The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [50]
This could take some time, but you don’t need to wait to act. There are a few things you can do now to cultivate healthy and fat-reducing gut flora:
Get off the Splenda. A 2008 study at Duke University found that giving Splenda to rats significantly decreased the amount of helpful bacteria in the gut. Once again, the fake sugars turn out just as bad as, if not worse than, the real deal.
Go fermented. Dr. Weston Price is famous for his studies of 12 traditional diets of near-disease-free indigenous communities spread around the globe. He found that the one common element was fermented foods, which were consumed daily. Cultural mainstays varied but included cheese, Japanese natto, kefir, kimchi (also spelled “kimchee”), sauerkraut, and fermented fish. Unsweetened plain yogurt and fermented kombucha tea are two additional choices. Fermented foods contain high levels of healthy bacteria and should be viewed as a mandatory piece of your dietary puzzle. I consume five forkfuls of sauerkraut each morning before breakfast and also add kimchi to almost all home-cooked meals.
Consider probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are bacteria. I’ve used Sedona Labs iFlora probiotics both during training (to help accommodate overfeeding) and after antibiotics. Prebiotics are fermentable substrates that help bacteria grow and thrive. In this category, I’ve experimented with organic inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides, commonly referred to as FOS. For a host of reasons, I prefer inulin, which I get through the Athletic Greens mentioned previously. Inulin is about 10% the sweetness of sugar, but unlike fructose, it’s not insulinemic. In the whole-foods realm, garlic, leeks, and chicory are all high in inulin or FOS content.
Though the research is preliminary, introducing pre- and probiotics together in the diet could have beneficial effects on allergies, aging, obesity, and a range of diseases from AIDS to type 2 diabetes. I found one potential benefit particularly fascinating, given our focus on GLUT-4: both inulin and FOS improve calcium absorption, and calcium absorption promotes the contraction-dependent GLUT-4 translocation!
If the anti-obesity effects weren’t enough, consider bacterial balance a crucial step in supporting your “second brain.”
Most of us have heard of serotonin, a wide-acting neurotransmitter that, when deficient, is intimately linked to depression. Prozac and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) act to increase the effects of serotonin. Despite the label “neurotransmitter,” which leads most people to visualize the brain, only 5% of serotonin is found in your head. The remaining 95% is produced in the gut, sometimes referred to as “the second brain” for this reason.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 39 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota was found to significantly decrease anxiety symptoms. Probiotics (bifidobacteria is one example) have also been shown as an effective alternative treatment for depression because of their power to inhibit inflammatory molecules called cytokines, decrease oxidative stress, and correct the overgrowth of unwanted bacteria that prevents optimal nutrient absorption in the intestines.
Give your good bacteria an upgrade and get your microbiome in shape. Faster fat-loss and better mental health are just two of the benefits.
TOOLS AND TRICKS
Twelve Hours of Bingeing in Photos (www.fourhourbody.com/binge) See the binge from this chapter as I captured it in real time and posted the photos on Flickr. It will give you an appreciation for the quantity.
Super Cissus Rx (www.fourhourbody.com/cq) This is the brand of CQ I used during the experimentation.
Athletic Greens (www.athleticgreens.com) This is my all-in-one greens insurance policy. It contains 76 ingredients, including inulin for improving bacterial balance.
Escali Cesto Portable Nutritional Scale (www.fourhourbody.com/cesto) This is the one-pound scale I carried around in my man-purse to measure the weight and nutritional composition of my