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The Resistant Starch Challenge: Is It The Key We've Been Looking For?

ariel

Senior Member
Messages
119
Great guys!
Like I said, don't be surprised if your appetite significantly decreases at first.
I was a bit worried. But it did return.
Might do it again in a few weeks time as there is something really satisfying about it and I didn't do it for long enough.

:thumbsup:
 

Bdeep86

Senior Member
Messages
278
Do people get constipation ever trying this? I have been taking the unmodified potato starch and never got any of the flatulance or anything like that. Ive been on it (1 teaspoon) for the past couple weeks and the last few days i've noticed ive been pretty constipated, ive added in the clostridium butyrate as well. Has anyone seen this before?
 
Messages
76
Location
Southwest
Hello. I am new to this thread. I have just finished a 3-day course of the probiotic ELIXA. I did not like this particular probiotic as it caused foul gas, lots of sneezing, severe bloating, My mood also took a nose-dive --I became more lethargic, irritable and depressed.

The two weeks prior to taking ELIXA, I had been experimenting with RS (PS, Banana Flour, Amla powder, boiled/cooled potatoes and rice) plus a variety of other probiotics: Prescript-Assist, AOR Probiotic-3, and Primal Defense Ultra (all low-doses). I had a generally very favorable reaction to the combo of RS + these three probiotics: they eliminated bloating, gas, mood improved, BMs were much better, well-formed.

I know that @whodathunkit has tried ELIXA, but I cannot find her follow-up and reaction to it. Has anyone else tried this probiotic? I understand that there might be a relationship between some lactobacillus probiotics and histamine, histamine-like reactions--- I am looking for research.

While I did _not_ have a great response to ELIXA, I think there is some positive value in the mega-dose idea of probiotics.

I am back to the pre-ELIXA routine to try and calm things down and get back to regular BMs. And after that, I am interested in trying the following:

Jarrow Formulas: Lactobacillus plantarum 299v (as I understand it, this lactobacillus is not a dairy-derived lactobacillus probiotic)

Miyarisan (clostridium butyricum) (I am following the c. butyricum thread).

Many thanks to all of who have contributed to this thread, I feel getting my gut in order is a vital piece of the puzzle for returning to robust health, and you have helped enormously.

cheers,
Silverseas2014
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
Hi @silverseas2014...it's hard to say what my reaction to Elixa has been. I did several high dose sessions in a row, which I'm not sure is a great thing at this point. It hasn't been bad, but no major improvements, either. Maybe a little worsening of very occasional constipation. Certainly not the "progress" I was hoping for regarding consistency of high-quality "output". :woot: ;) It could be that I OD'd myself on probiotics. LOL But then, as I keep saying, I have some other things going on that may preclude absolute normalcy (for now or even forever, although hopefully not).

I still like l.plantarum and c.butyricum. But I've laxed back on all probiotics a bit, just to see what happens.

I also got a ubiome stool test and will be sending that off sometime soon to see what that brings back. I'll post results when I get them.
 
Messages
76
Location
Southwest
Hey @whodathunkit.... I appreciate the feedback about ELIXA. I too was hoping for more quality output :) And good to know your experiences with l. plantarum and c. butyricum were positive. I will post results of those as they come in (or out, as it were).

Cheers.
 

ariel

Senior Member
Messages
119
@Sidereal
Wondering how you are going with the Oat Bran.
I've been taking half a teaspoon for a few weeks now, and I can't seem to adjust to it. Like everything else it basically makes me feel awful. :grumpy: I'm going to drop to 1/4, but I'm also starting to think that it just isn't for me and I need to give it a break for a while.
I've taken little bits of Wheat Bran off and on and it doesn't seem to affect me as much, so I don't think it is a reaction to gluten.
Just trying to figure out the mechanism here with Beta Glucans and why it is really not settling down. Would really appreciate any insight you might have. :cool:
 

Sidereal

Senior Member
Messages
4,856
Oh @ariel, that sucks. :grumpy: Have you tried just plain steel cut oats? I find those more tolerable than oat bran. The bran component is very inflammatory.
 

ariel

Senior Member
Messages
119
Thanks. yes it does suck. This whole thing does!

Anyway, yes I have tried steel cut, that is the strange bit, I've been eating them for a couple of months now and I've been fine with them. It's when I add in the oat bran that just kills me.

I've been persevering mostly because there was a post over at vegetablepharm about how the combination of oat bran, RS, and blueberries might be good.
http://vegetablepharm.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/gut-problems-got-you-down-try-patented.html
A researcher thinks that a combination of beta glucans with polyphenols (blueberries) and some form of RS (inulin) might help those who are getting nowhere with fibre alone.
Of course the recipe that Tim Steele made up to mimic the patent is totally beyond what I can manage - 4 tablespoons of oat bran x3 a day !!

Anyway, might just go back to steel cut oats by themselves. Or perhaps try another form of beta glucans.
Or... much better idea... just give it all a break for a bit.

Hope you are doing good! :hug:
 

Avengers26

Senior Member
Messages
158
@ariel What symptoms are you having with oat bran? 2 weeks ago, I started adding 1/2 tsp of oat bran to my oatmeal 2-3 days/week. So far, it's been tolerable. Keeping fingers crossed.
 

anne_likes_red

Senior Member
Messages
1,103
@anne_likes_red

Orange Peels equals one hell of an insecticide/antimicrobial. Pectin's effects were probably negligible, IMHO.

I'm thinking essential oil in the rind got you.

IIRC orange oil had the highest concentration of Aldehyde (by volume) of any food tested.

Here's an interesting thing. It turns out I can eat Navel oranges grown in the winter, skin and all, with no reaction. They've just come into season here.
It was last summer (Sthn hemisphere) I was having fever/chills and severe frontal sinus pains after eating the skin of 1/8 an orange.
I figure oranges might increase certain insecticidal properties in time for summer pests? Or something. ;)
 

anne_likes_red

Senior Member
Messages
1,103
OR you have less "pests" left ;)
Good point.
Since the end of the last orange season the only intervention I've used is clostridium butyricum. Actually my husband thinks less pests is the case, but I'm not so sure!
I guess I'll just wait for summer to roll around again so I can test for a possible seasonal response. :D
 

Sidereal

Senior Member
Messages
4,856
Good point.
Since the end of the last orange season the only intervention I've used is clostridium butyricum. Actually my husband thinks less pests is the case, but I'm not so sure!
I guess I'll just wait for summer to roll around again so I can test for a possible seasonal response. :D

How's CB been working out, Anne?
 

anne_likes_red

Senior Member
Messages
1,103
@Sidereal I was just on my way to report in the CB thread.... :D
I haven't noticed any really positive effects so far....beyond initially sleeping longer and waking more refreshed, The past couple of months I've been sleeping less.
I had to cut back to 1 tab of CB every second day. It was unsettling my gut.
I speculated it might be (indirectly?) killing off excess candida because I could suddenly tolerate a decent dose of molybdenum.
It's not clear cut...as usual lol.
 

anne_likes_red

Senior Member
Messages
1,103
Hi @Gondwanaland - molybdenum supports the enzyme used to detox acetaldehyde. My understanding is that candida dying off increases acetaldehyde.
(Haha hope I've got all that right!!)

I could tolerate 100mcg molyb previously and when I couldn't replace that brand (a year ago, so well before CB) I tried my shelved 1500mg capules. They caused me nausea and loss of appetite so I re-shelved them. ;)
...Again earlier this year I ran out of my trusty mini-molybs and I re-tried the scary ones with no ill effects. I find the combination of CB and 1500mg molyb means I can tolerate both with no problems.
Of course I have no proof either of these things is helping LOL. Unless you are right about "less bugs", and you may well be.
 
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ariel

Senior Member
Messages
119
@ariel What symptoms are you having with oat bran? 2 weeks ago, I started adding 1/2 tsp of oat bran to my oatmeal 2-3 days/week. So far, it's been tolerable. Keeping fingers crossed.

Hello, I'm afraid I'm not very good at isolating what exactly is happening, all I know is that the oat bran is making me feel horrible and inflamed. I guess it is the immune system turning on. No real idea though.
I've taken a little break and might start back up again tomorrow as the other beta glucan options don't appeal so much right now.
Also realised that I was only taking 1/4 teaspoon and it was making me feel miserable. Seems to be a mess in there!
Glad you are tolerating it well! Blueberries in the mix is a yummy addition if you want the polyphenols as well.


BTW, did anyone ever try the Turkey Tail mushroom that was discussed much earlier in this ginormous thread?
Or... does anyone have a beta glucan supplement that they are doing well on?
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
In case anyone's interested: I did a 4 day potato hack a couple weeks ago.

I lost between 4-8 pounds in the four days. I wanted to do a complete five day but the night before day 5 I began dreaming of fried chicken, which I took as a sign I needed some protein. :lol: So I started eating again when I woke up.

First batch of potatoes I didn't have time to peel them, and since I don't react noticeably to nightshades I figured it would be okay. Not! After the first day of eating only unpeeled potatoes, I woke up the next morning with pain in my wrist from an old injury. Haven't been bothered with that for years and years. So the solanine or whatever in the peels definitely got some kind of inflammatory reaction going.

After I started on the next batch of peeled potatoes, the pain went away within 24 hours. Hasn't come back. I think Tim Steele went through something similar. Point being, if you want to try this, definitely peel the potatoes if you think you might be sensitive to nightshades.

I have blood sugar control issues, and while doing the hack my blood sugar did spike. But a short burst of not-too-strenuous activity about an hour or 1.5 hours eating would bring it down between 30 and 50 points. Completely normal at the 4 hour post prandial mark and normal (around 85-90mg/dl) in the morning. Worth noting is that when eating regularly (basically, the Perfect Health Diet), my sugars are still a bit high in the morning. Almost normal, but most of the time not quite there yet. So the potato hack actually normalized them above a regular diet, even if my 1 hour post-prandial was higher than is normal or desirable.

The hack did provide a kind of "reset" of the appetite as @ariel described. Since then I've been able to eat a lot less butter on my starches, and I actually find I like them better now. I have also garnered an appreciation for the taste of cold boiled potatoes, lightly salted. Maybe the hack helped me activate my genetic Irish. :) I am satisfied with less food in general, particularly if it's really flavorful, tasty (non-bland) food. I just don't want to eat as much.

Finally...to the point of this thread...I can't tell any difference in my gut health from the hack. But I was doing pretty good before it, so perhaps that is not surprising. And I'm beginning to realize that the remaining issues I have with my gut are in all likelihood not caused by bad gut flora, but instead by problems with nearby organs. I may have some adhesions or other stuff going on. I'm going to get it checked out.

All in all, I think the potato hack is worth doing for people who don't have trouble tolerating nightshades. Just make sure you peel the potatoes.

But if you have high blood sugar issues but can't tolerate a little exercise, be wary. It only took me about five minutes of slow walking up and down stairs to normalize my post-prandial sugar, but it was definitely more strenuous than a slow walk on a flat surface, and it was five solid minutes of activity.

However, if you're hypoglycemic the hack might help in that regard. I don't know.

BTW, did anyone ever try the Turkey Tail mushroom that was discussed much earlier in this ginormous thread?
Or... does anyone have a beta glucan supplement that they are doing well on?
I did pretty good on the NOW beta glucans. It's not a whole product but they seemed to help me. I started taking those right at the beginning of my experimentation with prebiotics, and kept up with them for several months. I recommend them.

I also tried turkey tail and think it may have helped me reach my current level of health. It's hard to say, though. I also got chaga, reishi, and beet root powder at the same time, and was taking all of that together for a while, so what really did the most good is debatable. Plus I haven't been really sensitive to any supplement for some months now, and by the time I started messing with my gut I was already starting to get truly better. But since taking those things I did seem to move up to yet another level of health. Feeling a little bit better than before I took them, little bit more stamina, etc. I've been exercising regularly and also lifting weights again, and unless my memory is failing me miserably right now I haven't crashed since last December. Which is remarkable because lifting weights ALWAYS would crash me. I'd get acutely ill with a cold or flu the next day and then have PEM for weeks. If I tried squats or lunges it would be at least a week before I could bend my legs again. :lol: This enhanced exercise tolerance didn't really start until I began gut therapy, and seemed to improve still more with the mushrooms and beet root powder. For whatever that's worth.