Advancing human gut microbiota research by considering gut transit time (2023)
Comments
flossly
mrroryflint
There have been alternative (often mad) health proponents who have insisted upon only eating fruit in the morning for years - similar(ish) reasons. I think there is probably something to it.
konradb
I remember this being a thing in some Tony Robbins book!
sublinear
Whole fruit also has a lower glycemic index due to the fiber. This slow release of sugar helps reduce insulin resistance and balance out hormone response in general.
Hormonal imbalance is severely underrated as a root cause of common mental health issues like anxiety, depression, etc.
Having fruit in the morning is a little boost without the guilt. Adding in some light exercise, like walking, also helps prime the day. It even gets easier to wake up early for all this the more regularly it's done. It's one big reinforcement cycle for healthy habits.
oulipo2
I mean the most obvious reason is fibers
flossly
For me the most obvious reason is that we are primates and most primates have a fruit heavy diet. So I believe that's a reason for our human bodies to be very well adapted to fruit.
And that's the fibers, vitamins, minerals and sugars... The whole package.
DANmode
Yeah, but during what part of the day do they eat it?! ^_^
gchamonlive
Isn't slow food going through your body during sleep something that'll impact your sleep quality?
When you wake up you are basically fasting so your body is ready to take a hit. Slow food will go through your body faster when you eat it in the first half of your day.
flossly
I found the same food goes about as fast (on a rather empty GI tract) no matter when eaten.
Slow food takes about 24h for me (so even when eaten early).
gchamonlive
I don't think the last 12h impacts sleep quality that heavily though
x______________
Interesting.
A great opportunity to add "YMMV"
Ballas
Your Movements May Vary?
anonu
YBMMV
flossly
Did it!
wantoncl
> Also: it's a one lane road and "over taking" is not possible.
I've eaten some hamburgers at Krystal's that definitely overtook whatever else was in front. Some folks have had the same or similar effect from White Castle, although I never have. Chipotle on occasion moves things along rather briskly too. No fruit or green leaves in any of them.
It may be that it's not a digestion thing, but some other factor they have that accelerates the process.
Schmerika
Not a doctor but I know that some foods, in some guts, at some times can trigger a 'quick-release valve' of sorts. You're not digesting properly when that happens.
_DeadFred_
This. Eject != digest
boring-human
I don't disagree with your findings, but here's the model I use:
- Fiber: ^
- Dairy: v
- Coffee: ^^
- NSAIDs: vv
- Ice cream splurges: vvv
arethuza
My breakfast routine for ~40 years has been coffee, muesli, coffee, yoghurt, coffee, fresh fruit all served with plenty coffee.
sillyfluke
I end up eating a similar breakfast when I visit Swiss/Austrian/Dutch friends in their natural habitat.
CTDOCodebases
Eating bitter greens can cause the body to secrete more bile and that speeds up fat digestion.
Bender
I use TUDCA for that though it can make me gassy if I take too much.
vogelke
> It's a one lane road and "over taking" is not possible.
Best poop-related comment I've seen.
lordgrenville
n=1
But interesting nonetheless, thanks for sharing your findings.
flossly
I have a small following of people how also saw improvements doing this.
Then, I did not come up with this myself, but found a lot of anecdotals in this direction.
And... I comment on a real science piece that seems to be making similar claims.
andsoitis
Have you found that coffee speed things up?
flossly
I cannot stand the taste coffee. So no data from my side.
sublinear
I have, but I think any stimulant would do similar. I no longer smoke, but that did it too.
paul7986
For me i drink close to a gallon of water a day and that truly cleans me out daily.
calf
Just to be clear I thought the typical advice has been fiber -> protein -> carbs, for blood sugar reasons, you're saying to frontload fiber/carbs & backload proteins for easier digestion? That is interesting, I wonder what studies there are on this.
flossly
My reason is I dont want the fast moving food to get stuck behind the slow moving food.
Another reason I do it like this: I get no after diner dip from fast moving food. Slow moving food makes me crash a little, and I prefer to experience that in the evenings.
I did also experiments with fruit (and leaves) only diets. No crashes at all. Nice! But I did crave savory, chewy food a lot.
senectus1
yeah my mileage is i eat fruit and i get cramps and the squirts for the next two days.
as I've gotten older my ability to consume fruit, onions, garlic and most dairy (and coffee :-( ) has been taken away from me. its really a miserable experience for someone that enjoys eating new and interesting things all the time.
asplake
IANAD, but sounds like IBS or similar, not necessarily age-related, and potentially treatable.
g8oz
Look into the low FODMAP diet.
altmanaltman
What do you mean, the human stomach is absolutely not a "one line road", your comments lacks the basic biological understanding. What you're describing is a good generic diet and maybe that's why it feels good but please learn a bit more about the stuff you are expetimenting on.
flossly
I did not mention stomach. I meant the GI-tract as a whole.
I've used food coloring and indigestibles (like corn kernels) to do experiments on whether meals can "overtake" or "merge" or "join" with other meals into poops.
aziaziazi
I'd love to read more about your experiments, please don't refrain from writing about it someday.
jahller
that's the most insane thing i read today. kudos to your curiosity
andrewf
Then you'll love https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.14309
"Six paediatric health-care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head."
red-iron-pine
omg this article is wild lol
> To standardise bowel habit between participants, we developed a Stool Hardness and Transit (SHAT) score to look at stool consistency over time. The SHAT score is the sum of the Bristol Stool Chart scores over a specific time period divided by that time period in days.
> Post-ingestion, stools were monitored and examined in search of the excreted item. The search was conducted on an individual basis, and search technique was decided by the participant. The primary outcome was the Found and Retrieved Time (FART) score.
flyinglizard
Adding debug prints to your diet.
altmanaltman
Food coloring is a liquid dye. It will mix with whatever chyme it encounters in the stomach and small intestine, dyeing a large portion of the stool. It does not prove that food stayed in a single-file line.
Also, again the GI-tract as a whole is also not a "one-lane road".
Please educate yourself and do not do "experiments" on yourself. A good place to start learning more would be: https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=691 if you're intrested.
IAmBroom
You are very judgey and controlling. Maybe some prune juice would help?
SideburnsOfDoom
I will add an anecdote that from observation, two people on the same diet over long periods can have significantly different poop frequencies, and differing regularity.
YMMV. It's not just determined by the food intakes, there are individual factors.
At a guess, these individual factors start with 1) genetic component to reactions to substances such as lactose and to caffeine. 2) Gut microbiome.
In other words, saying "change diet and you can change the poop schedule" is true, but "with this diet you will definitely get this schedule" is not.
alpineman
Or just don't eat meat and cheese at all
flossly
I've not for the last 12 years. But fake meats/dairies have a very similar macro profile, so I expect them to digest similarly.
I'll not try though, as I'm vegan for ethical reasons.
mcv
Better for the environment too.
flyinglizard
The best thing for the environment is dying. You stop wasting resources and start fertilizing the soil.
danielbln
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
mplanchard
The article is open access, I don’t see any reason to prefer the dumbed-down narrative summary: https://gut.bmj.com/content/72/1/180
dustractor
This is why I suspect that GLP-1 agonist medications have the potential to cause a cascade of negative consequences for the health of some people. One of the mechanisms is slowed gastric emptying which leads to decreased motility of the small intestine as a side effect. They do tell people to drink more water to counteract this. It just seems like trading one set of problems for another so hopefully doctor and patient will carefully weigh the benefits versus the risks. We shall see.
the_real_cher
I got food poisoning on a GLP-1 and the slowed gastric emptying made it a hellish 5 days.
sph
I guess with my IBS I should be the healthiest person around.
adt
Akshually, IBS-D is the least common form of IBS.
fibermaxxx
More fiber, more plants. I know individuals that eat "only vegetable on the burger" Oats, grits, or smoothie for early day Mine:Fruit smoothie with oats Starches, leafy greens, for midday Mine:roasted sweet potato on a salad Legumes and tree nuts for dinna Mine:Chickpea sauce over roasted veggies with pasta, or cashews.
The goal is more than 13 plants a day and your movement will be very consistent
jonatron
I'm surprised there's no mention of hot drinks in the morning.
iszomer
Consumption of dairy and products are a relatively fast and painful solution for personal system purges within 30m but entirely depends on how processed they are.
DaedalusII
you may evaluate the concept of a milk enema, dramatic and rapid defecation ensues in comparison to a saline enema
iszomer
At that point it’s less of an ‘enema’ and more like udder chaos.
cess11
https://gut.bmj.com/content/72/1/180
The study. It basically says that this is something one perhaps should consider in clinical settings and that the speed of fecal matter might be a worthwhile direction for future inquiry.
"Altogether, a better understanding of the complex, bidirectional interactions between the gut microbiota and transit time is required to better understand gut microbiome variations in health and disease."
It does not say 'this is a sign of health and that is not'.
deepsun
"Linked" not "caused". So it may be that someone with Parkinson's just happen to have slower rates.
Qem
I wonder if this explains in part the purported health benefits from cofee. One thing people claim makes hard to quit cofee habit it's that they can't take a shit in the morning anymore.
devolving-dev
I wonder what this means for GLP 1 drugs that slow digestion.
andreareina
Actual outcome data shows that they're a net benefit, and it's not even close.
hhh
And if I flip flop between both?
nacozarina
stress-induced
nobody dumps during their first two days of boot camp
phyzix5761
I wonder how Ozempic affects this because it slows down gastric emptying.
beardyw
If the writer ingested a lot, very little came out.
fellowniusmonk
I've been using 1/4cup ground hulled barley and 20-32oz of greek yogurt, with a bit of craisins and pecans as my base for the last several years, my gut now chews through everything and output is consistent and homogeneous.
You gotta lay down a fermentation base.
pawelduda
Sooo.... Another reason to drink coffee/yerba mate? Although the latter also supposedly stimulates release of GLP1, which slows down "the release"
feverzsj
Eat lots of fibers and water, and you'll poop like a cow.
iammjm
... Would that be good? I mean that soft flat pancake thing they produce. My general approach so far was to aim fora not too soft, not too hard kind of poop. Like a one that slides out of you with minimal wiping needed afterward. Like what would be the gold standard for poop consistency?
Grp1
this post needs an enema
bregma
I find I can't keep it down for more than a few minutes. I guess I can eat all the poop I want and stay healthy then?
sans_souse
[flagged]
delis-thumbs-7e
In that case you really should go and see a doctor ASAP.
fny
Headline is megaclickbait. The research is about how healthier gut microbiomes correlate with improved pooping and nothing about how it impacts your health.
mplanchard
From the article’s “key takeaways”:
> By considering interindividual and intraindividual differences in transit time in human studies, diet–microbiota interactions and disease-related microbiome signatures may be better elucidated.
There is also an entire section entitled “The role of gut transit time in health and disease”
fny
None of this is summarized in the posted article. It's in the research paper which I didn't read because the article seemed like fluff.
mplanchard
Seems presumptuous to make assertions about what’s in the research if you haven’t read it
I did quite some experimenting with this.
Fruit moves fastest and green leaves. Meat, cheese, oil and fats slowest.
But we often eat combinations: and the slowest component of your food determines the speed of the whole.
Also: it's a one lane road and "over taking" is not possible.
So, eating a fast moving meal after a slow moving meal results in the fast mover getting stuck behind the slow mover.
Hence I start my day without and slow food (only fruit, herbs, green leaves, spices, ginger => usually a smoothy); and end the day with slow food (oily food, nuts, seeds, beans; usually combined with green leaves as we need a lot green leaves).
YMMV