Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is great information (and I will PM you). I didn’t recall Kiran Krishnan saying that the best way to increase Akkermansia muciniphila is through 16 hours of intermittent fasting. I usually fast 14 hours overnight. I get so darn hungry and then go ahead and eat. An interesting thing I discovered recently was that during my colonoscopy prep day, I ate nothing and at some point (I should have noted when), I actually felt the increase in energy and mental sharpness that others speak of (which ended when the laxatives kicked in). Maybe I should push through my hunger, but I‘m concerned about the possibility of losing more weight. Unfortunately, I can’t eat large quantities of food at one time, but life would be easier if I could eat just two meals a day instead of three. I’ll give that more thought.floramaria wrote:HI, TheBrain, I think you first introduced me to Rebel Health Tribe and the Microbiome Series years ago in a post on one of the Forums. I purchased the first series and later, the Microbiome 2 series. Kiran Krishnan, the microbiologist expert on both microbiome series, says that the best way to increase Akkermansia muciniphila is through intermittent fasting. I remember his saying the “sweet spot” is 16 hrs. I am not home now and so don’t have access to my notes, but can follow up later in the week; please send PM if you want me to look up more specifics.TheBrain wrote: It’s notable that a high fat diet decreases Akkermansia muciniphila, but in most instances, the article refers to the “Western high fat diet,” which is high in saturated fat. My understanding is that saturated fat is what causes an increase in LPS in circulation, so perhaps following a ketogenic diet low in saturated fat wouldn’t be an issue. At least I hope that’s the case.
In regards to fats, I wrote to him directly after hearing him say several times that ketogenic diets and high fat diets are bad for the microbiome. His response was that the problem with keto and low carb/high fat diets in general is that they are low in fiber and also tend to be low in diversity. He was surprised to hear about the kind of plant -based high fat diets many here follow. His recommendation for improving balance in the microbiome is to eat as widely diverse a diet as possible, especially eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Personally, since I limit carbs, I had cut out all fruit except berries, but I’ve started adding tiny portions of fruits which I’d been avoiding, to (hopefully) nourish my microbiome.
It’s wonderful that you contacted Kiran directly and asked him about high fat diets. You ultimately ended up educating him about the option of the plant-based ketogenic diet. I appreciate you doing that and then getting his response.
Like you, I focus on berries as my fruit of choice, but I like your idea of adding in tiny amounts of other fruit. I’ve been adding a banana to my smoothie making. I create a batch of 9 or 10 servings (that I then freeze), so not much banana is in each serving. I could experiment with other fruits in a similar way.
Yesterday, I ate lunch at Whole Foods. For my protein, I ate yummy pulled pork. But I chose eight vegetables to accompany that. I usually don’t get that much variety in one meal at home. Somehow, I’d Iike to achieve that.
