Your preferred probiotic or eating style

[OuchThatHurts]

We talk here a lot about what we eat or how much, how often, but very little about how we eat. Been reading this book The Mind-Gut Connection by Mayer, MD (Gastroenterology) and the dialog between the gut and mind is just huge. Enormous. I feel as though I've almost totally overlooked this connection for far too long and have dealt my gut almost a constant barrage of insults daily.

Yet so much of our mood, health, and well-being depend on this "2nd brain". So many things to mention, e.g. there are more endocrine cells in your gut than all of the endocrine glands in your body combined, 95% of serotonin resides in your gut, dopamine, even bacteria that live in your gut release healthy chemicals. I could go on for pages.

Do you eat meals that look appetizing, have great texture, pleasant aroma? Do you eat slowly, savoring the meal in a relaxed setting and/or relax before you begin to eat or do you woof down food on the run? I ask because all these things in terms of macrobiota and the chenicals they produce can actually make you feel better, extend your life, increase your well-being.

So what is the gold standard probiotic for you? Would you eat Mediterranean style, Pacific Islander, North American, etc? Do you sit down to eat or eat "to go"?

 

[Jgardn14]

5 days a week I eat bland and prepacked
Meals. I eat at my desk at work. On the weekends though, I spend a lot of time seasoning and cooking. It’s amazing how appetizing you can make a chicken breast when you try. I focus on playing the food and my wife loves it.

I use garden of life probiotic.

 

[buck]

I plan my meals to be centered around protein and veggies or fruit with just enough carbs to get me the calories i need. I try to get a wide range of soluble and insoluble fiber so i have my own prebiotics environment so the body can make it's own probiotics. During the day it is all heathy and at dinner i loosen things up some to have food i like but still healthy. I have a range of eating styles. Mediterranean, Asian, Hispanic, African etc. I have been eating more American type food in the last year or 2 but try to tweak it to be far more healthy.

 

[Ranchhand]

For me it's 1 cap Enzymedica Digest with sauerkraut and psyllium husk daily

 

[qbkilla]

I love to eat. Small Meals are a tease, rather not eat at all then eat a small meal. Daily calories are 3200. Imo that's 1-2 satisfying meals.

I make it work by doing if. I'll eat a meal at 3, 430 then lift. Then post workout, then before bed.

Each meal is loaded with low calorie filler to make 700 or so calories taste like more than a bite. Mushrooms, pickles, tomatoes, etc.

Very much a bulk eater. Can't understand people who say "eating is difficult" I love all food bland, clean, junk, etc.

Also make sure to get 300-400g protein so the 3200 calories is actually filling.. my new favorite thing to add is broccoli.

 

[danieltx]

I use Dr. Ohhira's probiotics. They were a client in my professional career so I know the inner workings, they're quality products. I introduced it to the board here and @heavyhitter, @Big A, and a few others have had success with it.

I don't care about the appearance of my meals, the texture, the smell, etc. I eat what sounds good to me and what will help me reach my goals, though that does come from a select list of foods that work well for me. I do make a point to chew thoroughly and eat my meals over an extended period of time (typically 25 to 45 minutes) to improve digestion, plus it just takes longer to eat meals when they're all over 1,000 calories.

 

[Hyperemia]

I use Dr. Ohhira's probiotics. They were a client in my professional career so I know the inner workings, they're quality products. I introduced it to the board here and @heavyhitter, @Big A, and a few others have had success with it.

I don't care about the appearance of my meals, the texture, the smell, etc. I eat what sounds good to me and what will help me reach my goals, though that does come from a select list of foods that work well for me. I do make a point to chew thoroughly and eat my meals over an extended period of time (typically 25 to 45 minutes) to improve digestion, plus it just takes longer to eat meals when they're all over 1,000 calories.

How many calories are you hitting these days?

 

[danieltx]

How many calories are you hitting these days?

Probably around 3,500 to 4,500 on a rest day; around 5,500 to 6,500 on training days. Normally I'm halfway through dieting right now but I'm not sure if I'm going to diet this year. I have some big opportunities at work that will open up new career paths and give me a nice raise so just holding steady right now.

 

[Gunsmith]

I use this or lactinex granules about 2x a week and eat either some sour kraut or kefir the other days.

Eating 4 meals a day now and snacking some between until I get finished with all my rehab and can get back in the gym

 

[alfresco]

Put down what ever eating utensils you are using between bites. And don’t pick them up again until you have swallowed.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Put down what ever eating utensils you are using between bites. And don’t pick them up again until you have swallowed.

I also like to dim the lights. Also gives less sense of urgency to meal. Probably why "candlelight dinners" are considered more intimate.

 

[alfresco]

I also like to dim the lights. Also gives less sense of urgency to meal. Probably why "candlelight dinners" are considered more intimate.

Was also going to say ‘hands off the table between bites’ too but I thought it might be a bit over the top (but isn’t).

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Was also going to say ‘hands off the table between bites’ too but I thought it might be a bit over the top (but isn’t).

Not at all. Good suggestions. The idea that you can actually diet your way to a better mental state should have been self-evident but passed me by. What you eat, how you eat it, the intervals, the atmosphere, the presentation, the flavor, etc, etc, etc... This is all fairly new to me. Until I got this book, I was using 50yr-old eating habits but just in the last 5-10 years so much has changed.

 

[hawkmoon]

Put down what ever eating utensils you are using between bites. And don’t pick them up again until you have swallowed.

Best practice, but I can't do it.

Long before bodybuilding I ate like someone was going to steal my food - or so my mother said.
My wife teased me yesterday for not adequately chewing the rice in my chicken curry. It's basically already a slurry after sitting for more than 3 minutes

 

[TheRoid]

My first hand experience. Yes, gut health has a terrifc effect on mood too.
I use Visbiome 450 billion and 5 oz of Kefir with every solid meal.
A fair intake of fibers, about 50/50 solubile/insoluble.

 

[bigzzz]

So slower eating is better? I always eat if someone is going to steal my food lol. Probably not chewing enough.

 

[TheRoid]

So slower eating is better? I always eat if someone is going to steal my food lol. Probably not chewing enough.

Chewing food properly is paramount.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Best practice, but I can't do it.

Long before bodybuilding I ate like someone was going to steal my food - or so my mother said.
My wife teased me yesterday for not adequately chewing the rice in my chicken curry. It's basically already a slurry after sitting for more than 3 minutes

LOL right? I hear ex military say they scarf it down too. Just out of habit. In my family my mother would make enough to go around but if we wanted seconds, the race was on! We ate like animals.

 

[alfresco]

Best practice, but I can't do it.

Long before bodybuilding I ate like someone was going to steal my food - or so my mother said.
My wife teased me yesterday for not adequately chewing the rice in my chicken curry. It's basically already a slurry after sitting for more than 3 minutes

It’s called mindfulness

 

[jcc80]

I use Dr. Ohhira's probiotics. They were a client in my professional career so I know the inner workings, they're quality products. I introduced it to the board here and @heavyhitter, @Big A, and a few others have had success with it.

I don't care about the appearance of my meals, the texture, the smell, etc. I eat what sounds good to me and what will help me reach my goals, though that does come from a select list of foods that work well for me. I do make a point to chew thoroughly and eat my meals over an extended period of time (typically 25 to 45 minutes) to improve digestion, plus it just takes longer to eat meals when they're all over 1,000 calories.

This is the second time I've read about Dr Ohirra's probiotics on here. I think heavyhitter did mention it recently in another thread. You have my attention.

I used an inexpensive probiotic for years off Amazon. Always believed in probiotics. Then it started giving my wife stomach issues... Then eventually I started getting stomach issues and stopped. I basically stopped taking a separate probiotic and tried just eating kimchi and fiber.

You notice a clear difference when using that brand of probiotic?