The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health

It’s a very important book in which we for example realize how the Western food is destroying our health, especially because we there are having an unbalance with too little, if any, fruit and vegetables against the meat, whereby our good bacteria not are getting their needed nutrients for working. And in the book, it for example also is thoughtful to learn how we later in life will be influenced by how we were brought to world, that is by either the natural way or born at Caesarean section, because it makes difference in which bacteria the newborn’s gut then contains. Because as we read, the child that passes through the birth canal as the first bacteria in life are getting those from the inside of the mother, while the C-section born babies first meets bacteria from outside the mother, from the skin. And where researches now have discovered that there is a connection between the C-section babies and obesity, allergy, asthma, and more. And then in the book we read about how a doctor worked on solving this problem, which was for his coming baby which would come to world as a C-section baby, still would be getting precisely the same bacteria’s as if born the natural way. Parallel to this case we see that we are having something to think about in the future. One of the other new, or rediscovered, very important science knowledges to read about in the book, is the fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), stood transplant, bacteriotherapy. And this was stated in 2013 in Amsterdam on participants on whom the antibiotic therapy had been unsuccessful, and then on half of the patients was used FMT, and for the other half again antibiotic. By the FMT method 81% of the patients was cured, while only 31% by antibiotic. Then it was decided to for a second-time use FMT on this rest on 19 % of the patients who not was cured by the first time. And then this time 94% was cured, so totally for the patients on the FMT research 98% - 99% were cured. And then it was decided to stop the research and ask the research patient on antibiotics to also get through the FMT method. But as I used the word rediscovered was because in the book we read that the FMT method already 400 years ago was written down in China, and that by us, veterinarians have used FMT during more than a century, and furthermore, that in 1958 the Dr. Ben Eiseman then published how the method could cure pseudomembranous colitis. Throughout the book we again and again realize that it’s important to as late as possible in life, and as few times as possible to use antibiotic, as it kills bout good and bad bacteria, and that probably we never again are getting back all the same good bacteria which we had before we started on antibiotic. And late in the book, in the chapter 9, “Managing Your Internal Fermentation”, just before the advises with menus and recipes, we then get back a concentration of all of what until here have read about. Among other reading about how healthy it is to have a dog, and thereby have one more delivering place from where to probably get some helpful bacteria’s. And we read about how farmers, because of their contact with animals, plants, and the ground, then actually in their guts and stomachs contains more different bacteria’s than citizens. And the therefore its healthy for citizens to visit farmers, to have dog, plants, not to was hands too much, or clean departments too much and so on. All together an interesting book to read while it contains much rather new and important information.

Well worth buying and reading. More people need to know how important their gut health corresponds with better health.

I truly appreciate the Sonnenburgs priceless, wonderfully detailed, informative book that was easily digestible- yuk yuk- by a relative layman. It has absolutely helped me clarify some details of exactly how these complex interactions occur in the gut that I was not understanding even after a 18 year love affair with the microbiome and nutrition! I am also certain that they are wonderful parents whose children love them and have benefited greatly from their care and concern. However, much of my life’s work has been in child development and I would caution against some of the more extreme advice on literally never allowing children to have conventional sweets in the house, to eat fast food, or even to have snacks that aren’t from their leftovers in the lunchbox (as someone who personally hates leftovers and wilting food- YUCK!). This level of extreme food control leaves a child ripe for eating disorders on either side of the spectrum: severe restriction that we see in anorexia or, conversely, binge eating with or without purging. In fact, although I am in no position to diagnose anyone from reading one book, I would warn that some of what I’m reading here suggests orthorexia. Again, I find this book incredibly useful and genius. My own children were both breast-fed for two years each and grew up on kefir, homemade chicken liver pate, fermented cod liver oil, homemade yogurt etc… but also got to have Christmas cookies and Halloween candy and drive-through french fries. Perhaps children on a more strict diet would have better gut flora, but we need to holistically look at the entire child and their psychological well-being vis-à-vis the world of junk food that we do live in. Deprivation will largely backfire.

The gut has been an organ whose highly complex workings have been almost unknown until very recently. In view of the epidemic of killer lifestyle diseases, a summary of knowledge in this fast-expanding area is just what the general reader needs. Before reading this book, I knew that fresh, unrefined food was better for me than processed, but now I know WHY. That 'why' is empowering and has altered my diet forever. The provision of some tasty recipes and tips for healthy snacks aids the necessary transition. It really does feel different to eat a lot more fibre and (preferably) homemade probiotics such as kefir, miso, natto, yogurt, live sauerkraut, kimchi and so on. Not only that, the reader is assured that it's okay to have some of the processed foods you're used to, as long as you reduce them and feel good and full with fibre first. The advice to listen to your own body as you experiment and not to cause yourself discomfort is based on the scientific basis that gut microbiota vary greatly from one individual to another. Even identical twins have differing gut microbiota. Kids coming in from playing in a backyard filled with plants and healthy soil do not need to wash their hands before eating; wow, I can relax! But they must wash after a shopping mall or hospital visit due to pathogens being more common amongst large groups of people than in the soil; how sensible and understandable! I still haven't convinced my wife to get rid of the medicated hand-wash, but I'm working on it. This is a holistic look at the effects of a healthy gut. The last box I have to check is exercise, along with the diet. Feeling in better control on the diet side has already helped with weight loss and a general sense of well-being. Indeed, the section on the association between a healthy mind and a healthy gut is quite startling and fairly immediately felt. The prospect of some healthy exercise is thus fast becoming a happily anticipated improvement. Gut health and general health is inextricable and something we really need to know.

Great book which has changed the way I think about health and wellness. Very well written and approachable for the beginner.

Ich habe das Buch im Urlaub auf Sardinien innerhalb einer Woche durchgelesen, weil es so gut und verständlich geschrieben ist. Die Infos zur Darmflora sind super aufbereitet und endlich einmal alltagstauglich erklärt. Ich habe einige der Ratschläge direkt umgesetzt und schon nach kurzer Zeit eine deutliche Verbesserung bemerkt. Für alle, die ihre Verdauung oder ihr Wohlbefinden optimieren wollen, eine ganz klare Empfehlung!

Amazing book for gut health

Very well written and helpful. In terms of the human-direction map, the authors do a good job of placing the current state of scientific research regarding the microbiota, in its position between the elegant solutions of taking a pill and the complete unpredictability of accidents like the genes you were born with or being hit by a bus. In other words, when it comes to a good gut, being healthy means taking up an intermediate position on the topography of uncertainties: you have to learn what to watch for, then use trial and error to find the right balance. It means getting in touch with your personal state in a new way, but the rewards are substantial (that much is clear). I thought I was okay, given that I generally exceed the suggested 5 a day of fruit and veg. Now I know differently. I know what to watch for (without going into details) and will try to start preparing some of the authors' recipes and take some of their other suggested practical steps for making improvements. The good thing is that they spell all that out in clear, practical terms, without pretending to be at the simple-solution end of the certainty-uncertainty spectrum. Timothy Corwen, human-direction mapmaker

The Sonnenbergs are a credible source of information about the gut microbiota. I read a few complaints in the reviews about how often phrases like 'it seems that' or ' this is not yet fully understood' are used. This is because these ideas are relatively new, at least in terms of general awareness within the field of nutritional biochemistry. This is a primer meant to give an overview of the field as it is today. It suggests many interesting avenues of exploration. Some of the information will run contrary to what a lot of people or a certain age (like me) took to be dogma, but isn't that what progress is all about? We all know what's happened to the idea that fats are bad for you and that a 'low fat' diet is best. Their take on the use of hand sanitizers will raise a few eyebrows. This book is well worth the read for someone who wants an introduction. If you want to go deeper, you'll have to follow closely and do your own research.