How to optimize your gut and brain bacteria | Dave Asprey | Big Think

How to optimize your gut and brain bacteria
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The importance of the microbiome has really come to the fore in the last five years. Viome, a company that analyzed the feces of 100,000 people, has discovered 10,000 new types of gut bacteria.

Additionally, Improved imaging technology led scientists to discover you don't have just one microbiome, you have two. The second one is in your brain, populated by the same bacteria that live in your gut.

Simple habits can foster healthy gut and brain bacteria, which can help you live longer and age more slowly. Eat mostly vegetables, take fiber and prebiotics, and practice intermittent fasting, says Dave Asprey.
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DAVE ASPREY
Dave Asprey is a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, professional biohacker, the New York Times bestselling author of Game Changers, Head Strong and The Bulletproof Diet, the creator of Bulletproof Coffee, and the host of Bulletproof Radio, the Webby Award–winning, number one–ranked podcast. His new book is Super Human (2019).
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TRANSCRIPT:

DAVE ASPREY: One of the things that's come out, just in the last five years, is the importance of the microbiome. And the functional medicine crowd has been talking about it for 20-plus years, and we just didn't have good data. But today, there is a company that has more than 100,000 people's poop. And what they've done is they've gone through and sequenced everything. And I don't mean just high-level genetic stuff that's been available for a little while. They're using technology that was invented by a national laboratory for biowarfare detection, and this means that they're looking at viruses, fungus, bacteria, parasites, the percentage of human DNA -- how much gut shedding you have -- in a very simple test. And this company, called Viome, has actually added 10,000 new species to our database of bacteria that lives in the gut that we just didn't know about before. So it's the golden age of figuring out what's going on in the gut. And we found some shocking things.

We also have better imaging than we ever have. So people started looking inside cells when they're alive, and we can see this level of detail that you couldn't get from an electron microscope. And they found something that completely defies all understanding. Inside the brains of perfectly healthy people, there are bacteria. There is a microbiome in your brain. How weird is that? And we thought we knew everything about the blood-brain barrier. There's a lot of BS in the story of the blood-brain barrier. And it turns out these are the same species of bacteria that live in the gut. So these things are part of us. And that means that if you eat foods that disrupt your gut bacteria -- you don't eat enough fiber or you eat industrially raised meat that had antibiotics in it -- that you're probably not going to live as long. People who age well and live a very long time have way more diversity in their gut bacteria. There's more species present. And as we age, you can actually predict someone's age, within a couple of years, just based on looking at their gut bacteria populations. Old people have bad poop. Can I just say it? And how do we fix that? Well, it turns out what you eat is key.

When I started writing Super Human, I used the Viome test, and I quantified I had 48 bacteria in my gut. And one of the problems there is that I travel extensively, about 150 days of the year, and it's really hard to get enough vegetables when you travel. You can get veggies at home. But you go to a restaurant and you say, I would like a plate of vegetables, and they bringing three spears of asparagus. And then you say, I'll give you $1,000 for a plate of vegetables, and you get six spears of asparagus. They just don't understand what a plate of vegetables looks like. And the people who live a long time, they eat a plate of vegetables with a moderate to small amount of grassfed or wild-caught protein and lots of healthy undamaged fats. That's the recipe. You can't buy that. So I put together a prebiotic. And a prebiotic is a set of things that good gut bacteria will eat. It turns out prebiotics have more of an influence on what's going on your gut than probiotics. And both can be useful. Over the course of writing Super Human, I was able to raise the number of species in my gut from 48 to 196. And that is a very healthy, diverse population. And all I had to do was add a couple scoops of probiotics to my Bulletproof coffee every morning. It's not that hard to do. You can also eat a variety of spices and herbs and vegetables...

[bigthink]

How you've been optimizing your gut and brain bacteria?

[ricomarcelo]

1 - Probiotics
2 - Prebiotics (fiber)
3 - Fasting / intermittent fasting

[isabellaacosta]

My 56-year old mom has lupus and was suffering from intense, painful inflammation all over her body. She started intermittent fasting and doing OMAD (one meal a day), and got on the AIP diet (it's basically paleo, where you cut out all refined sugar, gluten, dairy, and nightshades). And she started taking pre and probiotics. LEGIT 4 weeks later, all her inflammation was GONE, her lupus symptoms are now zero, and she looks the best she has in her entire life. She was also able to safely get off her lupus prescription medications (meloxicam and hydroxychloriquine). I definitely recommend checking out these books: Brain Food by Lisa Mosconi, The XX Brain by Lisa Mosconi, and The Autoimmune Solution by Dr. Amy Myers. You are what you eat :)

[usernextuser]

I'm 70 years old. Started fasting 36 hours per week March 2021. At about 20 hours in I got a headache which was annoying. Now since March 2022 I fast 18 hours per day, so I eat in a 6 hour time period although this can be as little as 4 hours. It took a couple of weeks to get into it but I find it very easy now. I used to have an ache in my lower back which I put down to old age and sitting too much, ---it's gone. I had a pain in my side which my doctor thought was bile duct blockage, ---it's gone, without medical intervention. I feel so much better mentally and physically and I find it so easy. I don't feel hungry. Try it. When you feel this good you won't want to live any other way.

[sherzodgafar]

0:00 Intro
1:40 Why it's important
3:15 Prebiotics
4:00 Akkermansia
5:15 Intermittent fasting

[kcvriess]

Last year I thought that intermittent fasting was just another fade. Untill I started doing it too. It's been about 6 months that I only eat one large meal a day. My weight isn't fluctuating anymore, no more bloating and constipation, I have tons energy, sleep better and I no longer have food cravings. For me there are no downsides to my (somewhat) ketogenic diet and fasting. It's truly liberating.

[elizabeth]

I'm reading a book that talks about this. If i get it right: healthier bacteria in the gut has greater ability to absorb nutrients from food. Also cells can get full of trash such as defective proteins etc.., which affects how much energy you have during the day., and in order for cells to clean their space, fasting helps by giving them time to process instead of keeping your body occupied with more food.. you can fast all night till noon and still eat fruits.. the book is called Microbe Factor by Hiromi Shinya.

[zaeltrus]

I had a lot of digestive problems, especially after eating/drinking dairy products. It also caused skin problems. Naturally I thought I am lactose intolerant. My mom suggested fermenting milk on my own with kefir grains. I started to create my own kefir at home. I have been drinking it for a year now and I also eat the grains sometimes (they multiply quite fast anyway). My digestion has never been better but whats even better is that now I can consume dairy products without any problems again! I believe that the kefir somehow repopulated my guts with the bacteria that can help me digest what I couldn’t before.
Fermented foods/drinks are really good for your guts!

[petermartin]

At age 65 I finally worked out what eating works for me. Everyone is different but there are common themes. Veg, fruit, oily fish, nuts, dark chocolate, natural yoghurt and hardly any carbs. No gluten and lactose free milk.... and low stress and no alcohol. Weight and waist now similar to my mid 20s.

[BAAAAANKAI]

Spot on, ive been eating one meal a day for the past 2 months(except when social life does not permit) and i have to say that i feel so much better, have so much more energy and my six packs that i never knew i had is becoming more visible(i was obese). I was always sure i would be more tired and feel sluggish but that is not the case. After my body adjusted, my energy level is always consistent, never just get randomly tired like i used to. I don't know why we ever believed we have to eat 3 meals a day in order to survive.

[donnaanderson]

I’ve been doing ADF, since the beginning of March. My goal is to improve my gut, and metabolism. Immediately, I noticed that even though my stomach growls on fasting days(sometimes), I was still fine. By week two, it actually felt more natural for me to only eat every other day. I’m nearing my three month goal, and am considering OMAD, or fasting two days per week, moving forward. We truly don’t need as much food as we’ve been taught. We do need whole, healthy foods. I did find some of his books at my local library, and have placed one on hold. Thanks for the reference!

[ideatorx]

I always had some intuition that fasting was like a rest and repair mode for my body I just noticed my inflation would come way down daily if I didn't eat till 1-2 PM in the day and my gut felt way healthier, and its great to know that my intuition was right and this is a legitimate mechanism. Listening to the body is the key.

[johncurtis]

Basically I think of it this way. From mouth to sphincter you have a continuous, long, conveyor system. It shuttles food in, waste out. But as a long "industrial" assembly/disassembly line it needs fallow periods, down time segments of your day in order to properly effect repairs and maintenance.

So periodic fasting, or simply confining or limiting your eating to a proscribed period over the course of your day, gives the system time to do necessary things rather than never ending streams of "production" if you continuously feed your pie hole. Do this along with moderate, generalize, healthy eating and you just might find your overall health will be tremendous.

John~
American Net'Zen

[estuchedepeluche]

For healthy gut bacteria you’ll need good clean food and yellow glasses.

[mkdmashup]

note for myself
- diversify gut bacteria is good
- healthy portion is: hella vegetables + small amount of grassfed or wild-caught protein + lots of healthy undamaged fats
- prebiotic: food for good gut bacteria
- how to diversify gut bacteria: add prebiotics to ur daily meal
- akkermansia: keeps ur gut lining intact, eat mucus which protects ur gut.
- how to make healthier akkermansia: intermittent fasting: skip breakfast, eat lunch and dinner in a six to eight hour window.

more prebiotics and don't eat sometimes!

[kishaunaharper]

I fell into the habit of eating on this type of schedule just by happenstance and am down 30 lbs from my heaviest. Of course it’s attached to a whole other work of systems. You mentioned some, being prebiotics and probiotics. I could definitely stand a few more vegetables 😂
I went from needing to take a laxative every day for eight years, getting a colonoscopy at 24, and experiencing debilitating pain to complete stillness. Intermittent fasting is a key part of my journey

[jeradbennett]

The longest fast that I've done was a little over 3 days. I felt so clear headed sharp and light the first 2 days. Started to get a little tired on day 3. But the gut reset thing does have amazing benefits. A person really should fast one weekend a month, but it can be hard to find the discipline to do so.

[acetate]

_"old people have bad poop"_
I've been saying that for years. Finally the science is catching up to my intuition.

[JamesMartland]

I've been on this journey for a few years, trying to keep my gut healthy and do intermittent fasting. Was still struggling, but I did an intolerance test and found my intolerances include dairy, which probably means all that live yoghurt wasn't helping. I'm a sauerkraut monster now, and I think it's starting to work. This video is so helpful for me, remotivating and offering me new avenues to explore. Thank you. Any advice from the crowd would be heard with appreciation. 😀

[jennaeisel]

If you have autoimmune issues, please consider a morning and noon time window for intermittent fasting. DO NOT skip breakfast - Why? Because if you have auto immune issues you are likely adrenally fatigued, and if you are your cortisol cycle is off like crazy like mine was and eating first thing when you wake, like within 30 minutes, will support your body and prevent you using adrenaline for energy. Also, go outside in the am, get some sun and vitamin D - These things helped me recovery from extreme fatigue issues. It wasn't all I needed to do, but it helped big time!