The Friendly Foreigners Inside You - revisited
Real medicine for your microbiome!
We like to think of our bodies as our own, human, and totally in our control. The truth is much more complex and amazing than that. Our bodies are not just humans, but an ecosystem of human cells, systems and organs and trillions of tiny, independent microscopic creatures that are more critical to our health than any single organ or process in our body. We have more of these microbes than cells in our body! These bacteria and fungi include mostly friendly foreigners but also some little terrorists that we need to keep under control. (Groups of microbes are called microbiota and the communities they form, a microbiome.)
The impact of the breakthroughs in this area may change our understanding of health and wellness more than anything since the discovery of the cell in 1665, so it deserves a separate article in the future. Instead, in this post, I just want to introduce you to your microbiome, explain why it is so critical, and outline a few things you should be doing to make sure it is a vibrant, thriving set of communities in your body that support your health. One of those things is creating fun, fermented, fantastic food for friendly foreigners inside you!
Who are these foreigners, anyway?
By way of introduction, these microbes are:
Many communities: The majority (60–70%) of your microbial foreigners are in your digestive system, but not all. You have separate microbiomes in your mouth, on your skin, in your hair, in your genitals, and in many other parts of your body, some only recently discovered. Most of our attention will be focused on the microbiome in your gut.
Many tribes and species: Hundreds of different microbial types inhabit your body from a thousand or more distinct species. The types or tribes on your skin, in your mouth, gut, or elsewhere are unique from each other. The diversity of microbes in your gut is key to your health.
Connected to each other: Your microbes talk to each other and with other parts of your body using biochemical messengers and systems we are just beginning to understand (we might call it “microbe speak”). This can produce dramatic changes in your body even when these microbes or organs are very distant from one another, such as the gut and the brain or the gut and the lungs.
Chronic disease role: The latest science suggests that your microbiome, especially the microbiota in your gut, plays a critical role in the development and prevention of chronic disease and may hold future treatment possibilities as well. If your microbiomes are not healthy, you will get sick. Even though you do not control them, they control your future and may determine whether you live or die.
Sensitive to change: Your microbiomes are changing, sensitive communities of microbial species, each with their own characteristics and priorities. These friendly foreigners benefit from the home you provide them with and, in turn, handle critical functions in our body, including the control of “unfriendly” microbes that create havoc. With a typical life span of 20 minutes, whole groups of microbes can change quickly based on the food you eat and lifestyle changes, even in the space of 24 hours!
How do I help these guys?
Now that you know it is a matter of life and death, how should you care for your microbiome? Listed are a few important steps to take, especially if you want to have the fun strategy detailed below to have maximum effect:
Avoid the microbiome killers my previous articles described, especially refined sugar, Franken-wheat, and processed food (if you missed these posts, read them on my blog site, LongerLifeSpan.substack.com). These destroy the healthy communities in your body and let the unfriendly terrorist microbes run wild.
Avoid antibiotics and limit alcohol consumption, which also kill off your friendly foreigners.
Eat lots of whole fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds. These feed your body and the microbial communities inside it.
Eat lots of fiber! This means you should eat more of the whole, fresh foods just mentioned than anything else, 3–4 times what you currently eat (if your diet is typical). All these whole foods contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Both are critical to feeding your gut microbiome.
Consider taking a probiotic supplement daily, especially if you don’t eat a lot of plain yogurt or other fermented foods, but expect the effects to be modest and take time.
Eat fermented foods, like plain yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, or miso, and drink fermented drinks like kefir and kombucha. These contain active cultures of friendly foreigners that support your microbiome's health.
The best fermented yogurt I have found is a special therapeutic kind you make yourself—a real treat for your gut, your body, and your taste buds. Let the fun begin!
Fantastic Fermented Foreigner Food: FFF Yogurt
Commercial yogurt is widely available, but most have some limitations:
Added ingredients like sugar, flavoring, emulsifiers, etc.
Limited fermentation time (typically 4-5 hours), reducing the amount of helpful microbes and the resulting potential health benefit
Tart flavor of the plain yogurt that some do not like
Variety and quality of probiotic strains are limited or unknown
In contrast, FFF Yogurt is free of any toxic ingredients or flavoring, has probiotic strains that you choose, and is fermented for 36 hours. This increases the concentration of beneficial microbes by up to 1,000 times that of commercial yogurt, making it not just “good for you,” but in incredibly therapeutic and healing! Another surprise is the taste and texture—some of the best plain yogurt ever. We use it both at breakfast, as a dessert with fruit, and as a substitute for sour cream.
The therapeutic potential is also amazing! You may notice a difference in how you feel in a matter of a few days or weeks, and you will be able to tailor your recipe to problems you want to address or just super-charge a plain yogurt you like. The research on hundreds of different probiotic microbial strains is amazing, if not always verifiable, and mostly accessible online. To learn more about probiotic microbial types, species, and strains, see: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Probiotics-HealthProfessional/. Here is how to make FFF yogurt:
Step 1: Get the equipment and materials you need
A yogurt maker that allows temperature adjustment from 90 to 120 degrees and has a timer for up to 36 hours and quart glass bowls for the fermenting. Mine is the Ultimate yogurt maker (https://www.amazon.com/Best-Greek-Yogurt-Maker-Machine/dp/B0C5S6XVK7?th=1). It comes with 8 6-oz jars or 2 1-quart bowls, but the two one-quart glass bowls with lids make more and are easier to work with (they are a standard size you can also buy online or at many different stores).
A clip-on thermometer for liquids with temperatures from zero to 200 degrees. Mine is a KT THERMO Instant Read 1-Inch Dial thermometer (available on Amazon).
A large straight-sided pan that holds at least two quarts of liquid and a bowl or pan of comparable size that will fit in your refrigerator
Utensils: wooden spoon, large soup ladle, small whisk, tablespoon for measuring
Ingredients: two quarts of A2 half and half (easiest to digest, fewest toxic elements), inulin and/or sugar (less refined is better), and probiotic starter (described in step 2 below).
Step 2: Decide your goals and buy probiotic strain(s) or yogurt as a starter
For much of my inspiration, I am indebted to Dr. William Davis (Super Gut) and especially the Super Gut Recipes Appendix (pdf) to his book, which you might be able to find online. Here are a few of the strains he suggests, along with their benefits (in parentheses), source, and fermenting temperature:
Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 & ATCC PTA 6475 are key missing microbes that 96% of us have lost (more empathy and love, improved skin, muscle mass, maintaining healthy weight), BioGaia Gastrus tablets from Amazon (pulverize ten tablets per quart), 99–106 degrees
Bacillus Coagulans GBI-30,6086 (reduce inflammation, arthritis, and irritable bowel symptoms; accelerate muscle recovery after exercise) Schiff Digestive Advantage capsules (contents of one capsule per qt), 115–122 degrees, but use 106 if fermented with other strains
Lactobacillus gasserei BNR17 (reduce waist size, reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, reduce levels of oxalate in blood and urine that lead to kidney stones, protect against SIBO/SIFO [small intestinal bacterial/fungal overgrowth]) Biothin Probiotic is available on Amazon; 109 degrees is ideal, but use 106 in combination. Note: Strain prefers sugar as a prebiotic food.
You can create FFF yogurt with one strain or several, but the effect of each will be slightly reduced in a mix. I think 3-4 strains are about right.
As a starter, you can also use a good commercial, plain whole milk yogurt, ideally organic (I just did a batch using Stonyfield), with no flavoring or extra ingredients (104–106 degrees). Use 2 tablespoons of yogurt per quart of liquid. A couple notes about this approach: 1) If you are lactose intolerant, you could ferment using non-dairy or lactose-free milk, but I have not tried it; 2) even those who are somewhat intolerant or dairy-sensitive will likely have less of a problem with yogurt than milk and much less of an issue with FFF yogurt because it is so much easier to digest; and 3) you can check the benefits of the 4-6 strains in the yogurt with an online search such as “benefits of L. bulgaricus probiotic” (use specific strain version if provided).
You can also do this in reverse to achieve a health benefit you want, such as searching for the “best probiotic strain for a stronger immune system.” Look at multiple sources to identify and confirm specific strain versions, then search for those probiotics online. For fermenting temperature information, try a search for “best temperature to ferment xxx probiotic strain.” As Dr. Davis says, “you are going to be creating foods that have the power of miraculous drugs, but with none of the side effects.”
Step 3: Prepare ingredients and equipment
Follow instructions with the yogurt maker by adding ½” to ¾” of lukewarm water in the bottom, plugging it in, and quickly setting the temperature (see above section) and time. I usually set it to 37 hours because it will take 30-45 minutes for the other preparation steps.
Heat two quarts of A2 half & half over medium-high heat in a pan with the thermometer clipped to the pan edge. Stir with wooden spoon and watch temperature. Once above 140 degrees, stir continuously to raise the temperature to 185–195 degrees. Remove from heat quickly to avoid it reaching 200 degrees. Continue stirring on cold burner. When it cools to 140 degrees, pour into another pan or bowl and clip thermometer to the side. Place it on an empty shelf in the refrigerator to cool. Stir and check the temperature occasionally. (I now make two batches with two yogurt makers at one time, usually just before dinner. Then I leave the yogurt mix sitting on the counter for a couple hours during dinner. Then I start up the yogurt makers after the mix is cool enough.)
While the A2 half & half is cooling, set the two glass quart bowls next to each other, and in each, put 2 tbsp of inulin or sugar (or 1 tbsp of each) and one dose of each probiotic you want to ferment. If using yogurt from a store or previous batch, use 2 tablespoons per quart.
When the temperature of the A2 half & half is at 100 degrees or slightly below, remove it from the refrigerator and gradually ladle some of the liquid into each glass bowl, using the small whisk to mix thoroughly (no lumps). Fill each bowl to the top, stirring gently.
Cover each bowl with plastic wrap and carefully set it inside the yogurt maker. Replace cover.
Step 4: Ferment, refrigerate, and enjoy
When the time is up, remove the bowls from the maker, replace plastic wrap with snug lids, and refrigerate. Wait 6-12 hours before eating. Eat 4–8 ounces a day.
Enjoy the results! After using this approach for the last several months, I have noticed a significant positive impact on my health.