daylatedollarshort
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 9,358
I have read of some long term low carb followers who suffered gastro problems from not "feeding" their guts with prebiotic plants....(potatoes, tubers, etc.)....seems the solution recommended is consuming certain forms of prebiotic fiber.
I think the issue is one needs the right bacteria to digest some high fiber foods like gluten. If you don't have the right bacteria to digest these foods, it can cause stomach upset. Eliminating the hard to digest foods can solve stomach issues in the short term, but in the long term then as you said in some cases people may not be feeding their gut bacteria with enough carbs to survive and it causes a decrease in diversity, and gut bacteria diversity is linked to good health and especially longevity.
Related articles: The gut microbiome of healthy, long lived people - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366966/
While gut science is still an emerging field, it is easy enough these days to get one's gut tested to see what kind of bacteria you have, get a diversity score and even see how your gut in general compares to healthy, older seniors. I think cutting edges science has really moved past the is low carb healthy or not simplistic question. The right diet seems is likely to be highly individualized and varies on what gut bacteria you have now and what can you eat to make it more diverse, if need be. Like many people don't have the bacteria to digest beans but by eating a little at first and feeding and building up the right bacteria they might be able to eat more and more beans without issue.
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