An old Microsoft work colleague also came down with an autoimmune condition and remedy it with the use of probiotics, story below. We had some good times together in London, Dublin etc. prior to autoimmune issues.

I have added his products to the list of probiotic mixture (and given two with the same rating — would definitely prefer his because he uses only strains cited in research studies).

One of his offerings, Gut Prep, I noticed included PreforPro with Bacillus subtilis (which is sweet, because unlike the more common Bacillus Coagulans, it is not a histamine producer). PreforPro is made by Deerland.

Biophages are virus that are extremely specific for certain bacteria. Almost all that are available in the U.S. are specific to Escherichia coli.

This specific combination was study in 2019, PHAGE Study: Effects of Supplemental Bacteriophage Intake on Inflammation and Gut Microbiota in Healthy Adults . This does not mean that’s its impact is only on E.Coli, because E.Coli helps or hinders other bacteria

This generally agrees with DataPunk’s summary

What they actually observed is below:

The study suffers from typical problems: Done on healthy individuals only; too small study sizes (as shown below from their supplemental material).

Bottom Line

If you suggestions include Bacillus probiotics or you have a conditions associated with Escherichia coli, I would suggest giving Gut Prep, a try.

Needless to say, DO NOT take with Mutaflor or SymbioFlor-2 probiotics.

I will be adding this to the AI engine database later this week.

Some 4 years ago, I revisited a therapy advocated by Dr. Cheney back in 1998 in a post on the Bounce Back Chair. Today, a similar item crossed my email: “Whole Body Vibration-Induced Omental Macrophage Polarization and Fecal Microbiome Modification in a Murine Model” [2019]

The key aspect is that it results in modification of the microbiome.

Oh to be a mouse..

It is well known that many many studies dealing with mice do not replicate with humans. Some do. My take-away from the above is simple:

• Vibration appear to help the microbiome,
• The vibration may well trigger exercise like responses from the microbiome.

If we run with this hypothesis, then all of the following may be beneficial:

• Walking in place or other light activity causing bounce
• Skipping rope (if you still have coordination)
• Rebounder Chair
• Whole body vibrator
• Massaging chair
• Trampoline

From the study: 20 min/day for 7 days per week for 4 weeks 

Changes in blood glucose among trained normoglycemic adults during a mini-trampoline exercise session.[2016]

When dealing with Gut/Microbiome issues, people tend to disconnect that the mouth and the gut are connected beyond one passing food to the other. They are often viewed as independent and isolated systems. This is dangerously untrue.

For ME/CFS, your mouth bacteria is different than a healthy person:  Chronic fatigue syndrome patients have alterations in their oral microbiome composition and function. [Sep 2018].

And across a much wider spectrum we read:

• Association between periodontal pathogens and systemic disease.[2019]
• Chronic oral infection: An emerging risk factor of cerebral small vessel disease.[2019]
• Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontitis causing bacterium, induces memory impairment and age-dependent neuroinflammation in mice.[2018]
• Porphyromonas gingivalis in Alzheimer’s disease brains: Evidence for disease causation and treatment with small-molecule inhibitors. [2019]

In terms of correcting this in myself, I am following the advice that I wrote in this earlier post: (I covered available commercial oral probiotics in a 2014 post also)

• A scope of monolaurin into the mouth and chews until it is fully dissolved – nasty strong taste, but you get use to it.
• Sublingual (dissolve under tongue) B-12
• Using sublingually the following probiotics that come as tablets:
  • miyarisan
  • shin biofermin (jp) /s
• Symbioflor-1 – per instructions!~

Replace your toothpaste!

Recently, we (for other reasons) decided to swing over to old-fashion homemade toothpaste. Dr.Axe has some formula, from the choices (checking each against what bacteria it modifies and suggestions) I came up with

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2–4 tablespoons baking soda or a combination of baking soda and sea salt
• 20 drops peppermint essential oil (flavonoids in it are recommended for me)
• small glass jar

Dr. Axe also lists a ton of issues with commercial toothpaste, for example, Triclosan:

Triclosan exposure is practically unavoidable in the United States, but little is known how ingestion may affect our health. Yang and colleagues used mouse models of colitis and colon cancer to see how brief exposures of triclosan could affect inflammation. They observed that triclosan altered mouse gut microbiota and increased inflammation in a TLR4-dependent manner. Triclosan increased the severity of colitis symptoms and spurred colitis-associated colon cancer cell growth. 

A common antimicrobial additive increases colonic inflammation and colitis-associated colon tumorigenesis in mice [2018]

Natural Source does mean it is safe..

Mouth Wash – Keep the Breath Sweet and the gut Sick!

There are many sites that have formula similar to the above toothpaste. Although you just rinse and spit with commercial mouth wash — some will cling and eventually makes it way to the gut … oh, yes, remember we are also talking about the mouth bacteria — which is constantly acting as a reserve to repopulate the gut… Perhaps not such a good idea after all.

This site reported (via Citizen Science) that dry mouth is associated with a distinctive gut microbiome pattern. The logical conclusion is that the bacteria in the oral cavity causing dry mouth is seeding the digestive system with bacteria that results in the discovered shift.

A reader forwarded to me a blog post, Could Fisetin Be A New Treatment for ME/CFS and Autism? The name fisetin did not ring any bells for me (so it is not someone’s bright idea being recycled for the nth time); when there is something new showing up I want to do a quick fast analysis. This is below. For full declaration, I have just ordered some for a few people close to me with mast cell and multiple chemical sensitivity issues. The down side risk for the upside potential made it an easy decision.

In my very first post on this site, I reported that I have a remarkable response to high dose biotin.  It reduces my ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) symptoms like severe fatigue and the mental confusion that people with ME/CFS call brain fog.  It also reduces my autistic symptoms, relieving anxiety and irritability while improving my ability to read people.

Could Fisetin Be A New Treatment for ME/CFS and Autism? 2019/07/23

Fisetin is a polyphenol belonging to the flavonoid group. It is not in the data from United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service, nor can I find it on that site. It is mentioned in over 700 studies on PubMed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Fisetin . A lot of these studies are less than 2 years old.

• Antibiofilm and Antivirulence Efficacies of Flavonoids and Curcumin Against Acinetobacter baumannii. [2019] – effective against bioflims
• Fisetin and telmisartan each alone or in low-dose combination alleviate OVA-induced food allergy in mice. [2019] “attenuated the anaphylactic manifestation, decreased blood eosinophilic count, serum OVA-specific IgE, and IL-4 levels, the intestinal total and degranulated mast cells count, and CD4+ immunohistochemical expression.”
• Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan.[2018] “Of the 10 flavonoids tested, fisetin was the most potent senolytic… Administration of fisetin to wild-type mice late in life restored tissue homeostasis, reduced age-related pathology, and extended median and maximum lifespan.” 
• Fisetin Lowers Streptococcus suis serotype 2 Pathogenicity in Mice by Inhibiting the Hemolytic Activity of Suilysin. [2018]
• Fisetin Attenuates Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice Challenged with a High-Fructose Diet. [2018]
• 6.
• Antiallergic effect of fisetin on IgE-mediated mast cell activation in vitro and on passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA). [3027]
• Neuroprotective Effects of Fisetin in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases: From Chemistry to Medicine. [2016] “Fisetin is one of the most common and bioactive flavonoids which possesses potential neuroprotective effects. Fisetin also enhances learning and memory, decreases neuronal cell death, and suppresses oxidative stress.”
• Fisetin regulates obesity by targeting mTORC1 signaling. [2013]
• Flavonols enhanced production of anti-inflammatory substance(s) by Bifidobacterium adolescentis: prebiotic actions of galangin, quercetin, and fisetin. [2013] ”  These findings indicate that flavonols have a prebiotic-like effect on the anti-inflammatory activity of B. adolescentis. “
• Anti-inflammatory activity of fisetin in human mast cells (HMC-1). [2007]
• Flavonoids such as luteolin, fisetin and apigenin are inhibitors of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 production by activated human basophils. [2004]
• The antidepressant-like effect of fisetin involves the serotonergic and noradrenergic system. [2012]
• Flavonoid inhibition of human basophil histamine release stimulated by various agents. [1984]
• Antibacterial effect of fisetin and fisetinidin. [1966]

Bottom Line

There are no direct studies on it’s impact on the microbiome, hence it cannot be added to the microbiome prescription site. In terms of ME/CFS it is well documented to help some key factors (beyond the above blogger’s observations).

• Neuroprotective
• Anti-histamine / reduce mast cell activation
• Antidepressant (which suggests it acts against the bacteria associated with depression)
• Anti-inflammatory

It is a viable supplement to buy one bottle and see what the effects are. Remember to post your experience here.

Lots of Strawberries or supplements?

This is a classic question for most supplements — get it from a natural source or get it as a supplement. The typical supplement is 100 milligrams, 1 gram of strawberries provides 160 μg (micro grams) so to get the same amount means consuming 100,000 grams of strawberries (or 220 lbs of strawberries PER DAY).

This is useful for those who multiple report and wish to see what is trending. On the [Compare Samples to Each Other] page

Below I have all of my samples being included and picked a few interesting charts for illustration. The Outlier line is from BoxPlot methodology and when crossed, suggests something may be interesting.