It’s been a while since I’ve written about anything John Kiefer related mainly because he’s largely retreated from public life.  Carb Nite and Carb Back-loading remain unchanged in their 1.0 status with version 2.0’s supposedly always around the corner but never quite materializing.  He occasionally sends out marketing e-mails whenever T3 Fuel and Carb Shock are back in stock but that’s about it.  He’s remained absent from his Body IO FM podcast which are now mainly run by his minions.  No more interesting episodes with him and Rocky where they crap on everyone else in the industry.

I was surprised when the latest marketing blast hit my inbox was a supplement directed towards the gut biome, especially given his previous thoughts on the subject.

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What he’s said before

Here are some of the notes I took from his prior podcasts:

Ben Coombs Show:

• Galacto-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides, which are both prebiotics, can increase ketone levels.

Body IO FM 18:  

• Kiefer believes that you don’t need to optimize gut health. But if you optimize your health, your gut health will follow.  Because bacteria adapt with you. If you are eating too much and become obese, your gut bacteria will also become obesogenic.

Body IO FM 21:

Gut biome research

• Kiefer believes that our gut biome is sick because we are sick.  Our gut biome is trying to do what it can to help us out.  He believes that when we become healthy, our gut biome will become healthy.
• This paper believes, that we are sick because our gut biome is sick, so we should find ways to target the microbiome which will then make us healthy.
• (Thanks Rocky for bringing up the merits of fecal transplants and gut biome research)
• (Alex clearly did not understand point of fecal transplants in use of Cdiff, and gravity of cdiff.  Did he read the article?)
• Kiefer really continuing to trash paleo for being too bogged down in the minutiae

Body IO FM 29: 

• Kiefer brings up his thoughts on the gut biome.  The research is great, but we also know that when we take carbs out of the diet, it causes a decrease in overall amount of gut bacteria we have, however it also causes  shift towards the beneficial species.

Body IO FM 33:

• Kiefer goes on about his ideas on the microbiome… when we our healthy, our gut bacteria adapts and becomes healthy, when we our unhealthy, our gut bacteria then becomes unhealthy.

In all of his previous podcasts he’s stated his belief from all the research he has reviewed at the time is that your gut flora will change with you.  The basic premise is if you become healthy, your gut flora will in turn become healthy.  If you are unhealthy, then your gut flora will be unhealthy.  Eating low carb and Carb Nite will make you healthier and in turn make your gut healthier.  Any thought of resistant starch or probiotics was, excuse the pun, poo-poo-ed.

Until… GUT SHIELD.

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E-Book / White paper

As with the release of T3 Fuel and Carb Shock, Kiefer produced a short e-book, which he likes to call ‘white paper.’

Here’s a link to it:

SUPER ORGANISM: The Latest Research On How To “Hack” Your Immune Response, Activate “Lean” Genes And Turn On Your Happy Hormones

(here’s a second link in case the first doesn’t work)

In this 56 page pdf (yes I read the whole thing) he begins with a personal anecdote of having an 8 day bout of diarrhea that caused him to lose 20 lbs and fear for his life.  I’m assuming this was the proverbial ‘Road to Damascus’ moment in which he changed his mind on the efficacy of prebiotics and probiotics.

By page 11 he’s giving us a brief anatomy lesson of our gastrointestinal system and touches on the ways our gut biome effects us:

These microbes thrive in your mouth, nose, ears, intestines and on every inch of your skin. If you could isolate them all, they would fill up a half-gallon container. Scientists have so far identified some 10,000 species of microbes, and because each microbe contains its own DNA, that translates to more than eight million genes. In other words, for every human gene in your body, there are at least 360 microbial ones.

What’s so shocking however (and what most people don’t know) is that these bacterial genes can tell our own cells exactly what to do. We are essentially a superorganism: a collective of species, living cohesively alongside each other to survive.

This collective, known as the microbiome, is as unique to each and every one of us that we’re just as identifiable by it as we are our fingerprints. Nearly every single aspect of your health and well-being is related to your microbiome…

…If you currently experience:

• Memory problems and poor concentration,
• Constipation or diarrhea,
• Celiac disease, IBS or Crohn’s,
• Insomnia,
• Joint pain,
• High blood pressure.
• Acne and eczema,
• Extreme menopausal or menstrual symptoms,
• Arthritis, or
• Metabolic conditions, obesity and an inability to lose weight

Then the current state of your microbiome could be to blame.

He then briefly summarizes research on the gut biome in mice and humans to further emphasize the importance of how changes in the gut biome can directly affect our physiology.  By the way, much of this research was all available at the time he was ranting and raving on his podcast about only needing to eat low carb and ‘be healthy’ to have a ‘healthy gut.’

It looks like all it took for Kiefer to change his mind on the gut biome and the benefit of the probiotics was a bad case of diarrhea!

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Minor error: Ignorance vs Lazy editing?

In the section where he craps on other probiotics there’s an error that I wanted to point out.  Not a major error, but one that really annoyed me:

He states that the bacteriae Bacillus subtilis bacteremia and Bacillus subtilis cholangitis are the organisms often used in probtiotics.  WRONG.

Bacteremia means the presence of bacteria in blood.  Cholangitis is an infection of the bile ducts.  These are the names of disease states and not of individual organisms.

Bacillus subitilis is the organism.  This mistake is either the result of lazy editing and copy and pasting or due to simple ignorance.

Just for kicks, I looked into the reference that he used (link to the actual paper).  Here’s the actual passage from the paper:

What do you think, lazy editing or ignorance?

Either way, rightly or wrongly, it made me question his attention to detail and depth of research.

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What’s in Gut Shield?

There are three main components to Gut Shield:

1. Protease Component:  Consists of peptidase complex, glucoamylase complex, protease complex, alpha galactosidase, and pepsin complex.

These specific proteases were added to act as enzymes for breaking down irritants to the gastrointestinal tract like gluten. If we want a properly functioning gastrointestinal tract we need to make sure allergens and irritants are removed.

2. Probiotic Component:

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus – Benefits mood health, hormone modulation, counteract weight gain, positively affects blood sugar, reduce GI issues, and may even help with hay fever.

Lactobacillus Helveticus – Prevents GI infections, indirectly benefits metabolism, removes allergens, and improves mood.

Bifidobacterium Longum – Inhibits growth of harmful bacteria, helps with lipids, alleviates lactose intolerance, helps the immune system, and may aid in cancer prevention.

3. Prebiotic Component:  Consists of galcato-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides, the stuff he mentions in the Ben Coombs Show, so at least he’s consistent here.

These are compounds that help feed the beneficial gut bacteria.

I decided to try it out

Since I’m a marketing sucker and curious as to Kiefer’s activities to a fault, I decided to try this out!  I clicked on the link at the end of the Superorganism ebook and it took me to this landing page with similar information to the ebook with additional animated gif’s and graphics.  The page funnels you to a click-to-buy-it-now link.

How much does it cost?  Well, here are your options:

$249 for a 3 pack, $199.90 for a 2 pack, and $119.95 for 1.

I opted for the 1 month supply, which after shipping came out to $127.25.  Pricey!

A week later and I received my package in the mail.  This is what I got:

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My Next Experiment

Since I still have two unused uBiome tests, I’ll simply submit a pre-treatment uBiome, followed by 30 days of Gut Shield, and see what happens with a post-treatment uBiome (uBiome is still running a 15% off promotion if you’re interested in testing your own poop).

This should hopefully tell us if my gut has been successfully shielded and repopulated with new and exciting beneficial gut bacteria.  Huzzah!

Maybe I’ll also notice some of the other benefits like improved mood, decreased cholesterol, increased fat burning, improved hay fever, etc.

Or maybe I’ll just have flushed $127.25 down the toilet.