Tag: post-biotic

Another Biome Breakthrough!

Check out this amazing research from the University of Florida and Trinity College Dublin:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250821004244.htm

Queuosine is a rare micronutrient crucial for brain health, memory, stress response, and cancer defense. It is “a vitamin-like micronutrient that we can’t make ourselves but can only get from food and our gut bacteria.”

“For over 30 years, scientists have suspected that there had to be a transporter for this nutrient, but no one could find it,” said Valérie de Crécy-Lagard, a UF/IFAS microbiology and cell science distinguished professor and department associate chair, as well as one of the study’s principal investigators. “We’ve been hunting for it for a long time. This discovery opens up a whole new chapter in understanding how the microbiome and our diet can influence the translation of our genes.”

Very iteresting! We are starting to map the microbiota.

We Can Pickle That!

After a couple rounds in the dishwasher, this jar still smells like pickles!

Just wanted to share. Bubbie’s is a brand of fermented foods, and we have tried a couple of their products. They taste great and are fermented so you get a little probiotic boost.

I was thinking the other day that, if every deli and hamburger joint in America started using Bubbie’s pickles, what an improvement we would have in our overall gut health.

https://www.bubbies.com/

30 for 30

I used to struggle to get 30 different types of plant foods in my diet each week. As I’ve been doing this for a while now — and enjoying the benefits of a much healthier tummy — I thought I’d share a few secrets.

Coffee Klatch ☕️

Every morning, I begin with coffee and add to it about 1 tablespoon of chaga, which is a mushroom product.

Two down, 28 to go!

Tea for Two 🫖

Teas count! I usually have a cup of herbal tea after my morning coffee. My favorite is ginger turmeric, but of course, I mix it up… each day is different. 

I’m going to estimate that you’ll get at least 3 plant foods and their wonderful micronutrients in one cup of tea.

Add a lemon, lime, or orange slice? You’ve got 4.

What’s the tally now? Six plant foods! 24 to go!

Nuts to You 🌰🥜🐿

We like to keep a couple of jars of nuts in the den… easy access to healthy snacks when movie time rolls around. We keep a big one just for cashews, a small one for pistachios, and a medium-sized one for mixed nuts from Aldi, which includes peanuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts.

Ok, so a handful here and there throughout the week equals 6 of your 30 plant-based foods. And just having them around will help curb your desire for the unhealthy stuff.

Ok, add 6 to the tally. 18 to go!

Shoot Some Salad, Salad Shooter 🥗🔫

I’m making a big salad for tonight, and marinating some chicken for Jimmy to grill.

Here’s the salad ingredients in tonight’s mix: romaine lettuce, baby spinach, baby chard, baby kale, broccoli sprouts, tomatoes, cucumber slices, celery, sweet pepper slices, avocado, olives, and green onion. 

There’s enough for 4 of us to eat, and I’m pretty sure there will be leftovers for tomorrow. I’m not too proud to eat yesterday’s dressed salad. It takes on a giardiniera vibe.

Ok, that’s 12 more plant foods to add to the tally.

If you count the red wine vinegar I use in the dressing, it makes 13! I’m not going to count the dried herbs, though…

18 – 13 = 5 more to go!

Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy 🍉🍒🫐🍓🍍

It’s summer, and there’s a ton of ripe fruit available, so take advantage while you can.

This morning, we finished a pineapple at breakfast.

My lunch was apple chunks with peanut butter drizzle.

On the dinner table, I set out blueberries, watermelon, and cherries. So there’s 5 more plant foods for today!

5 – 5 = 0! I got 30 in one day! Now, any new veggie to cross my path is just a bonus!

Easy, healthy, and delicious!

Checkup

I had a checkup the other day and saw these on my doctor’s wall. How many times have you seen something like this?

There’s so much good info here. But prior to my diagnosis, I would have taken a little glance and not thought about it again. Now I’m pouring over them, matching this up with my own new patterns and habits.

Eat for Good Energy

These are the notes I took while reading Good Energy and watching Dr. Casey Means discuss her new plan for optimally healthy meals.

She (and many other doctors and nutritionists) wants us to ditch the food pyramid, which pushed carbs as the staple food, and move to something like this 5-slice pie above.

If we could design each meal to include one element from each section, we would be healthier in terms of our mitochondrial function.

I put it on the fridge so I see it every day, at every meal.

Fiber & Post-Biotics

Ok, we all know fiber is supposed to be good for us, but what is it really, and what does it do that’s so beneficial?

What It Is

First off, fiber is a material from plants that WE can’t fully digest, but our microbiome buddies CAN. They love it. It feeds them and makes them feel good, which in turn makes US feel good.

Fiber is actually a form of carbohydrate, but it doesn’t convert to glucose in our bloodstream like other carbs.

Our microbiome buddies actually ferment the fiber to break it down. Then they send out beneficial by-products (called post-biotic short chain fatty acids) into our bloodstream, which do great stuff such as:

● Reduce inflammation

● Regulate metabolism

● Regulate mitochondria

● Improve insulin & glucose levels

● Regulate hunger & appetite

● Protect and repair the lining of the gut, which allows the gut to better protect itself from toxins.

Where to Get It

Ok, I want it! I’m convinced! How do I get it?

I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Casey Means, through watching her interviews on YouTube, reading her book Good Energy, and taking her online class called “Eating For Good Energy and Healthy Metabolism.”

She recommends doubling the paltry USDA guideline of 25 to 30 grams per day. To be healthy, shoot for 50 to 60 grams of fiber daily.

Here are the sources she recommends:

  • Chia seeds
  • Basil seeds
  • Flax seeds
  • Beans, lupini in particular
  • Nuts, tiger nuts and pistachios in particular
  • Artichokes
  • Avocados
  • Raspberries

Here are a few others:

  • Organic oats (please don’t eat the non-organic oats as they are drenched in glyphosate)
  • Broccoli
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Kale and other leafy dark greens

To Sum it Up

So, when you eat fermented foods (probiotics) you are actually bringing in new, good bacteria. New microbiome buddies.

When you eat fiber, you are feeding your microbiome buddies, and they ferment that fiber inside you to create post-biotics.

Interesting Fact

Dr. Means also points out that our microbiome creates our neurotransmitters. Did you know that schizophrenia and depression can be diagnosed by analyzing a person’s microbiome? Huh!