Thursday, July 30, 2015

The Bifidogenic Properties of Raw Potato Starch

Moved to potatohack.com
Bifidobacteria; courtesy of MicrobeWiki

VegetablePharm Contest!

The other day, I got an email that said, "Give your friends 10% off of uBiome kits."  So, I plastered the link in the sidebar.  Then I read the fine print, and it said I would get 20% of my friends purchase.

Even finer print said that I would be contacted shortly to set up payments into a PayPal account, or to a charity of my choice.

Well, I don't want your money, so here's the contest:  Does anybody have a charity they think is worthy of this massive windfall? 

Impress me in the comments and all proceeds will go to your charity.

Tim

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Gut Problems Got You Down? Try the Patented "Oat, Blueberry, Fiber Smoothie!"


The "invention" that Dr. Heiman patented was a blend of oats, blueberries, and inulin that he foresees
A smoothie inspired by the invention, 2-3 times per day. Each smoothie consisting of:
  • 2-4 TBS uncooked oat bran (example link)
  • 1.5 cups of  fresh blueberries
  • 1-2 TBS of inulin powder or raw potato starch
Mix with a liquid of choice.
Add some (or all) of the following, if you like:
  • Honey
  • Cocoa Powder
  • Flax/Chia/Hemp Seeds
  • Green Banana
  • Colorful Veggies

Tim

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Researcher "Pulls a Wilbur."

Research finds diversifying your diet may make your gut healthier
He created NM504, a formulation of inulin, beta glucan and antioxidants, and tested it in a pilot of 30 individuals, half of whom received the formulation twice a day. The remainder received a placebo. Those who received NM504 saw a shift in the makeup of their microbiome and, consequently, health benefits that included improved glucose control, increased satiety and relief from constipation.

Well, there you have it folks!

I have to laugh just a little. This researcher is concerned that the modern diet is lacking diversity, saying that most people are "...consuming only five animal species and 12 plant species. Of those 12, rice, maize and wheat contribute 60 percent of all the calories."

Adding two simple fibers (inulin and beta glucan) showed improvements in several health markers. One of these days, researchers will find Wilbur and his like, those consuming well over 100g of various fibers daily. Of course, we've also seen that the complete opposite approach also leads to increased diversity with my little potato diet experiment.

As the above researcher mentioned, and I truly believe:

Like any ecosystem, the one that is most diverse in species is the one that is going to be the healthiest," Heiman said. "In almost every disease state that has been studied so far, the microbiome has lost diversity. There are just a few species that seem to dominate.

I'm starting to believe that maybe this loss of diversity could be caused by the modern diet of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, added "nutrients" like iron and vitamins, enzymes, and whatever else they invent to make foods tastier.

I have not seen the full text, if anyone can find a copy, or even the title of this study I would like to see.

To the gut bugs!
Tim

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Latest RS Paper

I just stumbled across this today...seems to have been just released in full.

Role of Resistant Starch in Improving Gut Health, Adiposity, and Insulin Resistance

Have a quick look, sometimes papers like this are not available for long. I'll try to hit the highlights here.