Unlocking the ‘gut microbiome’ – and its massive significance to our health

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Northerner

Northerner

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If you want to learn more about what’s going on in your gut, the first step is to turn your poo blue. How long it takes for a muffin dyed with blue food colouring to pass through your system is a measure of your gut health: the median is 28.7 hours; longer transit times suggest your gut isn’t as healthy as it could be. We are only now beginning to understand the importance of the gut microbiome: could this be the start of a golden age for gut-health science?

“The gut microbiome is the most important scientific discovery for human healthcare in recent decades,” says James Kinross, a microbiome scientist and surgeon at Imperial College London. “We discovered it – or rediscovered it – in the age of genetic sequencing less than 15 years ago. The only organ which is bigger is the liver.” And, for all that the internet may be full of probiotic or wellness companies making big health claims about gut health, “We don’t really know how it works,” he says. At the risk of sounding like the late Donald Rumsfeld, there’s what we know, what we think we know, and an awful lot that we don’t yet have a clue about.

www.theguardian.com

Unlocking the ‘gut microbiome’ – and its massive significance to our health

Scientists are only just discovering the enormous impact of our gut health. Rebecca Seal reveals how it could hold the key to everything from tackling obesity to overcoming anxiety and boosting immunity
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Who's up for the 'blue poo' experiment then? 😱 🙂

For anyone who has missed me banging on about it, I'd highly recommend reading 'Gut' by Giulia Enders' - fabulous book! 🙂
 
I would be surprised if my gut takes as long as 28.7 hours. If I eat a lot of nuts then my stools will show signs of it the next morning (lighter coloured) If I eat back pudding I see darker stools the next day. Same with beetroot tinged with crimson. I am probably up for an experiment although I would prefer a healthier food item to test my system.
In fact thinking about it, I don't want to upset my gut biome by eating the 2 blue muffins it specifies in the test and I dread to think how much insulin I would need to cover 2 muffins at breakfast time when I am most insulin resistant. And I only go to the loo once a day at a regular time so either the blue dye will come out the following morning or the next day.... I don't find that particularly scientific..... unless the blue dye includes some sort of trigger to move your bowels when it arrives there..... I am starting to think this is all just a bit of a marketing ploy and it upsets me to think that they are encouraging people to make a whole batch of muffins and eat 2 at one go.... which is excessive! I am really talking myself out of such a ridiculous experiment and feel like I want to challenge the guys suggesting this!
Why can't they make it Kefir dyed blue or cabbage?

I definitely feel like my whole gut health is massively improved since I radically changed my diet, cut carbs and actively ingest more fibre and I think this is responsible for my reducing cholesterol levels even though I eat a high proportion of saturated fats. My bowels are more regular and the consistency of my stools is pretty... consistent..... large well formed floaters these days (TMI I know 😱) and it makes a big difference to how you feel when your digestive tract is working as it should.

I too feel that the microbiome is hugely important not just in our gut but in the environment and the soil in particular. Bacteria are so important and I think, rather like fat, they have had bad publicity for too long and we have been hell bent on killing them with pesticides on the soil and bleach in our kitchens and poor food choices in our gut.... Just my thoughts and "gut" instinct!

I think I might have to get that book Alan.
 
I've never eaten the American sort of muffin, I'm assuming that it is the American sort. They seem very damp and stodgy just from casual observation, and they dry out and go hard as bricks.
I know that transit time is under 24 hours as I eat my main meal at around 7 or 8 in the evening and tend to go to the toilet before I start preparation of the meal. When I eat berries the seeds and the colour indicate their emergence.
 
Northerner said:
Who's up for the 'blue poo' experiment then? 😱 🙂

For anyone who has missed me banging on about it, I'd highly recommend reading 'Gut' by Giulia Enders' - fabulous book! 🙂
Click to expand...
Blue poo? Yes plz, anything to eat a muffin!

It isn’t a fab book, it’s a bloomin brilliant one. She’s hilarious.
 
I'm not sure how they define 'pass through the system' If it means, until it sees the light of day again, then that must be dependent on what access you have to facilities. I know if I’m travelling and don’t have access to a loo for hours, or I get dehydrated on the journey, my guts will happily wait a day to eject what I'd happily produce after breakfast on a normal day at home. If it means, transit until it gets to the point where it would like to be expelled, that would make more sense, but you can’t observe the blue dye until it appears. I’m another one wondering why they had to go for blue muffins, I’d have thought sweetcorn would work just as well, or some sorts of seeds.
 
Can't say I have tried the muffin experiment or read the book, but to add weight to the tome of existing evidence, the importance of the gut-brain axis has recently (again) been demonstrated in a peer-reviewed medical study around stroke.

The researchers proved how reduced red meat and eggs can both increase the prevention and reduce the impact of stroke: Gut microbiome impacts stroke severity and post-stroke functional impairment
 
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