Gut Bacteria and Weight Loss

There’s a lot of great information pouring in regarding gut bacteria and weight loss. It is said we have 100 Trillion bacteria living in and on our bodies. That’s 10x the amount of our body cells!! So, we really are only 10% human.
Here at tonicquest, we’ve learned some interesting things so far about these bugs in our gut. Here’s a list that we will report on as we learn more. Start to research how the bacteria in your gut are creating the youthful tonics you need for everlasting health, youth and beauty:

Gut bacteria are broken into to main types: Fat people have one and skinny people generally have the other.

In lab experiments, if you transplant the fat bacteria into skinny mice, they get fat. If you put the skinny bacteria in fat mice, they get skinny.

The fat bacteria love sugar and carbs.

In order to continue to thrive, the fat bacteria will make you crave carbs and fat. Isn’t that crazy? However, it makes sense. If you have 10x more bacteria on and in your body than human cells, the bacteria are controlling you!!

The bacteria are controlling how you think, how you feel, what you crave and what you do!!

They do this because they want to survive and they want you to do what they want to ensure their health and the health and longevity of their species and offspring.

That’s crazy!!!!!!!!! But true, according to the latest research.

Fat bacteria create more calories out of the fiber and fats in your diet. Read that again, the bacteria in your gut are creating more calories from the food you eat than the skinny bacteria. The reason is that these bacteria are fermenting the fiber in your intestines. The fat bacteria do a more thorough job of these and are releasing more calories in your system!

These fat bacteria also create an inflammation cascade causing all kinds of aches and pains and diseases.

If you are obese or know someone who is obese, it’s not your fault or their fault! The bacteria they have inside them is a huge huge huge reason for the extra fat and fluids in their abdomens and body.

Fortunately, there is a way to influence which bacteria you have inside you.

Increase effectiveness of medications with Long Pepper

Be careful when dosing medications and eating spices and herbs like Long Pepper. These substances can slow down the breakdown and removal of some substances increasing the amount that gets in your blood. This has the added benefit of lowering your dosage. Many people save money dosing PDE-5 inhibitors like Cialis and Viagra by taking some Long Pepper with it.

Long Pepper (Piper Longum) or “Pippali” is a spice and medicinal that has a long history of use in asia for a variety of ailments. It’s considered a powerful aphrodisiac and a tonic for the whole body, especially the digestive system.
It looks like this and you can buy them in online or in indian supermarket where they sell herbs and spices:

Piper Longum or Pippali
Piper Longum or Pippali

Did you know that if you take turmeric with Long Pepper you will absorb the active ingredient curcumin 2000% better than when taken alone?

You can read about that here..

The article states that One study found that when even 2g of curcumin was ingested, its serum levels were very low. However, when 20mg piperine was added to curcumin the bioavailability increased by 2000%. The bioavailability, serum levels and levels of absorption of curcumin all improved dramatically. Thus, if one takes turmeric, most of it is unutilized unless supplemented by addons such as black pepper.

As stated above, the ability to absorb more curcumin fromm turmeric is due to long pepper slowing down the breakdown and removal of curcumin in the body, so more is absorbed.

It’s very possible to overdose on your medication if you’re not aware of this fact. Grapefruit is another seemingly innocuous substance that can overdose your medication. Grapefruit juice also slows down the removal of some medications in your body and thereby increase the absorption rate.

On the flip side, you can increase the effectiveness of medications with Long Pepper. Especially if some of those substances are hard to absorb. Do your research and always check with your doctor first.

Bone Broth For Great Health

Bone Broth for superb health. What is bone broth? It’s what many cultures call “soup stock”. It’s not the broth you buy in a can or carton at the supermarket. Real bone broth is made from….bones and other gelatinous parts of beef, pig, goat, chicken, fish etc. I’ve been reading about bone broth being great for bringing your gut back to health. The gelatin and other amino acids reportedly heal the lining of your intestines. It’s great for people who suffer from IBS, Crohns, SIBO, colitis, gastritis and other gastro-intestinal complaints.
The gelatinous liquid is not only soothing to the internal lining of the digestive system, research is indicating that perhaps the gelatin is feeding the good bacteria in your gut.
It’s naturally salty and can be drunk alone as a tea or tonic several times a day. When you drink it, your body knows it needs it.
I bought several soup bones from a local butcher. I put a few in a slow cooker with a piece of cow foot.

Main ingredients for bone broth

Add a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and cut up a leek. You can add crushed garlic, ginger or other herbs. However, I feel it’s best to keep it simple. Add water to cover and let the slow cooker do its magic for 24-48 hours.
Some recipes say to skim the junk that floats to the top in the first couple of hours, however, I haven’t seen it yet in two batches.
When it’s done, you can strain into glass jars and refrigerate. I use mine pretty quickly, so I don’t need to freeze it but you can freeze it for longer storage.
Here’s the cool part: When it cools in the fridge, the fat will solidify on top of the gelatinous broth. You can separate it easily if you’re not interested in drinking fat. The jury is still out on that. Some people swear by it, some people swear equally that you should discard it or cook with it.
If your broth is not turning into gelatin in the fridge, it’s because you haven’t added any bones that contain cartilage or other connective tissue like tendon or cartilage. Use beef tendon, cow foot or knees, oxtail etc. to get the healthy gelatin.
And remember the vinegar! It is said to be required to help get the calcium, magnesium and other minerals out of the bones.
Add this healing elixir to your daily routine. Your skin, hair and gut will appreciate it!

Bigger Balls Shinier Hair With….Yogurt!

Here’s an interesting research study.
Scientists researching the effects of yogurt on obesity and weight loss fed two groups of mice a Junk Food Diet and a Regular Diet. Then they gave half the mice in each group extra vanilla yogurt.
The mice eating the yogurt grew bigger testicles, had shinier hair and a “swagger” about them. They mated with more females and got to them faster than their counterparts who did not have yogurt.
What does this mean? The researchers think it was due to the probiotics in the yogurt.
They probably need to do more studies to figure out if yogurt increased testosterone or grew the testicles through some other mechanism.
According to the article:
Reflecting on their unpublished results, Erdman and Alm think that the probiotic microbes in the yogurt help to make the animals leaner and healthier, which indirectly improves sexual machismo.
The findings could have implications for human fertility. In ongoing work, a team led by Harvard nutritional epidemiologist Jorge Chavarro has looked at the association between yogurt intake and semen quality in men. “So far our preliminary findings are consistent with what they see in the mice,” Chavarro says.

Bigger Balls Shinier Hair With….Yogurt!

Coconut Milk Kefir

I was really enjoying making my milk based kefir. I got the ratios correct to make creamy, sour milk kefir that was not only delicious, but good for you. Then I saw the video, Forks Over Knives. Suddenly, my delicious and healthy probiotic dairy drink didn’t seem so healthy. For those of you who are not aware of this video, it’s a must see. It’s available on Netflix.
The video is all about how we should be eating a plant based diet and eschew any animal based products from our diets. Doing so can virtually start to eliminate risks for so many diseases that affect us. It’s never too late to start!
But this isn’t about a vegetarian diet and it’s health benefits. It’s about Coconut Milk Kefir and how darn good it tastes!
So, take those milk kefir grains and instead of adding fresh milk, add a can of coconut milk. It will be ready in 24-36 hours depending on how much kefir grain and coconut milke you use. I used to think there were alot of calories in coconut milk until a checked yesterday. A can of coconut milk only has about 200 calories. There’s a good video at this site that shows you how easy it is to make.
I think Coconut Milk Kefir is a great compromise. You get the super benefits of probiotics and the great health benefits of coconut fat..and you don’t consume dairy products.
Try it!

Kefir Vivid Dreams

I’m still working out how to make kefir. I put too much milk one time and the kefir was a little watery. One night this week I made it perfectly. The next day it was creamy and fizzy..something like a light beer mixed with creamy milk. Sounds weird, but it was delicious. However, one thing I noticed was extremely vivid dreams..I mean full length feature films all night.
I’m curious about the gut/dreaming connection. I noticed a lot of people on the net are reporting vivid dreams and probiotics. Home-made kefir is a super probiotic. Kefir Vivid Dreams Try it!

Kefir-Supercharge your gut!

Most people know yogurt, but not many people know Kefir. Kefir has almost 10x as much probiotic power than yogurt, and it’s really easy to make.
First, get some Kefir cultures. They look like this:

And you can get them here from Fusion Teas on Amazon
Then get some whole milk and add these to them. Let it sit overnight in a glass jar and you’ll have some awesome, tangy life giving liquid. Like it stronger? Let it stand 24-48 hours.
Strain out the grains (they would have grown a little) and add them to a new batch of milk.
I like the idea of trillions of beneficial bacteria vs billions in yogurt. These bacteria make vitamins in your gut and can cure lactose intolerance!

My first batch tasted pretty good but will need to keep working at it. The Kefir grains reportedly will last forever!

Know your turmeric

I found out there are many forms of turmeric. Some sources indicate there are over 70 different types of this wonderful herb used in cooking and medicine. Many people are familiar with the popular type used in most curries and other recipes. It is sometimes called “Madras.” It contains the main chemical curcumin, which is the star of this herb due to it’s anti-inflammtory, anti-bacterial and overall healing properties. There are thousands of studies of this chemical and herb that you can read about on the net.
However, I recently learned there’s another main form of this herb called “Allepey”. It’s a darker orange color and has about 6.5% curcumin vs 3.5% for Madras turmeric.
The lesson here is find out what kind of turmeric your application or recipe calls for. Allepey turmeric has a different taste and aroma since it’s much stronger than Madras turmeric.
You can buy both versions of the spice at my favorite shop in NYC, Kalustyans.
This site has a good overview of the different types of turmeric.

A Tasty Way To Take Turmeric

Turmeric is a “must have” addition to your health regimen. The research abounds with reports of reduced inflammation and many other benefits for the immune system.

Turmeric powder

Turmeric is a main ingredient in curry, however, you don’t need to make or buy curry to enjoy it’s health benefits.
Here’s a great way to take a teaspoon or two of turmeric:
Scramble two or three raw eggs with a couple teaspoons of turmeric powder and cook your eggs as usual.
Turmeric is often used as a dye, so your eggs will have a beautiful orange color.
It’s a tasty way to take turmeric!

Make Your Own Chinese Spring Wine Tonic

The chinese are well known for making tonics for drinking and for applying to injuries. Anyone who has practiced chinese martial arts is familiar with ‘dit da jow’ or ‘hit medicine’. Dit da jow is usually a secret combination of herbs soaked in alcohol for several months to years and applied to injuries to speed up healing.

Taken internally, the tonics are often called ‘Spring Wine’. You can make your own chinese tonic spring wine with just a little bit of money and lots of time! I believe these home brews are much more powerful than anything you can buy in a bottle or pill at an herb shop.

I love to drink Shou Wu Chih and decided to make my own a few months ago. I bought a bottle in a chinatown herb shop and asked the owner to make up a batch of the raw herbs so I can soak them in rice wine and enjoy a fresh powerful home made batch. I had to buy 4 bottles of the highest percentage alcohol (38%) rice wine at the liquor store around the corner. When I got home, I added a bit of Rou Cong Gong, baji tian, du zhong and American Ginseng to add some kick to it. I tried a bit the other day to see how it was progressing and it was powerful! First of all, I slept like a baby after drinking a few shots. It was so strong, I had to mix some raw honey in there to make it palatable. Also, I have to say that this stuff increases nitric oxide production in the body. After a few days on this, my thinking was clearer, I easily felt 10 years younger. It makes you feel strong and powerful. So now I have a gallon of this stuff to work through! I didn’t measure my testosterone levels, but if I had to go by physical indicators, this stuff boosts testosterone levels!!

So, not stopping there, I found a great recipe for another batch here. This site has a jpg you can print out with the formula. It costs $15 in the united states to make up this batch (plus the alcohol). The owner remarked that this was a great formula and was really impressed that came in the store with it. However, I wanted to kick it up a few more notches. I added deer anter glue, korean ginseng, shou wu (fo ti) and goji berries. The blogger, happyhomemaker88 also had the same idea to add goji berries but complained they soaked up a bit of the wine.

The herbalist was impressed with my knowledge of chinese herbs and confirmed those were good additions. I wanted to do even more but was told “enough”..it was strong enough! Now I have to let this stuff soak a few months. I’ll try an early taste in 2-3 months and give a good 6 months.

Pure Green Coffee Bean Extract

Green Coffee Bean Extract is getting a lot of attention now. Even Dr. Oz jumped on the bandwagon. He gave it to two fans of his show to take for five days. One girl lost two pounds and another lost 6. A pound a day.
Check this out this clip from youtube:

I also read that Green Coffee Bean Extract may potentiate nitric oxide! This amazing stuff lowers blood sugar and increases nitric oxide.

It is recommended that you take two 400 mg capsules twice a day before a meal. This will slow the release of sugar into your blood stream and theoretically slow down the fat creation process.

I’m excited about losing about a pound a day..what about you?

Gastritis Cure And Remedies

Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining. It can be extremely uncomfortable. Symptoms can include abdominal/stomach pain, indigestion, a feeling of “fullness”, cramping or flutter sensations near the top of the stomach or just simply a feeling that something is just wrong.

The first step is to stop self-medicating and seek the advice of a gastroenterologist. Depending on the doc and their approach to handling this frustrating problem, you may have an upper endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis. When you have an endoscopy, they will put you to sleep and slide a tube down your throat equipped with a camera to view your stomach lining. Compared to other procedures, this one is quite simple and relatively risk free. The great thing about this procedure is the doctor can rule out any serious problems that could be causing the same symptoms. Untreated gastritis could lead to ulcers and worse things, so it’s something you want to address urgently and completely. The doc may take some tissue samples to find out if you are infected with a bacteria called h. pylori. Anyway, don’t mess around with your health and get this checked out.

After you received your diagnosis, you have to stop doing the things that have irritated your stomach. If your doc said you have a bacterial infection, then you’ll have to take some antibiotics. If you don’t have an infection, it may take some sleuthing to find out what is causing your problem. The most common things are excessive alcohol consumption (which tends to dissolve your stomach mucosa and expose the tissue to stomach acid). The next most common irritant is smoking. Stress can also hurt you as well as too much coffee, flours, certain medications like nsaids or irritants, chemicals and believe it or not, certain vitamins like Vitamin C in high doses.

Because your stomach is now irritated, your doc will most likely prescribe an acid blocker like aciphex. Although, I personally dislike the idea of taking an acid blocker, it’s a quick way to stop irritating your stomach. If you stop irritating your stomach by quitting coffee and stopping the other things, you’ll be off the acid blockers in no time at all.

I have discovered some simple natural remedies that can heal your stomach quickly. I’ll write about these in future posts.

It can take several months to heal gastritis. With patience, following a simple diet and the remedies I outline,you’ll be off the medication quickly and you’ll have a brand new stomach. You’ll feel like a million bucks!