Did you see my comment about "fartroot"? It is possible that the fermentation process will calm down with time, as it usually does with psyllium, but most have trouble tolerating it for that long.
I've continued to take probiotics, even though I'm not 100% convinced they are a net-good. I've been taking these: They seem to have the highest number of CFUs and the largest variety of strains than anything else I can find. I hope I'm not introducing invaders to my system, or screwing up my ratios. I incorporated this prebiotic, which has 1 gram of Bimuno GOS: I've been drinking chicory coffee (adding it to my regular brew) to get some inulin/FOS, and ordered some NOW inulin powder that I believe @Joy Martin commented on. I'm not concerned about the prebiotics I take, since they'll merely feed what I'm already producing, But even those have interesting dosage recommendations. The daily dose of the GOS is 1 gram (with high-end recommendations of up to 3g/day), while the NOW inulin says to start off with 2.8g and work up to 8.4g per day. I guess we'll see how it goes. I can't imagine that too much fiber will do anything other than temporarily upset my gut (since I don't have contra-indicated intestinal issues.) Chicory has roughly 12g of inulin per ounce, so I guess 8g-9g is not all that much. And I've been drinking quite a bit of chicory with no ill effects.
Since supplements are supposed to supplement (not supplant) diet, and this thread was started by @Kate Ellery sharing some of her fermented food recipes, here's a list of foods that are a good source of prebiotics: Dandelion greens Asparagus Onions Garlic Apples Watermelon Peas Chickpeas Cashews Oats Barley Wheat bran I was reading an article stating that many resistant starches are good for gut health as well, since they, too, pass through our small intestines undigested (which is what makes them "resistant"), promoting good bacteria and suppressing the bad type in the gut. Foods containing resistant starch include: Peas Lentils White beans Bulgar wheat Cooked and cooled oats Cooked and cooled potatoes Cooked and cooled white or brown rice Pearl barley Uncooked oats (such as in overnight oats) Green bananas Potato starch
I just commented in the Online Purchases thread about a new prebiotic I ordered. This one contains XOS, which apparently has been around for 40 years and is made of plant fiber (one site specifically said corn cobs, which has some people excited about making use of agricultural waste.) I've not encountered XOS before in my reading. A daily dose is 60¢ vs the 90¢ I paid for the GOS-only gummies. Commenters complained about a chalky taste and tooth-breaking hardness of the tablets. I'll comment here on what my experience is.
Not always 'good', and unexpectedly sometimes, maybe often?, a source of not so good effects ? See results/testimony below. A healthy diet, who can find , even if they grow their own these days ? ============================================ One journey >> "User, July 20, 2008 One of my relatives was chronically ill with cough and phlegm expectoration. After several doctors failed to diagnose the problem correctly, we finally landed at the doorstep of a pulmonologist. First the doctor treated him with severe antibiotics. No change. Then he went onto antibacterials.No improvement. Then he went on to anti-fungals and finally with anti-tuberculosis medication. My relative lost 25 pounds as an in-patient and became skeletal. Fearing for his life, we took him out of the hospital. I searched online for a solution till I stumbled upon this book. ... ..."
The mystery ? What was once hidden ? What often remains hidden ? Allergies. "this works...I'm a believer now Review By <online used books > User, July 20, 2008 One of my relatives was chronically ill with cough and phlegm expectoration. After several doctors failed to diagnose the problem correctly, we finally landed at the doorstep of a pulmonologist. First the doctor treated him with severe antibiotics. No change. Then he went onto antibacterials.No improvement. Then he went on to anti-fungals and finally with anti-tuberculosis medication. My relative lost 25 pounds as an in-patient and became skeletal. Fearing for his life, we took him out of the hospital. I searched online for a solution till I stumbled upon this book. Since we went through antibiotics, antibacterials, antifungals,etc. I was sure it has to be an allergen causing the problem. But I wasn't sure if it was airborne or food related allergy. I borrowed the book from a library and asked my relative to start a strict audit on his food while checking the pulse. The pulse was much higher than normal. "The audit continued for a couple of days. After that, my relative and caretaker lost discipline. Then following months of agony, one day my relative gave up some multi-vitamin tablets (protein + vitamins) that he has been taking as a diet suppliment for many years. "All of a sudden his pulse rate dropped from a 110 to 80. He was able to get up and do some mild exercises. The change was remarkable. "He has kept away from the vitamins and all is fine. I strongly recommend the Pulse Test to everyone who has sufferend the vagaries of the medical profession and wants to try something different." footnote: so far, over decades watching eagerly, I've observed that in every case where a person eliminated what they were allergic to, they improved, very often after doctors could not help or had not helped at all for decades.... "gut health" seems to be intrinsically interwoven and associated with allergies on a daily basis, perhaps for all of a person's lifetime, known or unknown.
These arrived today. They are a little hard but certainly not rock-hard. Other than chewable aspirin, there's nothing to compare them to...and they are way harder than a chewable aspirin. I am surprised at how crunchy they are for a chewable tablet, though. I can see how they might cross the threshold into posing a threat to one's teeth should they dry out beyond where they already are. While tolerable, I've not experienced anything like it. They are also dry and chalky, as some reviewers observed. Again, it's tolerable, but certainly "unique."
The more I read about inulin, the more interesting it gets. There are opinions that inulin is not all that good of a prebiotic unless is is first broken down by fermentation. That process changes it from a polysaccharide to an oligosaccharide. The prebiotics I've seen (and that I take) are oligosaccharides. Here's the difference as I understand it: -An oligosaccharide (OS) is a short-chain (fewer molecules) carbohydrate -A polysaccharide (PS) is a long-chain (more molecules) carbohydrate OS and PS are both indigestible soluble fibers that make it through your digestive track and into your intestines intact. Being short-chain, an OS immediately starts to break down (ferment) so as to be available as food for your gut bacteria. Because the PS is long chain, the current thought is that it does not start to break down until it's pretty much out of your system. This is why inulin (a PS, before it's fermented) is now thought to be of minimal prebiotic benefit. Oligosaccharides come from a variety of sources: -Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) occur naturally in plants -Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are the principal type of prebiotics found in human milk, legumes, beans -Xylooligosaccharides (XOS, or PrectX) are found in bamboo shoots, fruits, vegetables, milk, and honey Those 3 seem to be the mainstream supplement prebiotics for now and are the ones I supplement, although other prebiotics are emerging. The field of prebiotics and probiotics continues to evolve, as interest in gut ecology as a causal issue for a variety of maladies and conditions grows. So back to inulin: when inulin (PS) is fermented and is broken down into a shorter molecular chain (OS), it becomes a fructooligosaccharide (FOS.) You can buy it in supplement form as Inulin FOS, making it one of several types of FOS supplements available. I guess what started me on this diatribe is I started drinking chicory in part for its inulin benefit. Now I'm thinking that the inulin might have general value as an indigestible soluble fiber, but it seems it's not all that great as a prebiotic in its natural, unfermented state.
This book about gut health is free on Amazon today ! I just ordered it. You might be interested in this , @Richard Whiting , if you have an amazon account. Always check price before buying because these books are only free for one day, sometimes have gone back to full price by the time you look. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTRHN8HZ
Want to live to a hundred? A healthy gut biome helps. “"Our intestines contain billions of viruses living off and inside bacteria, and they could not care less about human cells; instead, they infect the bacterial cells. And seeing as there are hundreds of different types of bacteria in our intestines, there are also lots of bacterial viruses," says Associate Professor Simon Rasmussen, last author of the new study. Joachim Johansen adds that aside from the important, new, protective bacterial viruses, the researchers also found that the intestinal flora of the Japanese centenarians is extremely interesting. "We found great biological diversity in both bacteria and bacterial viruses in the centenarians. High microbial diversity is usually associated with a healthy gut microbiome. And we expect people with a healthy gut microbiome to be better protected against aging related diseases," says Joachim Johansen.” https://phys.org/news/2023-05-people-intestinal-bacteria.html