The views couldn’t be more majestic. The elegant Buchinger Wilhelmi medical health retreat in Germany overlooks the wooded shores of Lake Constance and the soaring snow-capped peaks of the Alps and my ten-day stay will cost more than £3,817.
However, I do not dedicate myself to luxurious matters, but to less edifying matters. After checking in, almost the first thing I do is present a bearded, rather serious-looking scientist with a stool sample (there’s no way to put this more delicately) which he then carries on a bed of dry ice to a top-notch Swiss laboratory.
Not your usual spa treatment, of course. But the fact is that this little gift of mine can offer a gold mine of information. By analyzing it, the doctors at the clinic can produce a snapshot of my immune and digestive systems and detect any inflammation before it becomes a problem. Best of all, cutting-edge science can use it to radically overhaul my gut bacteria (or microbiome) to give me a complete health reset.
The elegant Buchinger Wilhelmi medical health center in Germany overlooks the forested shores of Lake Constance and the soaring snow-capped peaks of the Alps.
The concept of taking “readings” of the least glamorous body function is not new, but it is becoming increasingly popular.
If you’ve dismissively dismissed poop as simply dangerous waste, it’s time to reconsider. Every time you flush the toilet, you’re not only emptying the bowl, you’re sending billions of bacteria and other organisms down the drain. Our waste contains encrypted information about the state of our health, and deciphering it is generating great enthusiasm in the scientific community.
On top of that, it is also a booming business. You can buy anything from a Self Check gut health test kit from Superdrug for £14.99 which checks for blood in stool as a possible early warning of bowel cancer, to a £695 GI360 test from a UK practitioner. functional medicine like Pippa Campbell, nutrition specialist. , specialist in weight loss and nutrigenomics.
You can buy anything from a Self Check gut health test kit from Superdrug for £14.99 which looks for blood in your stool as a possible early warning of bowel cancer.
This three-day, four-sample extravaganza is not for the faint-hearted, as it involves storing droppings in the refrigerator. But if you’re experiencing health problems, such as joint pain, brain fog, bloating, or persistent infections, your gut, along with more comprehensive health monitoring, can provide answers.
And at this very moment, thousands of stool samples are flying through the UK postal system, like some kind of grand Deliverpoo experiment, largely thanks to the burgeoning Zoe programme, which offers personalized nutrition plans via an app based on a stool test and readings. of a continuous blood glucose monitor.
“To date, we have analyzed more than 100,000 poop samples,” says Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of Zoe. Using her database of results, Zoe is now creating what Spector calls “the most detailed and deep map of gut bacteria available,” which is “increasing our understanding of how diet affects microbiome health.”
In turn, that work is expanding our knowledge about the role gut bacteria play in promoting or protecting against a number of health conditions, including dementia, heart disease and depression.
The concept of taking “readings” of the least glamorous body function is not new, but it is becoming increasingly popular.
That’s why I’m in Germany, about to embark on a ten-day, medically supervised fasting and “refeeding” program. The idea is that fasting will allow any bad bacteria you harbor to die (they can’t survive without food) and then when you start eating again, you can help the good bacteria flourish by eating the right foods. .
“When the microbiota is deeply depleted through fasting, it creates a window of opportunity to allow good, health-promoting bacteria to grow by selecting for good food,” explains Dr. Robin Mesnage, scientific director of the clinic. You can style this natural selection of good bugs with a plant-based diet (her favorite) that is full of antioxidants and fiber.
For my refeeding days I can expect prunes, radicchio, spelled porridge, pumpkin soup, apple, sauerkraut, cottage cheese and beetroot. Go ahead!
The £695 GI360 stool test. This three-day, four-sample extravaganza is not for the faint-hearted as it involves storing droppings in the fridge.
I take the test before fasting and am pleased to discover that I have a varied microbiome and that the lining of my gut (the immune system’s first line of defense) is healthily robust.
“In a world dominated by unhealthy lifestyles and poor nutrition, it is more common to have a poor gut health profile than a healthy one,” says Dr. Mesnage. “Overall, you should be happy.”
However, there is always room for improvement and he suggests that I consume more milk and fermented vegetables, such as kefir and kimchi, which would help increase my low bifidobacteria and lactobacilli bacteria numbers. Among other things, these good bugs are the main producers of the sleep-promoting neurotransmitter GABA, which can help with insomnia.
Dr. Mesnage also recommends adding more fermented foods and fiber from a variety of whole plant foods to my diet to feed my good bugs and keep my poop moving more efficiently.
A month later, I’m still growing my gut garden. I haven’t consumed alcohol, refined sugar or ultra-processed foods for four weeks, as they would feed harmful bugs, and I’ve tried to eat as much variety of plants as possible to grow as many bacteria as possible on my skin. my internal team. I don’t like to brag, but these days I get a perfect score on the Bristol stool chart, which doctors use to help assess how long stool has spent in the intestine. And I feel different: clearer in the head and lighter in both gut and mind and without the bloat I thought was just part of my lot in middle age.
Of course, you don’t need to fly to Germany and spend thousands of dollars to improve your own gut microbiome. The clinic can come to you with a 5-day Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting box (€199, £170) to make at home, including soups, teas, supplements and compotes. And it’s not really necessary either: small changes like increasing the variety of plant foods, reducing alcohol and sugar consumption and, in particular, the 16-8 intermittent fasting method (fasting for 16 hours a day and eating all meals in ( an eight-hour window, in which skipping dinner is more beneficial than skipping breakfast, according to Dr. Mesnage) can have a big impact.
A month later, I’m still growing my gut garden. I haven’t consumed alcohol, refined sugar or ultra-processed foods for four weeks.
Meanwhile, science is developing rapidly.
“At the moment (at Zoe) we only look predominantly at bacteria,” says Professor Spector. ‘But other microbes are likely to be important too. For example, intestinal viruses called bacteriophages outnumber our intestinal bacteria, and we also harbor a variety of intestinal fungi. We know relatively little about how these other microorganisms influence health.’
The next step is surely the toilets that also ‘read’ what you deposit in them. “Our colleagues at Stanford are working on this right now,” he says.
Forget worrying about whether your bathroom should be classic white or trendy (again) avocado: Given the pace of technology, your next bathroom renovation might include one that advises you to eat more sprouts and cut back on Chardonnay. Stunning views of the Alps not included.
- A 10-day fasting stay at Buchinger Wilhelmi costs from €3,900 (£3,328) and gut microbiome testing costs €570 (£489) www.buchinger-wilhelmi.com
