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

[anotherusername]

I take inulin and psyllium husk every evening and experientially it’s helpful, but is it actually? Is there a different form of fiber supplement that would be a more appropriate substitute?

Also I hear a lot about “leaky gut syndrome” and a link to autoimmune disease. Is increased permeability of the intestines a real concern? Something common? Is there a way to prevent and/or reverse it?

I understand this may be too far into rheumatology, but is there likely a link with this permeability and autoimmune illnesses?

 

[islandtime50]

This is a very interesting thread! Thank you lastresort. I am trying to relearn how my body works. My colon cancer was in the transverse portion though most of the transverse and all of what comes before it was removed. I understand I came quite close to learning to live with a colostomy bag.

 

[lastresort]

So I went to the store and bought the greenest bananas I could find.

Am I doing it right?

I have recently had a couple of rounds of antibiotics and am trying to help restore Biome.

I also have been eating yogurt, kimchee, and sauerkraut.

Any other suggestions?

Ehh...sorta. Its very unpleasant to eat raw banana. Cooking it makes it rather defeats the purpose. Trust me, just buy the green banana flour from amazon.

Try this:

I would recommend kefir since it has a lot more diverse lactic acid bacteria and yeast.

 

[lastresort]

I have a sensitive stomach and constipation and other issues have been a constant most of my life. The best fiber that I have found is Sunfiber. It helps with constipation and some other issues. I buy the Tomorrow's Nutrition with the blue label. The green one has other pre and probiotics that I prefer to take separately.

Galactomannan is good.

 

[lastresort]

I take inulin and psyllium husk every evening and experientially it’s helpful, but is it actually? Is there a different form of fiber supplement that would be a more appropriate substitute?

Also I hear a lot about “leaky gut syndrome” and a link to autoimmune disease. Is increased permeability of the intestines a real concern? Something common? Is there a way to prevent and/or reverse it?

I understand this may be too far into rheumatology, but is there likely a link with this permeability and autoimmune illnesses?

Think of icky poo water comprising opportunistic bacteria, ammonia, uremic toxins, pro-inflammatory biowastes (i.e. branched fatty acid) going to your circulatory system. Yes, there are increasing evidences.

Your choice of fiber depends on your goals. General health? or targeting specific issue?

 

[lastresort]

This is a very interesting thread! Thank you lastresort. I am trying to relearn how my body works. My colon cancer was in the transverse portion though most of the transverse and all of what comes before it was removed. I understand I came quite close to learning to live with a colostomy bag.

Glad you caught it before it became worse!

 

[lessthanhalf]

I take inulin and psyllium husk every evening and experientially it’s helpful, but is it actually? Is there a different form of fiber supplement that would be a more appropriate substitute?

Also I hear a lot about “leaky gut syndrome” and a link to autoimmune disease. Is increased permeability of the intestines a real concern? Something common? Is there a way to prevent and/or reverse it?

I understand this may be too far into rheumatology, but is there likely a link with this permeability and autoimmune illnesses?

Leaky gut syndrome is a real thing, but much more so in a research context than as a reliable useful clinical diagnosis, with effective treatments. Doctors are generally not going to diagnose it often, as there really are no consistent reliable tests for it or treatments for it that have been proven to work.

It is a lot more likely in the context of chronic gut problems like inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome, especially the diarrhoea type. So if your gut functions well and does not hurt it is less likely. The are hundreds of studies of various pro, pre and post biotics that can help, but all the studies are in general small and not close to gold standard evidence, same goes for fiber supplements. What is generally regarded as a healthy diet, or a healthy diet for the gut is likely to help, so mediterranean diet, mostly plants and not too much food overall, enough but not extremes of fiber, some fibers or resistant starches might be better than others but none are really well proven , and depending on the individual some can cause adverse effects like pain bloating or diarrhoea, especially in the context of ibs.

Almost certainly a bunch of weird gut bug , endotoxin and food chemicals leaking into your bloodstream are going to increase inflammation, and there is evidence it can contribute to auto immune disorders, what is much less proven is can it be easily diagnosed or treated in a reliable consistent way.

Before I lost weight at 145 kg, I had ulcerative colitis supposedly in remission on treatment, but with chronic daily diarrhoea, and chronic daily gut pain for over a decade. Not sure what crp was then but ESR was 44 which is fairly high in the absence of a definite cause. I have zero doubt I had leaky gut then, and that may well have contributed to developing coronary artery disease and early heart failure as well as made me feel pretty crappy in general. But that is a fairly extreme example, it would be much harder to say for sure if someone really has it going on in less extreme circumstances. With massive weight loss and a much better diet inflammatory markers and gut symptoms are much better, so I assume it is gone now.

In general a healthy diet and adequate fiber is all you can really do, maybe probiotics?

 

[HereKittyKitty]

This is a very interesting thread! Thank you lastresort. I am trying to relearn how my body works. My colon cancer was in the transverse portion though most of the transverse and all of what comes before it was removed. I understand I came quite close to learning to live with a colostomy bag.

Hope you're ok now.

 

[bamagirl26]

Okay, I came here as a last resort. I am at the end of my tether. There is a person in my vicinity, and there is a gargantuan crisis. This person suffers from overpowering flatulence. No, I mean it is a global threat. The hydrogen sulfide emitted can cause acid rain in Virginia.

When I was in Toronto for six years, the weather was warmer than ever. Nobody could explain why, but I knew. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Now, none of that weak sauce stuff like carrot fibers. This person's favorite vegetable is carrots, and they can consume an entire field of carrots as if 10,000 Spartan rabbits were unleashed upon it.

So, I need you to your game and come up with the ultimate nullifier. I wanna go John Wick on the ass. I'm talking Fatality, Brutality, and Flawless Victory all rolled into one. This is my last resort. No quarter given, no surrender, just total annihilation.

What fibers hold the secret to this catastrophe-extinguisher?

wow!! I didnt know we knew each other!!

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[islandtime50]

Hope you're ok now.

Thank you and lastresort both. All signs are positive! I'm not quite my usual self but I'm working on finding the new norm.

This site and it's member are very helpful; I wouldn't have even thought of using a glp-1 or other peptides to recover more quickly/maintain. And I don't think I would have learned about green banana flour!

 

[lastresort]

it seems a little difficult to find Green Banana Powder/Flour nearby. I ordered some from Amazon, but who knows quality. Would it be as effective if I just buy the greenest bananas I can find, slice them, and freeze them for smoothies?

Raw bananas are hard to mush but feel free to try.

Disclaimer: i am not responsible for any damages suffered by a blender

 

[lastresort]

@lastresort This is a great thread! I eat a ketogenic diet and the fiber I eat is mostly cruciferous vegetables and non-sweet fruits like avocado, tomato, olives. Would these provide adequate and appropriate fiber? Also, I'm researching how peri/menopause effects the gut. Any info or tips for my research?

There are some research going on women's health and guts, but that isn't one thing that my company has worked on (despite my recommendation...)

I'd add an apple!

 

[lastresort]

@lastresort Are we allowed to ask for recipes?? I make my own keto bread, too, but could always improve it!

As long as yall aren't gluten intolerant, why not?

I am still developing it but I start with this.They sell what we call, resistant starch type 4, or phosphate-modified wheat starch. 98% indigestible fiber that works pretty well for cookies and cakes, but you have to play around adding extra gluten to make it work like actual bread.

 

[anhydrous]

Ehh...sorta. Its very unpleasant to eat raw banana. Cooking it makes it rather defeats the purpose. Trust me, just buy the green banana flour from amazon.

Try this :

I would recommend kefir since it has a lot more diverse lactic acid bacteria and yeast.

How much of this stuff do you reckon that we should consume to confer a benefit? I assume you'd expect people to blend it up into a protein shake or some other method to use it without heating it.

 

[desinr-gal]

1. The oxidase doesnt "destroy" polyphenols. It oxidized and polymerises them into larger molecules called melanoidine which in itself can have antioxidant properties.

2. Green bananas are heat treated so the enzyme is unlikely to be significantly active if at all.

3. Even if it is active, your stomach acid is more likely to damage polyphenols than the oxidase, which will denature and will lose activity even more.

so how do we absorb polyphenols?

 

[ghreid]

I have been using psyllium powder in my protein shakes for the past year. Have also switched to allulose as a sweetner in my coffee but recent started adding inulin with with FOS fiber to the allulose in a 2:1 ratio. Am I doing any benefit or just wasting my money and just increase the the pysllium doses. Had tried the potato starch but didn't like it at all.

 

[lastresort]

How much of this stuff do you reckon that we should consume to confer a benefit? I assume you'd expect people to blend it up into a protein shake or some other method to use it without heating it.

1 tbsp or 8g would be good in fruit smoothie.

 

[lastresort]

so how do we absorb polyphenols?

Either by small intestinal absorption, which then goes through liver to form phase 2 metabolites, or going to the large intestine/colon to be transformed by the gut bacteria to yield different polyphenols, subsequently absorbed through the villi.

 

[lastresort]

I have been using psyllium powder in my protein shakes for the past year. Have also switched to allulose as a sweetner in my coffee but recent started adding inulin with with FOS fiber to the allulose in a 2:1 ratio. Am I doing any benefit or just wasting my money and just increase the the pysllium doses. Had tried the potato starch but didn't like it at all.

what are you exactly trying to achieve? Alluloe is not considered fiber.

 

[lastresort]

I’ve always had a question: my friend eats more than me, but why do I gain weight more easily than her? What role do gut microbiota or genetics play in this?

I’d love to hear your professional take as a gut health expert!

Either your basal metabolic rate is lower, or she is more active than you realize. have you tested for thyroid?

Gut health is important but it's still an emerging field and difficult to pinpoint which deficiency in specific bacteria causes which metabolic disorder.