PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe #73 A Healthy Gut means a Slim Body and a Happy Mind

How cute- HAPPY gut flora- happy gut buddies!!

Did you know that, if you get and maintain a healthy GUT, you will get and maintain a healthy weight, that is a healthy body composition of low fat to more muscle?  This is the fascinating stuff that is emerging from new research, and the studying of past research from the 1950’s…

It seems that of the many beneficial strains of intestinal bacteria, or “gut bugs” that live within each and every one of us, there are some bacteria “gut buddies” that help us to maintain a healthy weight of less fat!  When these bacteria are killed off, via antibiotics, we are unable to regulate this healthy ratio of fat to lean tissue- thus, WE GET FAT!

The other way we inadvertently kill these beneficial “fat regulator gut buddies” is by eating a processed food diet, with none of the resistant starches to
feed them- if we eat a corn/soy/corn syrup diet, we feed exactly the wrong, bad microbes that we do NOT want in our guts- the ones that make us fat, and SICK.  You know, the diabesity foods that lead us down the now all-too-typical path of fat gain, disinclination to movement and exercise, depression, more fat gain, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and ultimately heart disease and/or cancer…

Back in the early 1950’s, there were experiments sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that determined that the new antibiotic drugs were effective for weight gain- first it was tried on chickens, and then cattle…  this is the reason antibiotics were originally introduced in cattle feed!    It was not to prevent disease- back then most cattle did not get sick, since they were raised on grass, in typical farms of open air grazing and humane treatment, which kept them healthy.  But, too skinny and lean from the farmer’s point of view- after all, the fatter he could get those cattle, the more money they brought at the sale barn.  So, the new antibiotic feed was in great demand- it made the cattle FAT!

They really didn’t know how the drug made the animals fat- they were just glad it did… it was later that they realized that, since the antibiotics also had the effect of preventing disease under unsanitary conditions, that the CAFO model of animal farming reared its ugly head-

NOW ANIMALS COULD BE CLOSELY CONFINED, FATTENED QUICKLY AND CHEAPLY VIA GRAIN FEEDING, AND THEY COULD BE KEPT ALIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SLAUGHTER!

All thanks to these miracle drugs put in their feed…

Then, there were also experiments done on humans- and the results were the same!  Humans also got much bigger and fatter!!  (Remember: this was in the 1950’s, when bigger was better!  They all wanted to be BIG!)  Nowadays, when almost everybody is big and fat, right down to the kids, we all want the opposite, and rightfully so.

And now, we know just why  the drugs work for fattening animals (and humans), or at least are starting to figure it out- certain strains of gut bacteria are being killed, and other bad strains are being cultured, the first by the drugs, and the second by a bad, grain and sugar based diet.

A tip of the hat to Angel Coppola at www.latestinpaleo.com for going into depth on all of this on his latest podcast, Latest in Paleo, which I highly recommend.  Check it out for more in depth on this topic…

But as a takeaway, remember this- a healthy gut biome means a healthy you!

And so, consume fermented foods, like sauerkraut, naturally fermented pickles, and kimchee… put potato starch in you daily green paleo smoothie- that is key-it feeds your healthy gut bugs better than anything- eat some resistant starch like Uncle Ben’s parboiled (converted) rice- cook it, and then freeze and reheat for a more effective prebiotic, meaning it feeds the beneficial gut microbes so they can multiply, and thereby stop YOU from multiplying your fat cells!

I have an interesting side note to offer on this topic, my own N=1 experiment on myself:  since adding in potato starch to my smoothie, with no other changes in my otherwise quite healthy lifestyle, my waist has dropped a full inch… and I thought I didn’t really have any fat to lose!  Rather startling, really- and just by feeding my gut buddies well for about a month or so.  I believe it was visceral fat;  the kind that is deep within and around the organs- not really visible, but the most damaging kind… and so, good riddance visceral fat!

The one other thing I’d like to say, is this: that by feeding and healing your gut fauna, by including ample prebiotic food for them in the form of potato starch and other resistant starches like the reheated parboiled rice and green bananas, you are allowing these beneficial little microbes to regulate your weight properly; but you are also letting them influence your mind  as well!  You will find that you are much calmer, much more “in the moment” in daily living, and also you will have very interesting, compelling, lucid dreams on a nightly basis…

At least I, in my experiment of one, have had these results.  Last night, my daughter came over (in my dream) with a 150 pound little elephant, and the next thing I knew we were leading it on an expedition up a huge hill…  it was really fun, and we both loved that little elephant…

YOUR DREAMS MAY NOT CONTAIN ELEPHANTS!!

But that’s OK- all dreams are fun, and I believe are manifestations that our subconscious is healthy and happy, and communicating with our conscious mind.  And they are great fun as well!  I look forward to my “other night life” quite a bit now, and it makes going to bed early and getting my ideal 8 and 1/2 hours of nightly restorative sleep all the more appealing!  The dreams are much better than network television!!

So, shed your fat, build your brain and psyche, and get down with your sleep!  Just avoid antibiotics as much as possible, feed your gut buddies, and build your health along with that of your little “friends” within.

J

P.S.  We Love You!!

Your gut buddies