Protective Diet Class #265 Notes:

What’s Your Food Mood

Welcome to Protective Diet Education! This class exposes the true source of dietary preference and mood–our microbes control our food choices and behavior. Learn how to populate and protect healthy resident microbiota. They will be your biggest cheerleaders, create excitement around healthy food, and keep you joyfully practicing a consistent Protective Diet long-term.

Announcements

• Protective Diet Plant-based Broth Mix is available.
• Reach out for support in PDL.

Vocabulary

Gut Microbiome	The Second Brain	Dopamine	Nitric Oxide
Healthy Gut Bacteria	Vagus Nerve	Serotonin	Probiotic
Hurtful Gut Bacteria	Neurotransmitters	GABA	Prebiotic
Insoluble Fiber	Lactobacillus	Bifido	Short-chained fatty acids

Action Steps for a Good Mood

• Populate and protect a thriving, diverse and healthy gut microbiome
• We are 10:1 microbes per human cell. We are composed of more microbe cells than we are human cells.
• We have a symbiotic relationship with our gut microbes—our healthy microbes protect us, and we feed them.
• The gut has a nervous system–The Second Brain. The Gut Brain has the same stem cells as the Brain.
• Gut microbes communicate directly with the brain through chemical interactions along the Vagus Nerve.
• We control the composition of our microbial population (healthy vs. harmful) by which ones we choose to feed.
• We are controlled by our resident microbial population; therefore we want to populate and protect a diverse, healthy one.

The Gut Microbiome Controls:

Dietary preferences–We feed or starve our microbe populations according to what we eat. Microbes send signals to our brain so we will eat the food they need to stay alive. Cravings indicate which population is thriving. A healthy gut population creates excitement around healthy foods. Unhealthy microbes crave and demand unhealthy foods. Unhealthy microbes multiply faster than healthy microbes. They also die fast when we stop feeding them by consuming off-plan foods.

Mood Balance/Depression— Healthy gut microbes reward us for eating the plant fiber they need to survive, by secretion of chemical neurotransmitters that interact with the brain, changing our mood and behaviors. Thus, they influence us to continue feeding them protective foods for optimal health and survival.

Serotonin	Feel Good Hormone	90% produced in the gut
Dopamine	Reward Neurotransmitter	50% produced in the gut
GABA	Decreases Anxiety and Calms	Produced by healthy gut microbes after eating specific foods

– Bad Diet = low levels of healthy gut bacteria = low serotonin & dopamine levels = depression and depressed gut.

– High stress = low Lactobacillus = low levels of GABA = increased anxiety, muscle cramping, insomnia, chronic stress,

depression, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, headaches, and increased likelihood of substance abuse.

Weight Loss/Weight Regulation–Decreased microbe diversity is associated with an increased rate of obesity & depression.

Immunity–A healthy, diverse gut microbiome will help with nitric oxide production, strengthening the endothelium, improving immunity to colds, viruses, etc. Unhealthy microbes lead to disease and depression.

Inflammation—Healthy microbes digest fiber and produce short-chained fatty acids, which reduce inflammation & tumors.

• Avoid/Eliminate:
• Off-plan foods. They decrease microbiome diversity.

– Fats–When we eat fat our liver produces bile. Bile kills good microbes. Bile-tolerant gut bacteria are associated with

inflammation and colon cancer.

– High protein diets–Healthy microbes cannot live in a high protein environment in your gut. High protein diets lead to

Depression due to lower serotonin, dopamine and GABA production in the gut.

– Processed Foods, Food Additives

• Hyper-Cleanliness/Chemical Disinfectants—use vinegar and water. If you must use chemicals wear gloves and a mask.
• Overconsumption—overwhelms healthy microbes, giving bad microbes a chance to multiply.
• Behaviors to Promote Healthy Microbes:
• Meditation–Reduce stress with 12-15 minutes of meditation/day. Fight or flight response disturbs microbiome, stopping short chained fatty acid production.  Meditation can suppress chronic inflammation in the body, especially in the gut.
• Fasting or reducing caloric consumption–kills bad microbes while healthy microbes flourish during a fast. After your detox, consider stopping the snacks and only consuming breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sit down to your meals hungry.
• Food Choices to Promote Healthy Microbes:
• Eat a 100% Protective Diet–Complete the 30-day Detox and Taste bud Reprogram. Get the disease fertilizers out. Every bite promotes microbes that will help you crave healthy foods. A long-term, consistent practice of a Protective Diet is #1.
• Eat a variety of plant foods— plant diversity=microbe diversity (30+ different whole foods/week) Try a new recipe, try a new fruit or vegetable, change up your lettuce, eat seasonally, shop at a different market for produce from a different soil.
• Choose Whole Grains—Microbes love fiber. Choose brown rice, whole grain pasta, potatoes with the skin on, etc.
• Eat Fermented Foods—Contain Probiotics (Lactobacillus and bifido) which are living organisms that go directly into your blood stream and produce GABA and Vitamins .
• Eat functional foods—fermented foods, yogurt, shitake mushrooms, nutritional yeast, capsaicin in spicy peppers, Broth Mix
• Eat GABA producing foods—whole grains, beans, soybeans, soy yogurt, lentils, tomatoes, citrus, frozen berries, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, cacao, tempeh (fermented soybeans)

Cooking Tips

• Rice in the Instant Pot–use the same amount of water as rice (1 c. rice: 1 c. water) plus ½ cup additional water.
• Keep Fresh Ginger Root in the freezer. Use a Microplane Grater to easily add it to protective recipes.
• Make Plant-Based Yogurt at night so your Instant Pot is free during the daytime.
• 4 cups broth=2T. + 2tsp. Broth Mix, 2 cups broth=1T. + 1tsp. Broth Mix

Student Q&A

Q: Does it matter what time of day I break my fast (AM/PM)?

Q: How can we expedite the growth of the healthy microbiome?

Q: Why does overconsumption hurt the healthy microbe population?

Encouragement

• We are what we eat. What we consistently eat is going to reflect in our health.
• It’s never too late. Let’s populate your microbiome and make it a super-powerhouse so it can handle whatever lies ahead of you.

Get bit by the PD bug. It’s literally your bugs–your microbes telling you to do more beneficial things for the betterment of your human cells and for them.

Recommended Recipes

Perfectly Cooked Brown Rice	Plant-Based Yogurt	Chop Suey Salad
Egg Roll Bowl	Ruby Raw Kraut	All Purpose Cleaning Spray
Banana Bread Under Pressure with Appeal Premium PD Recipe	Probiotic Pickled Onions	Natural Laundry Detergent

Recommended Classes

#243 Health Benefits of Spicy Food	#234 Know Your Fast Five
#257 How the Gut Microbiota Controls Our Wellbeing	#200 Stop the Snacks Challenge
#228 Benefits of Fermented Food	#248 Self Awareness Training: Not Hungry, But I’m Eating

Class Description:

This class exposes the true source of dietary preference and mood–our microbes control our
food choices and behavior. Learn how to populate and protect healthy resident microbiota. They will be your biggest cheerleaders, create excitement around healthy food, and keep you joyfully practicing a consistent Protective Diet long-term.

Tagged with: Bifido • Depressed Gut • Dopamine • Functional Foods • GABA • Gut Microbiome • Healthy Gut Bacteria • Hurtful Gut Bacteria • Hyper Cleanliness • Insoluble Fiber • Lactobacillus • Microbe Diversity • Neurotransmitters • Plant Diversity • Prebiotic • Probiotic • Serotonin • Short-chained fatty acids • The Second Brain • Vagus Nerve
Class URL: https://protectivediet.com/courses/the-protective-diet/lessons/class-265-whats-your-food-mood/