not as bad as it once did. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that my gut is sensitive.
I found that taking a high quality probiotic, twice a day really helps my BGs remain stable and my appetite remains stable too. When I say high quality probiotic, I mean one that has different kinds (more than 2 kinds) of bacteria in it, not necessarily the most expensive but it means looking thoroughly over the ingredients, that’s not shelf stable. I found shelf stable probiotics irritate my gut. Maybe its just me, just my observations.
I also have Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and in the past when I have had bouts of hyperthyroidism, I feel it in my gut in the worst way, its like a bad flare up of my IBS. Keeping my thyroid stable is really important and a priority for me.
In 2008 I started having big-time problems with diarrhea after eating most anything. Various lab tests found nothing that could be causing it, so my doctor ordered a colonoscopy. Oh, joy! I was in my mid to late 60s by then, so my doctor thought it was about time I had my first one anyway.
The gastroenterologist found nothing in the colonoscopy that would account for it, so diagnosed me with IBS. He suggested a change in my med for my lactose intolerance. I used the one he suggested for several years but have since changed back. Unlike some people with lactose intolerance, I can eat or drink all the dairy products I want as long as I take one of those generics for Lact-Aid with each serving.
The gastroenterologist also recommended that I take a specific probiotic that I could find in our local health food store - PB8. I did, but told the doctor at a follow-up about two weeks later that I hadn’t seen that it made any difference in what I could eat. However, I kept on taking it. And much to my surprise, within six months I was back to eating the way I had been before all the problems arose. And I can still eat whole dinner-plate servings of salad, as well as foods like beans without any major problems. In my experience not many others in their mid-70s can eat all the foods I can without some digestive problems. I don’t know if I even have IBS. Though I don’t actually know that the pro-biotic is what made the difference, I still continue to take one pill a day most days.
That’s the one. I see some online places say that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, but I had the impression that it did. I know that the health food store where I buy it always keeps it refrigerated. I’m sure that there well may be other products as good, but since it worked for me, I’ve never bothered to check into what other brands might be similar.
I’m happy that you’ve found a solution that works for you.
It seems to me that there was no noticeable improvement for you at two weeks. Within six months, there was improvement for you. This is very informative.
There is a very extensive review and comparison of ten leading probiotic supplements Amazon.com. The reviewer, RWM, was thorough in his writeup. Thought I would share it with the group and hopefully everyone will find it useful.
A researcher in Amsterdam, Dr. Max Nieuwdorp, has published a number of studies looking at changes in the microbiome that are characteristic of type 2 diabetes.
In one trial, he was able to reverse type 2 diabetes in all of the 250 study participants by doing fecal transplantations on them. Remarkable as it may sound, by changing the makeup of the gut bacteria, the diabetes was resolved.
We are what we eat! It’s a real shame that there is not more education about the effects of what we eat.
One of the defects that Dr. Schwarz identifies in his proposal to reclassify diabetes which we have been discussing is in fact the Biome which is number 8 in his list of 11 defects. You can actually see it in the slides that @irrational_Johnposted in the topic. A probiotic is listed as the top treatment for that defect.
I’ll be interested in following this discussion. I have a lot of autoimmune and allergic conditions and I’ve read about how gut bacteria can contribute to both of these because it affects the immune system so much. Even if these types of things have no benefit to my blood sugar, if they could help calm down the immune system it would be great.
@curlysarah – Can you expand on the benefits you are experiencing with Kombucha Tea? How much and how often do you drink it? Are you buying it or fermenting it yourself? Is it affecting your blood glucose trends? If so, can you give some examples? I’ve tried it and I do like it but just haven’t gotten in the habit of drinking it. Fermented foods such as the Kombucha are reported to be very good for the gut.
@JoedyRose – I’ve used Prescript Assist and Primal Defense Ultra for over a year. I know that some people buy probiotics from the health food store that are not shelf stable and are refrigerated. I’ve heard that these probiotics are very good but I haven’t tried them.
The other philosophy that people adhere to is try and get sufficient resistant starch in their diet. Green bananas, plantains, and cooked and cooled potatoes contain resistant starch. Potatoes are too much of a challenge to my blood glucose so I haven’t tried that. Search on “resistant starch” on google and you’ll get lots of info on this topic.
I drink a bottle every morning. It’s 16 ounces, 2 servings. I’ve noticed much better digestion and overall belly health. I have not noticed any change in my bg’s. I looked in to brewing it myself, but discovered that buying it off the shelf was much better use of my time. I am very LCHF and the brand I like only has 7g CHO for the entire bottle.
The Mercola article is well worth the time to read. The article quotes Dr. Perlmutter extensively. Here’s the description of Dr. Perlmutter’s background:
Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He also has a clinic in Naples, Florida, and he’s been very active in publishing his findings in peer-reviewed medical journals.
His previous book, Grain Brain, topped the New York Times bestseller list for 54 weeks. In my view, Dr. Perlmutter is probably the leading natural medicine neurologist in the US.
Dr. Perlmutter describes the role that the gut microbiome plays:
“The gut microbiome is 99 percent of the DNA in your body, and it is highly responsive and changeable based upon lifestyle choices, most importantly our food choices,” Dr. Perlmutter says.
"There’s this beautiful dance that happens between the gut bacteria and your own DNA. The gut bacteria actually influenced the expression of our 23,000 genes. Think about that. The bugs that live within us are changing our genome expression moment to moment.
I just watched this today— it’s from an autism seminar, but the gut health topic is the primary focus (the speaker is an endocrinologist and also discussed the links with diabetes). I found the scientific aspects of it interesting, but as I don’t know the first thing about science, it could all be utter nonsense for all I’d know. The speaker does get into some self-promoting of a product they market, which of course raises some concerns about credibility-- nonetheless I found it quite interesting…
Has anyone had experience with Gamma-Aminobutyric acid(γ-Aminobutyric acid) - (also called GABA, as a supplement? I saw GABA sold at the local vitamin shop; not sure what to make of it. Not being a biochemist, I am unsure if the SCFA - short chain fatty acid - butyrate and GABA are related. Any biochemist out there?
