The book, Fiber Fueled is making a lot of sense to me. Having given up sugar, flour and most grains for the past 20 years, I’m finding myself gaining weight despite lots of exercise, as my metabolism keeps slowing down.
I read “Fiber Fueled” which talks about aiming for 90% pure plant based, but mainly about diversity in the gut biome. I feel tentative toward going back to bread of any kind (having had overwhelming cravings before I quite eating flour in 2004.
One concern was from the mass appeal of the book “Grain Brain”, which did confuse me, as it promoting meat and cheese etc for brain health. (The author is a brain expert, not a gut expert.)
Then I read this article from Dr. McDougall (whose food program shrunk a cancerous tumor of a 90 year-old friend of mine, who is now 93 and still driving, and running a business).
I eat a shitload of fiber and never noticed a difference in metabolism and fat gain. The only thing that ever worked for me was empagliflozin and doses ranging from 12.5-25mg daily which enable me to eat 4k calories on average without gaining weight.
I eat massive amounts of fiber and it doesn’t decrease my cholesterol.
Idk what it means for my other biomarkers, I have very little controls w/o fiber
Again we must remember that we all respond differently to diet, exercise etc. Yes, there are general rules that apply to the general population, and the advice to consume more fiber and promote more gut bacteria diversity is definitely sound. But each of our gut microbiomes is different, and reponds differently to attempts at changing it. According to one striking study, even genetically identical twins who grew up together and consume the same diet, share only about a one third of their gut biome profile.
So it should come as no surprise that we all respond differently to fiber, especially as I suspect this is not a particularly “average” group
F.ex. I take in epic amounts of fiber, based not only on various studies showing benefits, including non-obvious benefits like muscle preservation, but because I had a mild case of IBS some 20 years ago, that completely resolved when I increased my fiber intake. That said, a lot of what fiber is supposed to do, doesn’t happen for me: my lipids continue to be trash and my glucose too.
My point is that whenever you read one of these diet advocacy books, always keep in the back of your mind: this will not necessarily apply to me specifically. YMMV.
I like him. He has been on the The Proof (Simon Hill) podcast several times. Still, gut health is a black box. There are many truisms but more exceptions. I think it is clear that the most healthy gut contains a diverse microbiome, which is fed by a diverse diet of foods that contain non-digestible parts (fiber, etc.), and is not subject to continual onslaught of antibiotics and preservatives and other chemicals that kill “bugs” or injure the intestinal barrier. I doubt anyone with serious gut health issues can solve them with a book. It feels more art than science. I’m lucky I don’t need gut help. Dr B runs a practice that helps people with gut problems.
Thank you so very much for this thoughtful and informative posting, @CronosTempi!
Very important points to keep in mind. Yes, there is no panacea.
My plan is to try out the recipes while leaving out the flour but including more grains and not touching the dessert recipes.
