I am a food scientist specializing in gut health and fibers. AMA.

[lastresort]

There are powdered green bananas, I recommend that. It's not super tasy, but it works well in apple and strawberry smoothies.

Inulin and green banana resistant starches are very different. Inulin is a fructan - chain of fructose. Resistant starch in green banana is what we call, type 2 resistant starch: crystalline starch granules that don't digest in our body as long as it's not cooked, and acts as fibber.

Inulin ferment fast in proximal (ascending) colon. IT's considered a gold standard of fiber in the current market, but clinical research shows that it is more modulatory for people with some metabolic disease such as glucose impairment and hypercholesterolemia, not so much for healthy people. It feeds bifidobacteria which are important immune-boosting bacteria, so that's great and all but health benefit wise, it's meh. Also, beacuse it ferments in only the first part of colon, it neglects middle (transversal) and distal (descending) colon. This is important because the distal colon is where colon cancer is often found.

Resistant starch such as green banana ferment more slowly throughout the gut, and feeds more diverse array of bacteria. Plenty of clinical evidences for healthy populations and obese populations that it reduces blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, and fat mass.

 

[Donstofikus]

I don't know anything about KPV or KLOW because...they are not food.

Are you talking about actual stomach? small or large intestine?What are these exact issues.

Sorry, I thought since you were in this forum that you were also talking peptides.

 

[IronCircuit]

Oh absolutely.

From disease perspective, think of your body as a factory, and colon as your waste management. Now, imagine if the "border' between the waste management and the rest of the body erodes. All the metabolic toxins such as uremic toxins, branched fatty acid, ammonia, etc, leak into your "factory," causing all kinds of issues. Leaky gut is a real thing.

From health perspective, bacteria in our gut is responsible for directly affecting gene expressions of enterocytes, managing gut lining integrity, neurological health, suppressing pathogenic bacteria like E.Coli or Strep, producing beneficial micronutrients such as vitamins. So yes, they are important.

Studies show that probiotics are not really effective because you are basically sending troops without rations. They have to be maintained by eating fibers to which your gut bacteria are conducive to. We have several hundred , or even thousands, species in our gut, and they respond differently to different fibers.

We could always eat more fibers and reduce excessive fat and sugar.

What are the fibers you recommend?

 

[Chili777]

There are powdered green bananas, I recommend that. It's not super tasy, but it works well in apple and strawberry smoothies.

Inulin and green banana resistant starches are very different. Inulin is a fructan - chain of fructose. Resistant starch in green banana is what we call, type 2 resistant starch: crystalline starch granules that don't digest in our body as long as it's not cooked, and acts as fibber.

Inulin ferment fast in proximal (ascending) colon. IT's considered a gold standard of fiber in the current market, but clinical research shows that it is more modulatory for people with some metabolic disease such as glucose impairment and hypercholesterolemia, not so much for healthy people. It feeds bifidobacteria which are important immune-boosting bacteria, so that's great and all but health benefit wise, it's meh. Also, beacuse it ferments in only the first part of colon, it neglects middle (transversal) and distal (descending) colon. This is important because the distal colon is where colon cancer is often found.

Resistant starch such as green banana ferment more slowly throughout the gut, and feeds more diverse array of bacteria. Plenty of clinical evidences for healthy populations and obese populations that it reduces blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, and fat mass.

Thanks for that thorough explanation. I'll look for powdered green bananas!

 

[lastresort]

What are the fibers you recommend?

For general health, it doesn't have to be complicated. Fruits and vegetables are good sources, but I really recommend berries and apple. Fleshy fruits have medley of fibers like pectin, celluloe, arabinogalactans, xyloglucan. It's good to have a mix of fibers than a single source.

But if you really want targeted health benefits...these are what I would consider:

Oat brans, Green banana powders, and xylo-oligosaccharides* for metabolic health, satiety and weight management.

Carrot fibers to reduce flatulence.

Yeast beta glucans for immunity

partially hydrolyzed galactomannan (guar gum hydrolysate), potato resistant starch for improved stool

Inulin as a general health maintenance (note: avoid if you have inflammed gut)

*Xylooligosaccharides are not considered fibers under FDA definition for some reason...even though it is clinically proven to be beneficial.

There are other fibers that have been tested but they are not available for consumer purchases because they were specifically developed for just research, and they are prohibitively expensive.

 

[lastresort]

Sorry, I thought since you were in this forum that you were also talking peptides.

I am relatively new to peptides myself so I only have experiences with a few.

 

[lessthanhalf]

I know I am not the expert here, but psyllium husk is interesting, it is the only fiber I know of that can actually reduce diarrhoea. And there are a few scientific papers on the subject. Having ulcerative colitis in "remission" but with ongoing symptoms, plus or minus ibs-d, it actually worked, and probably reduced pain as well, until the GLP drugs slowed my gut down to the point where it caused constipation, and I had to stop it.

But it could be useful for those with GLP induced diarrhoea which is fairly common.

 

[ultima thule]

What are the "worst" food products for guts microflora? I believe these are all kinds of fast food and highly processed products, but maybe there's something else I do not know about?

 

[AgingRegenDamaged]

Oof....that goes into endocrinology, which I cannot answer fully.

But I can say this. Fibers ferment in our body into short chain fatty acids, namely acetate, propionate, and butyrate. These short chain fatty acids directly affect gene expression in our organs, namely liver. Acetate and propionates are known to downregulate gluconeogenesis in liver, which helps attenuate glucose levels and increase glycogenesis instead. Also, short chain fatty acids induce anti-inflammatory cytokines and downregulate inflammatory cytokines that impair signal pathways for insulin. I hope that makes sense?

As for your second question, its hard to determine the exact health outcomes from the diets alone. Each person has different gut flora, right? However, I would guess that high protein meals without any fiber (which is kinda unlikley in real scenario) will shift the gut fermentation from saccharolytic (sugar-releasing) to proteolytic (protein fermenting). Proteolytic gut fermentation produces toxins such as urea, sulfur oxides, nitrogenous compounds, branched chain fatty acids that are known to damage gut linings. Also, pathogenic bacteria can dominate the gut and cause general GI symptoms such as too much fart, constipation, diarrhea, etc.

Gut health is something you should maintain in a long term.

I eat a ketogenic diet and I am almost completely 'fart free', I have no bad excrement and I feel good with consistent levels of energy.

I do have a little yoghurt and kimchi daily and sometimes eat keto bread but it's hard to justify it daily given how it costs more than a whole pound of pastured meat.

 

[domin8brix]

Will those David protein bars make me leak

Anal leakage? If you have too many of them, definitely.

 

[tubby]

Pretty much the title. My PhD was in novel food innovation and I have been working on developing new dietary, prebiotic fibers for diverse gut health for a few years now.

In what sense are you "developing" new fibers? Are we talking chemically processing and modifying existing fibers, synthesizing new structures, studying fibers from less commonly eaten plants, or perhaps exploring fiber blends? You mention a focus on commercial application (rather than pure research) so I'm guessing it would need to be something that can be patented or otherwise protected VS studying less common plants, which presumably would lack such protection and competitors could duplicate your formulations.

You also mention fiber in the context of a food matrix, which seems to imply retaining the food's natural structure (VS simply mixing in a fiber supplement to existing food). Am I correct in inferring that or is there technology where an effective matrix can be recreated in processed foods, slowing absorption/digestion? I know simply mixing in fiber can achieve that do a degree, but you specifically referred to matrices, which caught my eye.

 

[tendency]

Is it ok to eat a couple tablespoons of psyllium husk daily? What are the 'best' fibers for gut health?

 

[lastresort]

I eat a ketogenic diet and I am almost completely 'fart free', I have no bad excrement and I feel good with consistent levels of energy.

I do have a little yoghurt and kimchi daily and sometimes eat keto bread but it's hard to justify it daily given how it costs more than a whole pound of pastured meat.

I make my keto bread. I have been develoing it over 7 years on my own, completely independent of my job.

A meta analysis has been done recently on various types of diet (low carb/high protein, high protein/high carb, high caarb/high fat, high protein/low fat), and what the researchers found is that the lack of fiber was a common denominator for poor health. If you eat enough fiber then you should be fine.

 

[tubby]

A meta analysis has been done recently on various types of diet (low carb/high protein, high protein/high carb, high caarb/high fat, high protein/low fat)

FWIW, those studies are slightly more controversial than one would expect at first glance. Although the concept sounds great, the reality is that there aren't that many actual low-carb studies to pull data from. The underlying studies are typically more like "let's study reducing carbs from 50% of calories to 30% of calories," which while clinically interesting doesn't really inform on the actual results one would obtain from a low-carb diet. That's not to say I have a strong opinion on the matter, other than to note the lack of significant modern research into low-carb and keto diets.

 

[lastresort]

I know I am not the expert here, but psyllium husk is interesting, it is the only fiber I know of that can actually reduce diarrhoea. And there are a few scientific papers on the subject. Having ulcerative colitis in "remission" but with ongoing symptoms, plus or minus ibs-d, it actually worked, and probably reduced pain as well, until the GLP drugs slowed my gut down to the point where it caused constipation, and I had to stop it.

But it could be useful for those with GLP induced diarrhoea which is fairly common.

PH is interesting. Its a glucuruono-arabinoxylan which is insoluble, unfermentable fiber. However it still can change your gut population.

In what sense are you "developing" new fibers? Are we talking chemically processing and modifying existing fibers, synthesizing new structures, studying fibers from less commonly eaten plants, or perhaps exploring fiber blends? You mention a focus on commercial application (rather than pure research) so I'm guessing it would need to be something that can be patented or otherwise protected VS studying less common plants, which presumably would lack such protection and competitors could duplicate your formulations.

You also mention fiber in the context of a food matrix, which seems to imply retaining the food's natural structure (VS simply mixing in a fiber supplement to existing food). Am I correct in inferring that or is there technology where an effective matrix can be recreated in processed foods, slowing absorption/digestion? I know simply mixing in fiber can achieve that do a degree, but you specifically referred to matrices, which caught my eye.

Our company does not synthesize in a chemical sense. No organic synthesis, brute forced acid hydrolysis or grafting, or recombinant bacteria-assisted precision fermentation.

There are a few ways to modify existing fibers without harsh chemical or GMO/recombinant biotech.

You bring a good point about patents- however, patents are not just about method themselves but physicochemical characteristics of the products. I am not a legal expert in writing patents, though we just started writing one. We do competitive intelligence landscape to ensure we don't infringe on existing, active patents.

When I say food matrices, I meant that the fibers have to be consumed without compromising consumer acceptance because texture, color and taaste are so important in this space. The reason inulin, fructo-oligosaccharide, or "soluble corn fiber" (resistant maltodextrin) are so popular is that they are flavorless, CHEAP, colorless, low viscosity and highly soluble. Most other fibers are expensive or so viscous that they drasitcally change the food structure. I have to ensure that my prototypes are easily incorporated into intended food applications such as ready-to-mix or ready-to-eat. We can't sell it as a pill or capsule because then it's no longer a food ingredient....there is a fine rope walking between supplements and food ingredients when you sell this kind of ingredient.

 

[lastresort]

FWIW, those studies are slightly more controversial than one would expect at first glance. Although the concept sounds great, the reality is that there aren't that many actual low-carb studies to pull data from. The underlying studies are typically more like "let's study reducing carbs from 50% of calories to 30% of calories," which while clinically interesting doesn't really inform on the actual results one would obtain from a low-carb diet. That's not to say I have a strong opinion on the matter, other than to note the lack of significant modern research into low-carb and keto diets.

yeah that's my complaint about keto diet studies, too. Because keto diet is only defined as high-fat-low-carb diet, people do it in all kind of ways...you can't expect same health outcomes from someone who eats steak and bacon all day versus someone who eats avocado, spinach, lean chicken.

 

[lastresort]

Is it ok to eat a couple tablespoons of psyllium husk daily? What are the 'best' fibers for gut health?

See my response IronCircuit.

What are the "worst" food products for guts microflora? I believe these are all kinds of fast food and highly processed products, but maybe there's something else I do not know about?

I don't know. If there is a singular source that can destroy our gut, that sholdn't be considered food lmao.

It all comes down to habits, but studies consistently report that high-fat and high sugar diet reduce "good" bacteria and increase "bad" bacteria (i.e. proteobacteria). But honestly it is more accurate to say that lack of fiber is a cause, not so much fat and sugar themselves.

 

[Pin&Play]

Super interesting thread, I leave my questions here if you're so kind to give me your take:

- I suspect SIBO might be the cause of my Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). What's the best way to test it? I always suffered from bloating and constipation since I was a kid, now 20 years later things are better but I still get IBS especially when traveling (bloating + headache almost every long flight), could it be related?

- I started having a 200mL of milk kefir + chia seeds and I had big improvement on bowel movements. Is there a "right" amount of probiotics? Adding variety (es. kimchi) is always better?

 

[homebrew]

Looking for Green Banana resistant starches, I see lots of organic banana flour and organic green banana flour. Are the flours the same as the powders, or do I need to specifically buy "resistant starch" green banana?

 

[lastresort]

Super interesting thread, I leave my questions here if you're so kind to give me your take:

- I suspect SIBO might be the cause of my Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). What's the best way to test it? I always suffered from bloating and constipation since I was a kid, now 20 years later things are better but I still get IBS especially when traveling (bloating + headache almost every long flight), could it be related?

- I started having a 200mL of milk kefir + chia seeds and I had big improvement on bowel movements. Is there a "right" amount of probiotics? Adding variety (es. kimchi) is always better?

I am not qualified to give any medical advice.

But bloating and constipations are general but persistent symptoms of people with compromised gut. Have you tried talking with doctors? What did they say?

IBS is tricky because one cause could be a total absence of butyric-acid producing bacteria that cannot be supplemented because anaerobic bacteria just can't be sold as probiotics. Prebiotic is kinda pointless in such case.

There is no way to quantify "right" amount of probiotics because no one knows how much of the probiotics will successfully colonize your gut, and what your baseline gut bacteria population is. However, what you are doing seems to be working since kefir has quite a diverse probiotics other than lactic acid bacteria, and chia seeds have polysaccharides that gel in water, which could help with stool. Have you tried oat brans?

If you want to try kimchi, try to find white kimchi from korean markets since it is less spicy.