Week Three of the Probiotic Testing Period
January 28, 2019 through February 3, 2019
Welcome!
If this is your first time visiting the MicrobioME Project, I encourage you to check out our introductory post, “The MicroboME Project” for a thorough explanation of what we’re up to here.
In short, the MicrobioME Project is a one-man experiment in supplementation, diet, exercise, sleep, and other variables intended to track changes in my microbiome and the general state of my health, and in doing so, provide readers with a reference point they can use to make more informed decisions about their own health.
Earlier this week I posted the results of my first test conducted by Ubiome, a gene-sequencing gut microbiome testing company, establishing my “Base Case.” If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out that post, “Base Case Ubiome Test Results.”
This past period marked the third and final week of my “Probiotic Case” supplementation routine in which I held steady at the approximately 100 billion CFUs of probiotics a day I had ramped up to the week before. (see below for details).
In fact, I sent my sample to Ubiome on Friday. It is this sample that will establish the Probiotic Case I mentioned above and is intended to determine if ingesting that amount of probiotics can yield any measurabe results in the state of my microbiome, at least when it comes to the Ubiome test.
(Please note that I like to collect samples on Fridays as my weekdays are more structured than my weekends and so should limit random changes in the variables I’m trying to hold constant.)
My general and digestive health remain fine. I’ll have more to say about that in coming reviews (for example I believe the Genuine Health probiotic actually made things a little “better” for me).
My plan in the coming weeks is to hold everything else constant, including my elevated probiotic supplementation, but add large amounts of prebiotics, the food stuffs (primarily soluble fibers) that your gut microbes feed on.
Should be fun!
See below for my supplement and lifestyle data for the past week.
Overview
Very little change from last week, but that was on purpose. I held my probiotic and very modest prebiotic supplementation steady and tried to hold all the other lifestyle variables (which can have an impact on gut health) as steady as I could.
Given the difficulty of getting the same amount of sleep, the same amount of physical exercise, same diet with the same macro percentages over many weeks, I feel I’m doing reasonably well with that effort. The key is to limit large, material changes.
So far, so… not bad.
And as I mentioned above, I “feel” good, no complaints.
On to the details:
Probiotic Supplementation
Brands, CFUs (number of live organisms, see my post, “What Should I Look For in a Probiotic” for an explanation), and days of the week together with averages.
(Interested in trying some of these out for yourself? Please check out our Resource Page. All items are listed by category and available for immediate purchase through Amazon.)
Note that I provide CFU totals both at the time of manufacture and at expiration (estimated in cases where the manufacturer does not specify). I don’t typically take probiotics too close to their expiration and so you can assume my actual intake is closer to the date of manufacture, so for the past week I would assume my CFU count is probably at least 100 billion CFUs a day.
(I considered fine-tuning the numbers given how close a given bottle was to its expiration date, but as I don’t know the rate of decay, I considered that of very little utility.)
I also consume around 8 ounces of Greek Yogurt a day. Is yogurt really a probiotic? A discussion for another time. I include it here for thoroughness. Likewise, with kimchi which I’m consuming once or twice a week.
Prebiotic Supplementation
For my total fiber intake, see “Diet” below. This is specifically for prebiotic supplementation. Not all dietary fiber is considered prebiotic.
I’m holding this constant. (I will be conducting a Prebiotic Case Study starting this week in which I will drastically increase both the variety and quantity of my prebiotic intake.)
(*The LEF Prebiotic Chewable from Life Extension Foundation is made up of xylooligosaccharide.)
(Interested in trying some of these out for yourself? Please check out our Resource Page. All items are listed by category and available for immediate purchase through Amazon.)
Diet
The macro percentages only changed a percentage point or two from last week. For purposes of my Probiotic Case study, I am trying to hold these variables constant.
My fiber intake was down about 8 to 10 grams. I’ll need to watch that more closely, it usually holds pretty steady.
My fat intake remains majority plant-based, nuts and seeds and plant oils for the most part. Close to half my protein comes from shakes and bars, and are primarily whey, casein, and plant based. I should note that I do eat meat most days. A lot of chicken this past week, beef twice.
I continue to eat about a cup of blueberries a day, plus some blackberries. I also have at least one large salad and vegetables with dinner, sometimes lunch.
Fiber is about half soluble, half insoluble.
Sleep
After coming up a bit short last week, I was back to my typical sleep patterns this past week.
Activity Level
I teach regular group fitness classes as part of my wellness business so my activity level is usually pretty high. This week was typical.
Weekday caloric expenditure averaged close to 3000 Calories a day, weekends closer to 2300.
I exercised around two hours a day during the week, but keep in mind that the Apple Watch counts very modest movement as exercise, so that would be a mix of modest to high intensity (For example, walking the dog counts).
I hit the “Stand” parameters 17 hours each weekday, and closer to 15 on weekends. (Apple measures a “Stand” as moving around for at least a minute within an hour.)
Weight
This is a new data point I’m including this week. I am pretty successful at keeping my weight within a tight range, but weight can affect your microbiome so I include it here for both completeness and to make sure I remain mindful of it.
This is particularly important this time of year as I often put on a few pounds during the winter. I’m making a conscious effort to watch it this time, so this will provide further incentive to do so.
Thanks!
That it’s for this week. You’ll see some big changes next week as I gear up for my “Prebiotics Case.” Since prebiotics are basically fiber, I’m going to ramp those up slowly and see how my body tolerates it. I already consumer about 60 grams of fiber a day, which is about four times the average (but only 50% more than recommended) so this should go reasonably well.
I hope.
I suspect I’ll be on this case for three to four weeks. The results for my “Probiotics Case” should be in by then and I’ll report on those as soon as I have them.
Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to drop any comments or questions below.
Take care!
Jon
Glad you feel good with a probiotic my friends with no complaints. It’s very interesting that you put in dynamic testing like this with great results. I love that you’re doing tracking and doing it on yourself. This I believe, is the best way to go about documenting this so that others may see the positive positive results you have. Yes depositing the results every day doing the same boring things that no one else wants to do I give you credit.!
Hello,
Nice work you’re doing. It’s been a while I checked out your blog so I was happy when it popped up. Though it’s so scientific, I like to read of your daily experiences and how it affects your body. I’m looking forward to next week when you’ll be raising your fiber intake.
I’ve become an avid follower, thanks for the job you doing.
For me this is a pretty interesting article. I am diabetic and for me fiber helps rule out Carbs which is so very important. Im getting a lot of that from this article. I am going to have to keep following this experiment and see what conclusions are found.
Thank you for taking the time to start something cool and to do the research on the way. I cant wait to see the results.
dale
This is kind of a cool test (I take it?) you’re conducting over the span of a few weeks. After looking over your exercise and nutritional level, they’re very similar to mine. While I only workout at a gym between 40-60 minutes a day, my job is very physical and manual, pulling steel bars by hand which can weigh up to 100lbs over the course of eight hours. Needless to say, I’ve been ramping up my calories like none other but before taking such a position, our lifestyles had a lot of similarities. Thanks for sharing your raw numbers.
Thank you for updating this blog post and for sharing with everyone the continuation of the probiotic testing period. You consume 60grams of fiber? Isn’t that too much for your body? I never knew weight do have effect on microbiome,Thanks for providing great insight into that. I will always check back here for more updates.
Hi, Clement, 60 grams of fiber a day is a lot by modern standards, but there are indigenous people still largely untouched by modern industrial food and “western” culture who consume between 100 and 150 grams of fiber a day.
I’m thinking of making that a future experiment, but for now, I’m just adding the prebiotics. That will likely bump my fiber intake beyond 70 grams. I haven’t decided how far to go with that yet, I want to see how my body reacts.
So far, so good!
Hi Jon,I got to say, I salute you for your discipline. You inspire me to start taking my health seriously. How did you manage to come up with all the stats? Did the lab just send you all the stats that I have seen? Cannot wait to see your result on week 4. In the meantime I am going to start including some probiotics to me meals. Cheers
Hi, Nuttanee, yes, the lab sends the results, some have nice little bar charts associated with them that you saw in the piece, with helpful explanations. Some is just raw data I had to dig in to, like some of the “advanced” results.
A lot more digging to do there!
Hello! I read one of your post where you talked about inability to produce enough bacteria that speed up clothing of wounds. I am not in any way an health expert, but I understand importance of good diet and supplements. You have invested lots of time is this personal experiment, I have no idea how much you spend at Ubiome per test, but it is definitely not free.I would love to buy a few supplement through your affiliate link, it is a little way to contribute to your website and appreciate information that you are giving to the world.
Dear Jon,
Thanks for the very informative post. It is so nice you can gain your own microbiome data and know what kind bacteria in your gut.
I have some health issues and would like to carry out studies on my own microbiome. I see you need to send samples to Ubiome. I often have stomach pain in the early morning, like 5 am to 6 am. What is the best time and best way to collect samples to diagnose my stomach problem?
Regards
Anthony
Hi, Anthony, I would direct you to the Ubiome site for specific questions since they are the experts on the testing protocol, and they are very responsive if you have questions.
In general, though, I believe the best time is whenever you normally have a bowel movement on a regular, typical day. In other words, avoid huge changes in your habits that could affect your microbiome, such as an unusually large meal, an unfamiliar meal, taking antibiotics, drinking too much on a Saturday night, etc.
Just sample on a mundane normal day at your normal time.
Hi,
I have read the whole review about this information.This is really a wonderful information about MicrobioMe.I did not know anything about Microbiom before. I got to know more about this by reading your article. I believe this information will help reduce our fat and reduce weight.I will share this information with my friends.Thanks for sharing this informative information with us.
Good afternoon Jon,
This sounds very interesting this test of your one-man experiment. In this modern world, it is not easy to maintain one’s good health. The bad foods we have invented, additives, GMO, pesticides, etc. Bad air and stress, all of this force us to be well informed as medical care is not a big help.
For my gut health, I take Psyllium and Potato Starch every day. I have Kefir nearly on a daily basis. The other things you have listed also form part of my diet. Nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil, and coconut oil. Berries and other fruits plus the oranges from my organic farm I eat every day.
I wish you success with your experiment I hope it will have the outcome you have intended.
Regards, Taetske
This is great try out research. It is very informative. I believe the research findings will help in determining whether all the talks about probiotics and gut health works good as thought should. Are you going to try out specific brands of probiotics and did you test to ensure that the brand used contain life bacteria and amount significant to cause changes? I love what you are working on I will live to see what your findings will be.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi, GinaO, you might want to check out my post, “What Should I Look For in a Probiotic.” There I spell out the things I think are important including the number of CFUs in each bottle (and when!).
I’ll have more on that going forward as I write specific reviews!
Thanks, Jon, for the week 3 report.
I will have to read the 2 previous weeks to obtain a better understanding of this project.
From this post, I see that prebiotic supplementation and a focus on fat, fibre, and protein are the order of the day.
Sleep and exercise are also mentioned, as part of this experiment.
I would have expected more detail on xylooligosaccharide, and how it performs in the metabolic equation. Its chemical formula would also be appreciated so that I could do further research on this polymer of the sugar xylose.
I understand that they are produced from the xylan fraction in plant fibre.
Their C5 structure is fundamentally different from other prebiotics, which is based upon C6 sugars.
I look forward to your reply so that I can read weeks 1 and 2, and obtain a better grasp of this experiment’s purpose, to provide a better assessment of this experiment.
Paul
Hi, Paul, I have a lot of work to do with regards to spelling out the prebiotic phase of this experiment. That should all be coming in time.
I will say that xylooligosaccharide has only relatively recently been identified as a genuine prebiotic in that the “good” gut flora in your intestines can ferment it thus producing the short chain fatty acids and other compounds that are so helpful to the integrity of the inner lining of said intestines.
Please be patient, a lot more coming!