Wednesday, April 22, 2015

thought for the day

If gut microbes are so damned important, why are germ-free mice thin and healthy while potato-starch users are bloated and fat?

[...crickets...]

14 comments:

  1. http://anthonycolpo.com/man-sheds-21-pounds-on-60-day-potato-only-diet/
    Man Sheds 21 Pounds on 60-Day Potato-Only Diet

    http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-potato-diet.html

    http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-chris-voigt-of-20.html
    Interview with Chris Voigt of 20 Potatoes a Day

    http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/12/potato-diet-interpretation.html
    Potato Diet Interpretation

    http://www.20potatoesaday.com/

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    1. The links don't answer the question Tess asked.
      People also reported a good weight loss on a rice diet. Crash diets work most of the time, the troubles come when it is time to figure out how not to regain the lost weight afterwards.

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    2. it was only a rhetorical question.... :-)

      the point is, we've been told over and over that we need to cultivate a diverse population of good bacteria in our guts as the critical focus for health; the existence of leanness in mice and good health in humans in its ABSENCE implies the concept is faulty. there IS a black swan out there.

      Galina has a good point -- gimmicks and VLcal diets can cause weight loss, but it has to be obvious by now that when people try to "normalize" their diets afterwards everything goes to hell. if I have to "stay on a diet" the rest of my life, i'd sure rather it be an essentially-unlimited meat diet than a limited-calorie potato diet ... even though it IS possible to subsist on the latter. :-)

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    3. I don't think the question was totally rhetorical. May be we are not black swans or special snowflakes at all, just the picture is more diverse and less simplified as we think, and somehow the mice with a sterile gut are as healthy as the people with a perfect gut microflora. May be it would be the perfect solution to correct an imperfect gut population, but I doubt that adding fuel to an existing fire is that perfect solution.
      It looks like Charles believes he may get all answers from reading studies. So many standard health recommendations failed me that I absolutely can't share such enthusiasm. I have to admit that I am relying mostly on self-experimentation and I follow basic principles like "don't try to micro regulate complex system".

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    4. "don't try to micro regulate a complex system" -- great advice!

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    5. Many medications for diabetes, statines, corticosteroids are all good examples of such micromanagement approach when a prolonged use is the way to create other health issues.

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  2. Your post inspired me to look at the Fatheaad blog. Tom hasn't written anything on starch or Nikoley for about a year, but mentioned in one post he keeps his carbs between about 50 and 100 grams a day. Maybe he's seen sense.

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    1. Tom, like Mr. Archevore before him, started getting more enthusiastic about starchy foods when he started doing more physical work -- and that's perfectly legitimate IMO! Fats OR carbs as fuel for working bodies, as the individual prefers or is able to tolerate, is not something i'll argue with. ...It's the insistence that we ALL have to do as THEY do that rattles my cage, especially when the tater-lovers LIE about its importance.

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  3. I'm not an expert on the whole resistant starch issue, and have no desire to become one. One's man magic is another's poison, I suppose. All I know is, I seem to do really well with a fair bit of vinegar, a la Wooo. (Vinegar either taken directly, as in several spoonfuls of ACV, balsamic, red wine, or even just distilled white) or in common condiments that have vinegar -- mustard, mayo, hot sauce.

    I can't imagine I'd be better off eating a bunch of cold potatoes, cold rice, or unripe plantains, but like I said, to each their own. From a weight management standpoint, I'm not too keen on introducing starches, and with how good I feel (including good BMs...sorry for TMI), if it ain't broke, I ain't fixin' it. ;-) Things need to be individualized, and I do not at all dismiss the possibility that some people *do* fare better with RS. Regardless, I'd rather see people get it from food. Glomming down a few spoonfuls of raw potato starch? Not for me.

    I don't think anyone's got this gut thing figured out. Seems like vegetables and prebiotic fiber out the wazoo work wonders for some people, and others are thriving on almost zero-carb approaches, or, if not "zero carb," then zero *plant foods.* With regard to feeding the microbiome, I feel like there are lots of bandwagons being jumped on rather quickly, and not as much understanding of what's *really* driving things as I'd like.

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    1. YES! if I may be excused for the double entendre, I have a gut feeling that we don't know enough about what's going on in there....

      There IS a lot of variation in how people react to plant foods in general and raw potato starch in specific. Some feel great almost at once, and some feel HORRIBLE taking in a half-teaspoonful. Knowing how an excess of ordinary vegetables makes me feel, I think it would be a mistake for me to emulate them.

      I also have been following Wooo's experiments and reports with interest, but haven't gone too far down that road -- I've tried various probiotics, home-cultured dairy (mine is lower-carb than commercial), lacto-fermented AND vinegar-based pickled vegetables, shots of vinegar before OR after meals, and mouth-washing at bedtime with dilute bleach solution.... None of these things seem to give me any boost at all; digestive bitters are a much better fit!

      So i'll continue to read (with a generous amount of skepticism, as well as interest) what comes out about the microbiome and its care and feeding.... When we finally get some solid DATA on people who are like me, I may make adjustments, but at this point i'll stick with what I've already found to work. ;-)

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    2. I don't like to disparage what anyone else does, because I learn from lots of sources -- what works, what *doesn't* work, and probably the most important thing I've come away with from all of it is that there is so much more variation from person to person than we ever would have expected -- *especially* with this gut stuff. Probably has a lot to do with how we were born and developed in our formative years, and maybe even some stuff in utero, a la Weston Price and Dr. Pottenger's findings. (From the famous Pottenger's Cats studies.)

      I've been following some of the tweets from Paleo f(x) and if I can be completely blunt, I don't think anyone has a clue what's up with the gut biome. Like I said, I learn at least a little something from everyone (even if it's only to see someone else's perspective and get angry because of it, like Wooo does with Guyenet [so do I]), so I don't want to "badmouth" anyone, but sometimes I wonder if too many people aren't just trying to beat everyone else to whatever might be "the next big thing." Thyroid? Old ground. Adrenals? Been there, done that. Now it's gut flora. It's like, what can someone expose that no one else is talking about? (Until *five* people write books about it, and someone comes out with a miracle bar, supplement, athletic implement, or teched-out headgear designed to "optimize" whatever that thing is.)

      Sorry for the rant. It's just, I'm a practitioner, myself, and I'm having a bit of an existential crisis. But on the plus side, I have no qualms about admitting it, and in saying that I'm starting to wonder more and more how much we really know about *any* of this...

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    3. :-) it's GOT to be infinitely harder, trying to hack other people's issues -- it's difficult enough to solve one's own!

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