As it’s January, the shops are full of new diet plans and healthy recipes books. Most of these are fads that won’t last beyond February (I’m looking at you Sirfoods!) but some trends I do think are hear to stay. Namely, the recent explosion of books delving into our gut bacteria. Obviously this topic is right up my street since my blog is all about balancing your lifestyle and a big part of this starts with the gut. There’s more and more research emerging linking IBD and other illnesses such as Asthma, IBS, Eczema etc to the bacteria in our gut. The book I’m reviewing today- The Microbiome Solution- explains the many factors that are linked to how our gut bacteria develops and suggests a diet plan to help overall the poor bacteria balance many of us have.
The book is divided into several sections. First it provides an overview of the kind of things that causes our gut system to be out of whack. I found this part fascinating and not too scientific like some books. It explains how everything from antibiotics as a toddler to using hand sanitizers can impact or gut bacteria. He compared the Western world to the developing world and having lived in Asia, the points made total senses. These countries have never heard of Detol and prefer traditional medicines; meaning illnesses of the gut are so much lower there. There were many references to IBD here too, since lots of patients Dr Chutkan sees have this disease.
The next section introduces the ‘Live Dirty, Eat Clean’ philosophy. the book brushes on diets like SCD and Paleo but stresses it’s important for the patient to figure out what works for them within the recommendations. It is so rare to see a book advising patient intuition rather than telling us what works. The diet is based on paleo principles but suggests less meat and also adds in some ‘banned’ paleo foods such as brown rice and oats. It’s basically good clean eating focusing on vegetables, lean protein, oats and nuts. It’s refreshing to see no complicated banned lists (One of the big reasons I don’t like SCD as I can’t understand why oats are banned but certain cheeses are in). Yet there’s also lots of emphasis on a holistic approach getting you to think about chemical-free skincare, exercise and what to do if you have to take antibiotics.
The final section is a collection of yummy recipes by the blogger Kale and Chocolate. These are all gluten, dairy and refined sugar free (although there is some raw honey)
All in all, I would seriously recommend this book. It is the first book I have found that addresses gut issues holistically (most tend to be scientific or a straightforward cookbook). It has given me so much inspiration on leading a more balanced lifestyle and something I’m constantly dipping in and out of for more inspiration.
If you’re interested you can buy The Microbiome Solution on Amazon ( here’s the link) Let me know what you think!
interesting ….lucky youve read that
hoping to read too
are you from the UK too?