Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome

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Ray was readmitted to St Mary’s critically unwell and was soon diagnosed with Clostridium difficile (C diff) infection (officially, this bacteria has now been renamed Clostridiodes). A “hospital-acquired infection”, this disease is a complication of 20th-century medicine and an unintended consequence of Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, the first effective mass-produced antibiotic, in 1928. It is a global problem that afflicts 500,000 people in the United States each year and it kills 29,000 of them.

Dark Matter - Penguin Books UK

Though there’s still much about our microbiome we don’t understand, Dr Kinross highlights how learning about our microbiome has the potential to prevent illness, to shape how we think, how we feel and even who we choose as a partner. We eat a lot of fermented foods in our house,” says Dr Kinross, who lives in London with his wife and two children. “We have a lot of kimchi and sourdough. We try to have a meal every day with some form of fermented food. Again, this is the whole microbiome argument. It improves the richness and diversity of the gut. We really like to do that.” Do eat 30 different fruits and vegetables a week Ray’s response to his FMT treatment was just like that in the reported literature. Within three days of receiving the microbiota transplant he was out of bed. Heather described it as a miracle. If I’ve spent longer than is entirely comfortable talking about faeces, that’s because FMT is a starting point for understanding the importance of the gut microbiome to human health. The extraordinary benefit of FMT in some patients has opened the clinical world to the idea that our microbes may have an important role in the causation and treatment of diseases where their involvement runs contrary to medical science. The human microbiome has a big influence on our health and yet, rather like dark matter in cosmology, its story is still unfolding, says a tantalising book covering the future of medicine from James Kinross In his new book Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome, Dr James Kinross lays bare the mind-boggling world of what lies in our guts: the delicate ecosystem of trillions of microbial life forms that live within us all. Without us even realising, our gut’s unique ecosystem is the missing link in modern medicine and what’s more, is heavily influenced by our environment.A totally addictive and illuminating read. Compelling from beginning to end Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed, gastroenterologist and bestselling author of The Kitchen Prescription Instead, Dr Kinross recommends: “I would sit down with my doctor and ask, what medicines am I taking that I don’t really need to be on? You might be taking proton pump inhibitor medicines for changing the acidity of the gut, or any kind of unnecessary painkillers. Do I really need to be on medicines to control my blood lipid chemistry or are there things that I could change in my lifestyle that would reduce my blood cholesterol?” Some of these studies are extremely encouraging and offer treatments where few effective medical therapies exist. For example, FMT appears to be a promising treatment for irritable bowel syndrome and a recent study suggests that its benefit can last for many years: 125 patients were randomly assigned to receive either 30g or 60g of faeces from the same donor or a placebo transplant containing their own faeces. Researchers not only found that the FMT improved the symptoms, but there was a lasting benefit three years after it was given. We are a nation that is essentially drunk all the time,” says Dr Kinross. “We consume way too much alcohol. The consumption of alcohol over a chronic period of time is so bad for gut function.”

Dark Matter by James Kinross - Penguin Books New Zealand Dark Matter by James Kinross - Penguin Books New Zealand

He is increasingly interested in how the gut microbiome develops in newborn babies and the implications on our long-term health. I've long been interested in the microbiome, and have been eagerly awaiting a book that might uncover some of its mysteries. This is that book Heston Blumenthal If you want to learn more about what’s going on in your gut, the first step is to turn your poo blue. How long it takes for a muffin dyed with blue food colouring to pass through your system is a measure of your gut health: the median is 28.7 hours; longer transit times suggest your gut isn’t as healthy as it could be. We are only now beginning to understand the importance of the gut microbiome: could this be the start of a golden age for gut-health science? A fountain of knowledge and sense in an overwhelming world of science. * Rhiannon Lambert, Registered Nutritionist and Sunday Times Bestselling Author * A very small Italian study using a similar commercial probiotic, Sivomixx, piqued his interest after it suggested acute Covid patients treated with it might be less likely to end up in ICU or to die, and eight times less likely to suffer respiratory failure. Bjarnason is hoping to start a larger study in the next few months.In 2023, looking after the gut has become a popular pastime for the health-conscious. And for good reason. According to Cancer Research, Bowel cancer is now the fourth most common cancer in the UK, yet 54 per cent of cases are preventable. An urgent investigation into a brave new world in science - the microbiome - and how it could save our health. If you're a young parent, this book is particularly crucial for you. The gut microbiome plays a significant role in the health of young children, and Kinross provides actionable insights on what can be done to ensure better health for our children in the future. In the future, we might actually prescribe certain types of fibres for certain mental health conditions’: Kimberley Wilson. Photograph: Kimberley Wilson A spellbinding explanation of microbiology that will help you get to the bottom of health and happiness John Vincent, Co-Founder of Leon

Dark Matter by James Kinross | Goodreads

How well do you know your gut? You may have seen the word probiotics on your food, or possibly seen recipes to help your gut health with the three K’s: Kombucha, Kefir and Kimchi. But if your life depended on it, would you eat someone else’s poo? Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown This is a really nuanced and difficult thing to talk about, because of course, sometimes we have to take medicines,” says Dr Kinross. “I don’t want people to think that if your GP recommends antibiotics you shouldn’t take them.” Eat more fibre Most of us eat only half the recommended 30g a day. But start slowly – our guts don’t like rapid change The scale of the task is huge: there is 1.5kg of bacteria in our guts.’ Illustration: Lisa Sheehan/The ObserverAs a nation, we British are obsessed with our gut function, largely because it has never been unhealthier. I spend large parts of my working day talking to patients about their bowel habits, and many of them want to talk about little else. There is also a deeper, more fundamental fascination with the digestive system; the colon is a national source of comedy that has kept us going through every crisis since the beginning of time. A fountain of knowledge and sense in an overwhelming world of science Rhiannon Lambert, Registered Nutritionist and Sunday Times Bestselling Author The final frontier for gut microbiome exploration is its relationship with our brains, something the new fields of nutritional psychiatry and psychobiotics are digging into. We already know the gut has its own nervous system, the enteric nervous system, and contains 100m neurons. We also know the gut-brain axis, via the vagus nerve, shoots neurotransmitters produced within the gut around the body and to the brain, which is why Cryan’s lab has studied the impact of particular bacteria on sleep and how certain types of fibre can improve complex cognitive processes.

Dark Matter: 9780241543979 - AbeBooks Dark Matter: 9780241543979 - AbeBooks

Eat more omega 3 New research suggests a relationship between gut microbes, omega 3 and brain health Yet it is only now, as we are beginning to discover the microbiome's enormous potential, that we are realising it is in grave danger, being irrevocably destroyed through the globalisation of our diets, the war on bugs and the industrialised world. The “gut microbiome” is the name we have used to describe not only the wildly diverse collection of microbes that live there, but also what happens when they interact with each other and with our bodies. In other words, it’s an ecosystem made up of trillions of microbial life forms going about their business inside us, as we go about ours. More and more we are learning about the importance of our gut, Kinross takes the even more complex science of microbiome and explains in a way that is easy to understand. Even if I can't pronounce half the medical terms.In this mindblowing book, scientist and surgeon James Kinross explains how the organisms that live within us have helped us evolve, shaped our biology and defined the success of our species. But just as we have discovered this delicate and complex ecosystem within us, it is being irrevocably destroyed through antibiotic addition, industrial food production, the globalisation of our diets and lifestyles, and the destruction of our environment. As someone with a PhD in Biotechnology, I can confidently say that "Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome" by James Kinross is a fantastic read that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in health and well-being. For breakfast, he has high-fibre bran flakes, sometimes supplemented with inulin, a prebiotic fibre. He has that with fruit. “We have overwhelming epidemiological and experimental evidence that says if you can increase your fibre, your risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, will all go down and you will be healthier.” ‘There are lots of confusing pieces of dietary advice for people as to what to eat,’ says Dr James Kinross (Photo: Westend61/Getty) Do eat fermented food every day What I particularly loved about this book is its strong scientific foundation. Kinross, a world-leading microbiome scientist and surgeon, offers a wealth of relevant insights drawn from his personal experience and over two decades in the field. The book serves as a much-needed, up-to-date summary of what is going on in this rapidly developing area of study.