Podcast Review: Your Microbiome Determines The Aging Process

Do you listen to podcasts? I’m obsessed!

There is so much information out there for us to learn new things and expand our minds. Lately I have been listening to The Mind Body Green with Jason Wachob that was recommended to be by a client. They take deep dives into different aspects of wellness like, intermittent fasting, brain health, self care and so much more.

This episode I am writing about is called “Why You Need To Wash Your Brain”. The doctor being interviewed is a world renowned brain surgeon who believes that it is our gut microbiome that is the reason for illness, inflammation and aging.

Dr Steve Gundry says that fasting for long periods of time daily (about 14-16hrs) allows the brain to shrink (during sleep). When the brain does this, it is releasing toxins and microorganisms that need to be flushed out for optimum health and vitality.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Here are the major key takeaways from this podcast:

1.Our genes have less than 10% control over the aging process. We have many genes that make us human, 99% of those genes are not even human, they are Microbiome. mi·cro·bi·ome /ˌmīkrōˈbīōme

2.The microorganisms in a particular environment (including the body or a part of the body).”we depend on a vast army of microbes to stay alive: a microbiome that protects us against germs, breaks down food to release energy, and produces vitamins”

The combined genetic material of the microorganisms in a particular environment.”understanding the microbiome—human, animal, and environmental—is as important as the human genome”

4.There have been studies done on identical twins where the findings show that the microbiome comes from lifestyle, not genetics. This proves the point that the foods we eat and lifestyle we live determine our overall health and aging process.

4.Eating a Mediterranean diet significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and increases the health of the micro biome. Dr Gundry says we should eat like “A gorilla who lives in Italy”, meaning we should eat a ton of olive oil, lots of plants, red wine and balsamic vinegar.

5.Growth Hormones do not promote youthfulness and vitality. So all of those collagen supplements/powders are not doing much at all. When we use growth factors on the skin, we are usually infusing them via micro channels much deeper into the layers of skin, stimulating the skins natural wound response. Therefore creating more collagen and elastin. Those powders don’t even make it to the skin, its mostly excreted out of the body.

6.Keep your metabolic rate low. Do not stay in a state of always burning fuel. He uses the analogy of a Lamborghini vs a Prius. The Lambo is going to go fast but it will burn out quickly. The Prius will go farther but at a much slower pace. This made a lot of sense to me, we all need to slow down in life instead of rushing here to there all the time.

7.Intermittent fasting allows the body to heal and repair itself and create new stem cells. Healing takes energy and if the body is always breaking down food, there is no energy going towards repairing damaged cells, organs etc…The body is extremely intelligent, it knows what to do if given the space and time to do it.

8.We don’t need a lot of iron as we age. Iron “rusts” the body. No cast iron skillets, no red meat.

9.Milk has huge amounts of insulin growth factors, not good for humans.

10.People who eat the least amount of meat, live the longest.

11.Our micro biome is made of 100 trillion microorganisms that live in and on us. Most of them like in the gut which is the length of a tennis court. The gut wall is only 1 cell thick and it communicates with the micro biome.

12.The gut wall is created by single cells that chain together. On the other side of the wall is 65% of our white blood cells. Our Immune System. When this wall is ruptured or damaged, we get inflammation in the body. In order to reduce inflammation, we have to seal the wall of the gut.

All disease begins in the gut.

Dr Gundry suggests Intermittent Fasting. I have always fasted for long periods of time, about 15-16hrs a day. I try to stop eating at night by 7-8 and I don’t eat anything until 12-2 the next day. I do have my green tea with coconut milk every morning, and I take my mug to work to sip throughout the day, but I don’t have any food until much later.

Doing this allows the body to repair itself and create new stem cells. The body needs energy to create stem cells in the digestive tract, and if it is using this energy to digest food, it will not have enough to heal itself.

We need Vitamin D to create to create new stem cells that seal and repair the gut. People with auto-immune diseases may need up to 45,000IU a day until the body is normalized. Earlier this year I had a routine blood test done checking cholesterol and Vitamin levels. Found out that I am low on Vitamin D and the doctor suggested I take 1,000-2,000IU a day.

After listening to this podcast I began taking about 5,000IU a day, and I feel great! I sleep well, my digestion is great and my energy is sustained throughout the day. I used to crash by 3pm.

I decided to go for the liquid version because it absorbs better and faster.
Here is the one I am using now.

Lastly, the most important ingredient in youth and vitality is SLEEP. During deep sleep, the brain shrinks and releases toxins and proteins that accumulate everyday. If you don’t sleep well, these toxins build up. If you eat close to bedtime, the brain is not able to go through this process. The longer you can go without eating, the better. Some people fast for days at a time. It’s never too late! 90% of all of our cells recycle themselves every 3 months.

If you heal the gut, you increase youth, longevity, and vitality.