Thursday, February 20, 2014
Paleo Gut Flora Repair
I was shocked to learn
that there were some paleo (meat and veggie) eaters who were getting cured with
resistant starch. I didn’t know that some were sick and, as I said in a previous
post, I would not have guessed that starch was good for anything, but spikes
in blood sugar. I was rudely awakened by the shouts of Richard Nikoley on Free the
Animal, though I suspect the sanity behind the argument came from Tim and
Dr. BG (She is always right.) He presented a kind of Second Coming of Paleo
with resistant starch to feed the gut flora as soluble fiber. How could I
question food for flora? (How could I question Nikoley without my karate
gi?)
Paleo is not Paleo
It took me a while to realize that paleo is not the
same for everyone. I thought my Anti-Inflammatory
Diet (meat/fish/eggs/dairy and veggies, without vegetable oils or sugars or
grains) was paleo. The way that I used this AID, it was high in saturated fat,
low in polyunsaturated fat, high in protein, low in high glycemic carbs and
ample in soluble fiber. Some would say it is low carb. Judging from comments
on Free the Animal, I think I would be cast out by some of the more carnivorous
(LC and VLC) in the paleo community for including soluble fiber. Some people
don’t want to feed their flora. It is a kind of “Let them eat meat,”
mentality.
Gut Flora are Friends
I think of my gut flora as fellow travelers on my
life journey and what’s good for them is good for me. I don’t intentionally
abuse them, but I also forget that they might not enjoy bourbon or the phytoalexins
in herbs and spices. I don’t begrudge them the soluble fiber that they need,
and I think that they are a little happier with each apple (pectin) I feed
them. I simply forget that most people haven’t taught micro, DNA sequencing and
the biochemistry of plant cell wall polysaccharides. My wife starts to roll her
eyes at any sentence containing “flora”, “antioxidant”, “inflam-“, “omega-“,
“carb”, “paleo”, or even “microbiome.” And the list gets longer. I think that
I'm out of touch, until I read Nikoley.
Paleo Diet without Soluble Fiber is Hard on Gut
Flora
People get sick on paleo, because they don't feed
their flora. Gut flora are needed to supply vitamins, short chain fatty acids
and immune system stimulants. If you don’t feed your flora you get vitamin
deficiencies, gut inflammation and autoimmune diseases (Treg deficiency). It is
very important to remember that feeding your flora means matching the soluble
fiber with the existing flora. Most people make the mistake of assuming that if
they change their diet, then their flora will also change. Their flora will
adapt with each of their hundred different species of gut bacteria increasing or
decreasing in numbers, but no new genes will be present to digest new soluble
fiber. Eating a meat diet will eventually eliminate gut bacteria needed to
digest some plant materials and produce intolerances. The missing bacteria will
not be regained upon return to eating plants again.
Changing Diet Does Not Repair Gut
Flora
Many people lose species of gut flora as they change
from diet to diet, eat processed foods lacking soluble fiber or use
antibiotics. The loss may be permanent, but need not be. Food intolerance and
most “allergies” merely reflect missing species of bacteria, and introducing new
bacteria fix the problem. Lactose intolerance, for example, can be cured by
eating live yogurt. Similarly, many immunological problems, such as autoimmune
diseases, result from species of gut bacteria that are needed for the
development of the immune system, which takes place in the lining of the gut in
response to gut bacteria. New bacteria need to be introduced to fix the
deficiency and diet alone is not enough. Just to be clear; meat-exclusive
paleo can lead to autoimmune diseases, because of deficiencies in gut flora
diversity/species and adding back soluble fiber can only cure the diseases, if
the bacteria needed to digest the fiber polysaccharides are still present or are
reintroduced. Also note that there is soluble fiber polysaccharide sufficient
in a carnivorous diet to support properly adapted gut flora.
Dairy Probiotics Do Not Repair Gut Flora
Destroyed by Antibiotics
Don’t expect dairy probiotics to cure diseases
caused by deficient gut flora. Bacteria that grow on dairy cannot survive in
the gut. I know that physicians, including Dr. Oz, recommend that patients
treated with antibiotics eat yogurt to repair their gut flora. It ain’t gonna
happen. That treatment is just for the doctor’s benefit (and provide some
temporary functionality), to make her feel like she is addressing the problem
responsibly. I suggest that the antibiotic-damaged gut flora will screw up the
immune system and bring the patient back to the doctor’s office even sicker.
Antibiotics are very good for business.
Health in a Crock
So, here comes the part that was missing from
Nikolay’s Paleo plus RS. He left out the missing gut flora. RS is a
panacea for those with some gut bacteria that can digest RS, but for those with
profoundly crippled gut flora, e.g. some of those with autoimmune symptoms, RS
is just inert fiber, not flora food.
New bacteria must be
eaten, and I think that the cure, short of the real deal fecal transplant, is
still available in the original, paleo form of naturally fermented, live foods.
The answer (and please forgive the fervor, because I think health can be this
simple) is Fermented
Vegetables, by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey. Their book, right, is
coming out in September, and I think that the most important part of this cure
is that it looks and tastes fantastic. This is not canned, dead sauerkraut.
These are culinary delights from simple recipes in
which the natural bacteria do all the work. Since they are long time friends of
mine, I have coerced Kirsten into giving me some advance access to some of her
recipes. She has also tentatively agreed to share on my blog some of her
personal fermentations on happy bellies. So check back for future
posts.
Pay close attention, because some of these recipes
may cure what ails you. They have the potential to repair your gut and are the
healthful fix for a sickening faux “paleo” diet. Note that homemade, live
fermented veggies contain 1) fermenting bacteria responsible for acidifying the
brined veggies for storage, 2) additional bacteria of the species missing from
your gut flora and are just along for the ride, and 3) veggies that have their
soluble fiber intact and ready to feed your gut flora. Cooking, pasteurizing or
otherwise harming the live, working bacteria in fermented vegetables destroys
their benefit in contributing to your gut flora. It only takes a few of the
bacteria that do survive passage through your acid stomach to fix your gut
flora.
Major Points of a Healthy Paleo
Diet
- Meat/fish/eggs and veggies, without dairy, grains, vegetable oils and processed foods.
- Nikoley and others pointed out that a healthy paleo diet has soluble fiber, e.g. RS, to feed gut flora.
- Resistant starch is a unique category of soluble fiber with health benefits. (Other types of soluble fiber may also be needed.)
- Diet alone is not enough for health, add gut flora.
- Diet and gut flora need to match.
- The natural paleo source of gut flora bacteria is homemade fermented vegetables
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