The Microbiome Diet: The Scientifically Proven Way to Restore Your Gut Health and Achieve Permanent Weight Loss

by Raphael Kellman

The Microbiome The Scientifically Proven Way to Restore Your Gut Health and Achieve Permanent Weight Loss

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Food, Science, Medicine, Self Help

352 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2014

About the author

Raphael Kellman M.D. is a pioneer in functional medicine who has a holistic and visionary approach to healing.

In 17 years of practice, he has treated more than 40,000 patients, many of whom have come to him from all over the world and after suffering without help for years. Dr. Kellman is driven by his desire to alleviate suffering and to help people regain health based on a new vision and understanding of healing and the causes of disease.

As a doctor trained in internal medicine, Dr. Kellman uses the latest drugs and technology to treat specific diseases but his approach to medicine is patient-centered and holistic. He focuses on the complex interaction of systems--not just the disease but on you as a whole person who is greater than the sum of your parts.

Dr. Kellman's treatments are informed by his background in the philosophy of science, and administered with compassion and kindness. Drawing on the latest research, he addresses your biochemistry, metabolism, hormones, genetics, environment, emotions, and life circumstances to help you achieve optimal health.

Reviews

[Jason Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this after being floored by how good I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life was and being more interested in a practical approach to building a stronger gut because of a family history of chron's disease.

Unfortunately, this book is written like a fad diet book, filled with anecdotes and outrageous claims.

I came to this book already being a believer and the outright shilling in the way it is written really turned me off.

There's still good information in here about what foods to add to your diet, although it doesn't get into the specifics of recommended daily quantities which is especially not useful in the supplements section.

I'd recommend this book if you're looking for a list of good prebiotic foods to add to your diet, but you can honestly skip 70% of the book and just read some key parts, unless you're looking for a placebo effect and need to be convinced of how this will Change Your Life(tm).

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

The microbiome Diet, though very science sounding, is actually a diet uniquely suited for those who have tried various diets in the past and never found results. It's a new approach built upon the principle that the obesity problem many are facing is due to the digestive system being compromised by the foods we are eating - leading to leaky gut, inflammation, increased hunger and cravings, and other health problems ranging from soreness to lack of concentration. The way our food is processed in the body is greatly aided and abetted by microbiomes - bacteria in the gut. When there is an imbalance (lack of certain bacteria or too many bad ones), our health suffers and we gain weight.

The diet is based around "Four Rs": 1) Remove the unhealthy bacteria and the foods that unbalance the microbiome; 2) Replace the digestive enzymes that you need for optimal digestion; 3) Reinoculate with probiotics (intestinal bacteria) and prebiotics foods and supplements that nourish this bacteria and keep it healthy); 4) Repair the lining of your intestinal walls, which have likely become permeable and are releasing partially digested food into the bloodstream and causing major problems like inflammation.

The diet has three phases. In the first, you avoid sugar, eggs, soy, gluten, and dairy (as well as all packaged/artificial foods). This is the heart of the four Rs above. Phase 2 is the metabolic boost. You eat a wider range of foods and introduce some items like milk and eggs. Phase 3 is about maintaining healthy weight loss. You eat about 70% of the phase 2 foods and then some 'goodies' in between.

The diet is set up to cleanse the system of the bad stuff, heal your gut, and in the process wean you off the items that cause the insatiable cravings and hunger. At the same time, improve all over health. Recipes and a meal plan are given at the beginning, as well as a shopping list for each stage. Recipes are set up to be made quickly and easily using fairly staple foods. Chicken, salads, seafood, etc.

For the recipes, I had a few problems with the directions (e.g., I have no idea what I'm doing when I'm told to "deglaze the vinegar"). As well, with a few I wasn't really sure what was going on (e.g., I'm told to saute garlic and then add wet Kale and let it simmer - but I'm not quite sure how wet the kale should be?). But on the whole, I was able to follow the recipes and they satisfied me - I wasn't left hungry. There were no surprises here - a lot of the recipes are superfood centered, so you'll see similar iterations in other cookbooks that focus on organic and superfoods like cruciferous vegetables and legumes). I wish there was more information about substitutions (e.g., I can't eat seafood and when given an ingredient like apple cider vinegar, I'd like to know if malt cider is an acceptable alternative.)

Although there weren't a lot of exotic ingredients (I wasn't able to get jerusalem artichoke or kimchee at my local store), there are resources on where to get many ingredients. One big downside for me was tracking down the huge amount of supplements, which was 7-10 pills a day and some powders. Be prepared - it is a heavy cost up front (perhaps not as heavy in the long run for good health, though). If you are outside of the US, this will be a hard diet to follow.

Recipe examples include: minted fruit salad with brazil nuts, rich vegetable soup, jerk cornish game hen, mussels steamed in beer, gazpacho smoothie, stuffed mushrooms, and snacks such as baked kale chips.

I've tried the diet for 3 weeks now and the cravings really do go down. I haven't received all the supplements in the mail or tracked down all the ingredients as of the time of writing this, though, and will update later. But the weight is coming off.

If buying the Kindle version, the formatting is a bit harder to read than with the book version, so I recommend the physical copy.

Reviewed from an ARC.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written in the standard "diet fad" format, full of anecdotes and hearsay about people who were once obese and now cured thanks to his 4 step method.

Really should be listed as a cookbook, since most of book is recipes.

Includes the typical formulaic suggestions for how to cure a bad microbiome (Remove! Replace! Reinoculate! Repair!) and lots of sweeping, unproven suggestions for what to eat: “Cinnamon balances blood sugar” with absolutely nothing to connect it to the microbiome. There is a nice list of “superfoods” including natural prebiotics like jicama, but again you must take his word for it that this somehow benefits the microbiome. Just google it and save the effort.

[Craig Mccue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and written to be understandable for most. People seem to complain that this diet is difficult to follow or too expensive, but it's only difficult to follow if you're addicted to processed or unhealthy, unnatural foods, in which case you should definitely be following the diet, and it's expensive only if you buy every recommended supplement. However, the supplements are just that: recommended. The author has said in interviews, particularly one on The Faith Middleton Show on NPR, that it is not necessary to take any supplements on the diet, they just help to bring about the eventual effects of the diet faster. I would recommend taking a good probiotic no matter what, though.

[Cindy Nydegger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas and concepts behind the book are solid and the scientific community is really exploring the connection between our health and gut flora. However, the whole book could've been shortened by at least a hundred pages. There were constant repetitions and bad anecdotes that, to me personally, took away from the quality of the book. I would've preferred this to have been released as a recipe book with a long introduction to the world in our guts.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This diet is expensive and impractical. The author defines the microbiome as the "miniature world made up of trillions of microscopic, nonhuman organisms that flourish within your intestinal tract." Nonhuman? Really? As opposed, I suppose, to the miniature world of trillions of microscopic human organisms flourishing in our intestines?
The author claims that a microbiome imbalance could cause a variety of problems including weight gain, digestive problems, immune system problems, depression, anxiety and foggy concentration.
His diet includes lots of supplements - a hugely expensive amount of supplements - and several recent studies have shown that many supplements don't even include the ingredients that they claim to, nor are there any studies that show that these supplements actually have any effect at all - along with a typical elimination diet at the beginning eliminating all processed foods, dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, HFCS, and other reactive foods. The recipes include a lot of expensive and/or difficult to find ingredients including Jerusalem artichoke (not regular artichokes which are easily found in stores), fennel (I am now growing some in my garden, but it is often quite expensive in stores), arugula (more expensive than regular lettuce), something called Lakanta (never heard of it or seen it in a store), goat or sheep dairy (I like it, but it is more expensive), and gluten free beer (I don't drink beer, but I am sure that is more expensive and hard to find than regular beer) among other things. I do not condone the SAD diet or eating junk food. I think a healthy diet rich in vegetables is important.
However,I think that this particular diet would be both expensive and difficult to follow due to the cost and negligible effect of the supplements and difficulty in finding some of the more exotic ingredients.

[Nelleke Plouffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

What constitutes a healthy diet? According to this book, one that keeps your microbiome healthy. I accept that basic idea. I have read a lot of nutrition books lately, on plant-based whole foods, on the autoimmune protocol, and more. The more seemingly sensible conflicting advice I read, the more I think that we really know very little about the complexity of the digestive system and the human body. This book falls into the same error as most other nutrition books in pretending to know too much. I have no way of knowing which nutritional models have it right (they all seem to be “backed by science”), so I always end up falling back on my common sense: eat more whole foods (especially vegetables) and less processed foods. I appreciated the emphasis on the microbiome, though I didn’t find this book went into any great depth. I also liked the information about the effects of stress and the importance of gratitude on digestion. I liked the looks of the menu plans so much that I’m actually trying them (so far: delicious, but expensive to buy all those fruits and veggies..) I remain wary about all the required supplements. To me (and I’m not sick, just overweight) taking them would seem too much like doing a science experiment on my own body. I believe that eating whole foods is better than taking isolated supplements. For now, I’m just trying out the diet.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this book. It was written in a "lose weight fast!" fad diet tone rather than a strong scientific voice with a focus on health. It repeated the same points over and over without more depth: "keep the weight off with only 30% diet compliance!..." "Superfoods include Jerusalem artichokes..." The sample meal plans were laughable in regard to providing enough nutrients and being accessible. Disappointing.

[Janet Berkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm very interested in this topic, but am tired of science/health books relying on anecdotes. The dietary advice is complicated and too radical for me. Will keep reading in this area, but this was not the book for me.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended by my doctor, this book details the benefits of a microbiome-specific diet. Advantages include no calorie counting and, after a 5-week introduction period, only 70% compliance. Disadvantages include recommending recipes that use unusual foods / use food unavailable where I live, so some creativity may be required. The only other oddities are the usual philosophical rants that every diet book has to a certain extent and the recommendations for supplements, most of which are things I've never even heard of. Because I already take a regimented series of medications for various things, I'm skipping the supplement recommendations mostly, and I'm adjusting the start-up diet to accommodate available food options and personal tastes. Let's see how this works!

[Angela Boord · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus on keeping your gut flora happy is good, but the meal plans provided muddy the waters of causation by being obviously low calorie. Therefore, it would be hard to tell whether or not you were losing weight because you were "feeding your microbiome" or just eating fewer calories. (Which is a common problem with diet books in general.) The author also doesn't seem to know that spelt is NOT a gluten-free grain, and that kind of lapse in a book by a doctor about health bugged me.

[Summer Sterling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent information, and I probably would have given the book four stars had it not been so repetitive.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended by my wonderful endocrinologist. Following the book’s recommendations, along with my doctor's protocol, helped me regain my health back from Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

[Katarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes so much sense. It's very easy to read and understand, yet gives you tons and tons of scientific research and examples.

I can't see any way that this is bunk or wouldn't work. It has for lots of people.

There are lots of recipes, and I'm torn on those. There are flavor combinations I wouldn't have dreamed of, and some sound interesting, some are just startling.

The type of food you need to eat to restore the proper levels of your stomach, and heal your digestive system are not amongst my favorite foods, so I've been hesitant to try it. However, it's so convincing that I will try it, and hope to feel better.

[Belann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the Microbiome Diet is sound. If you change the ecology of the bacteria in your gut, you can have a profound effect on your health, energy, and even your weight. I think recent science makes this very clear. But, I think there are some crucial pieces of understanding missing when it comes to changing the ecology of the bacteria in the gut of someone overweight into the ecology of the bacteria in someone of normal weight. The suggestions given in this book will go a long way towards healing the gut, but I don't think it will as a result always cause weight normalization. Unfortunately, it is just more complicated than that.

[Shane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. You should be deeply skeptical of any book that starts off telling your how easily you are going to shed pounds and then launches in to selling you massive amounts of supplements. While the premise of the book is correct (we need to be thinking more about our gut microbiomes and how our diet affects them), his recommendations are out of line with most of the recent scientific research. There is still a lot we don't know about how this delicate system works, so new research could one day vindicate his approach, but I'm doubtful.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting summary of the science behind leaky gut, but, wow, the suggested plan for curing leaky gut is highly complex & includes a crazy amount of supplements. Still worth the read to understand why we all should be mindful of food allergies, even mild ones, to dairy, eggs, gluten, corn.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't too impressed.

First of all, he doesn't have anything original to say. I have heard all of this before with the Fodmap Diet, and you can easily find information about that online or from a nutritionist.

2ndly, he doesn't list his medical credentials so that's circumspect.

[Kat Klavon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept! As soon as I started reading "take all these supplements" it lost me. Bottom line is valid. Take what you like, leave the rest. Watch the documentary Fat,Sick, and Nearly Dead 1&2 and The Healing Effect. Much more in depth, and basic. T

[Heidi C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I got the concept pretty much on chapter 1 so the after chapters just repeating the exact Same message but in different angles but nothing excitingly new. Half of the book provide recipes but none of the them is interesting to me, perhaps some photos would be more enticing...

[Zhuo Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

too repetitive.

[D · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book itself is repetitive, an expensive diet that is unachievable for the general population

[Diane]

I finally finished this book and now have no more excuses. It has been on my nightstand for literally five years!

[Claudia Putnam]

Not rating just yet. One week into it plus one week prior of eating * toward* this diet. 7 lbs down. But pretty much all I'm capable of right now is staring out the window, waiting for next meal.

[Weddywoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

more typical of a diet book

[Susan Lewallen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a real disappointment. Kellman is a private practitioner, not a scientist (and I have to wonder if he’s also a supplement salesman). His idea of evidence for his claims consists of selected animal studies and many anecdotes from his patients. Always be skeptical when some treatment (or diet fad) purports to cure just about anything that can go wrong with a body. The medical literature includes increasing and interesting research on the gut microbiome, but it’s far, far from supporting his claims. If these problems aren’t enough reason to dismiss this book, the poor structure, with an incredible amount of repetition should be. I lost count of the number of times he listed the 6 or 7 foods that should make up the diet...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book to read when you're having health problems, allergies, food intolerancies, immunity problems, IBS, ... or just when you're interested in how your gut and your overal health ( physical AND mental) are related.
When you follow the diet and take some ( not all :p ) of the supplements you can find in the book, I am sure that your body will be grateful.
Negative point: a lot of repetition. The book could have easily been half the size.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information on repairing your gut health. As the title implies, it’s focused on how gut health impacts weight and weight loss, which is not my goal. I like the structure he provides for the three phases of healing the gut, but personally think that I would feel too restricted by following the daily meal plans. However, I think that the meal plans could be helpful for someone who might find making these kinds of changes to their diet overwhelming.

[Ivan Mashchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life-changing book that I can almost guarantee to cause profound systematic improvement effect on your health, beauty, mood and general well-being. Written in an inspirational and easy-to-read manner yet very practical full of references to recent scientific research. A must-read for everybody who ever cared about being healthy, fit and happy - it explains how to get there without any struggle. Counting calories is obsolete.

[Daniela Rodrigues · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não é mau. Lê-se relativamente bem, mas é claramente um estilo americano, há muita repetição (muita mesmo) e ganharia em ter as referências bibliográficas logo junto às afirmações que faz. Do modo como está, parece sempre que são ideias que ele tem e não estudos comprovados. E baseia-se em suplementos em barda. Foi o que eu menos gostei, claramente.
Não fiz a dieta, mas quem me ofereceu o livro fez e perdeu uns bons quilos. E agora sente que tudo funciona melhor ;)