The Good Gut
The groundbreaking science behind the surprising source of good health Stanford University’s Justin and Erica Sonnenburg are pioneers in the most exciting and potentially transformative field of human health and wellness, the study of the relationship between our bodies and the trillions of organisms representing thousands of species to which our bodies play host, the microbes we call the microbiota. The Sonnenburgs argue that the microbiota determines in no small part whether we’re sick or healthy, fit or obese, sunny or moody—and that the microbiota has always been with us, coevolving with humans and entwining its functions with ours. They show us that humans are really composite organisms with microbial and human parts. But now, because of changes to diet, antibiotic over-use, and over-sterilization, our gut microbiota is facing a “mass extinction event,” which may explain the mysterious spike in some of our most troubling modern afflictions, from food allergies to autism, cancer to depression. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Good Gut is a groundbreaking work that offers a new plan for health that focuses on how to nourish your microbiota, including recipes and a menu plan. The Sonnenburgs show how we can keep our microbiota off the endangered species list and strengthen the community that inhabits our gut and thereby improve our own health.
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What Hacker News says
- There's some really interesting literature about this topic, I only discovered it recently. I'd recommend starting with 'The Good Gut' by Justin Sonnenburg.
An excerpt can be found here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-feelings-the-...
- I've commented a bunch of time on gut microbiome before and I'll say it again here who may have not caught it. If this article is interesting check out "The Good Gut" by Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, PhD. I've been experimenting with an ad hoc restorative process through ideas in the book and reading/research around a myriad of pro/prebiotics + diet change.
For me the whole subject adds a lot of weight to the idea of "skinny fat" vs "fat". I'm glad we're in an age of companies like WellnessFX where I can objectively see the positive changes made by changes to a lifestyle... But, again, I can't stress enough how much great information and studies that have been broken down is in the book. No affiliation, but it's very powerful knowledge.
$0.02.
edit: "we're not in" to "we're in", whoops
- I'm surprised nobody mentioned this book:
"The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health"
Justin and Erica Sonnenburg are Stanford researchers that address almost all of this directly in the book with research they've done. Microbiome in the gut are directly impacted by antibiotics and in sterile mice studies those fed the exact same diets gain more weight after antibiotic treatments than those that aren't. As the Ars article makes a point of this is critical in a child's gut, stating that even single rounds of antibiotics can have negative impacts to the childs microbiome for years (side effects being weight gain comparative to other children, etc).
Just started to read the book as I've been interested in probiotics and gut health for a few years now and there just isn't much data out there. The researchers wrote the book from a new parent perspective which is makes the book relatable to those who have.
Keep in mind this isn't a book focused on attacking antibiotics, but the study of the microbiome in general and so antibiotics come into the picture of the book early (not finished with the book yet). Very good book so far otherwise.
