What a biome expert eats for breakfast

Corn-resistant dextrin 4 "is the most exotic bit"

Dr Robin Mesnage with his biome breakfast - put the ingredients in a jar, stir, and eat. (Live longer - maybe!)

Dr Robin Mesnage is scientific director of the Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting clinic in Germany, and also part of a microbiome research team at King’s College in London.

We met a few years ago at a conference and we later had coffee to chat about our shared interest in fasting before he moved to Germany.

So when he posted his breakfast on Linkedin the other day, I was interested to learn more - as I know every ingredient would have been chosen with scientific rational!

We chatted over Zoom and he told me he designed this breakfast after speaking to a patient at Buchinger and realising that the patient’s idea of muesli was a supermarket one, which bore no resemblance to the one he was imagining.

Basically, a bought muesli can be full of sugar and white carbs - without much fibre to feed your gut bacteria (aka microbiome or microbiota) into a healthy pattern. And little or no protein to stabilise blood sugar, weight and energy levels.

Robin realised his idea of a muesli was completely different to his patient’s.

Especially if you make it yourself - as he does.

In this article he tells The Gut Makeover the rationale for the one he has created for himself.

At the end we have some tips for you on how to design one for yourself.

FIRSTLY HERE’S THE RECIPE…(JH - warning: Robin’s breakfast is a bit ahead of the curve at the moment. I have not been able to find the resistant dextrin yet in the UK, the other ingredients are easy to get from health food stores and supermarkets. More info at the end on using alternatives.)

These are the ingredients Robin buys in Germany

Add these together in a jar or bowl, and stir!!

• 10 grams of wheat bran

• 10 grams of psyllium husks

• 10 grams of corn-resistant dextrin 4

• 10 grams of whey protein

• 200 grams of quark

• 1 tablespoon of linseed oil (aka flax seed oil)

• 100 grams of berries

As told to The Gut Makeover by Dr Robin Mesnage…

“The main idea overall is to get good amounts of proteins and fibre while minimising carbohydrates and having little added sugar.

I used a continuous glucose monitor on this breakfast.  I could see when I had blueberries in the breakfast my blood sugar rose, but if I had the fibre and proteins with them, the blood sugar remained stable.

Fluctuating blood sugar levels can lead to hunger and you storing some fat.

I think this is a very healthy way to start the day.

Firstly I add 3 different types of fibre. These fibres are very important to promote a healthy gut microbiota. Having them as breakfast is an easy way. They have quite a neutral taste.

1. Wheat bran

Wheat bran has lots of complex carbohydrates and fibre.

2. Psyillium husks

I find this quite good for the digestion. I tried everything on myself first and if it worked I continued using it. It was really trial and error. Everyone has different sensibilities to different fibres so you have to try to see which ones suit you.

3. Resistant dextrin (aka corn-resistant dextrin 4)

This is the one which is the most exotic and was difficult to find and is an extract of corn.

I found it in a scientific paper.

In this paper they were comparing different types of fibre for their ability to reduce inflammation and produce short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate (needed for healthy gut lining and brain).

This fibre was particularly powerful in doing so.

I really saw in a couple of days a good effect on me. Eg regulating the digestion - gut transit [keep everything moving].

Also, but it’s difficult to say if it is psychological or not, I was feeling less tired.

So I decided to continue using that.  

With all these ingredients there are many benefits and little risk.

PROTEINS

Whey protein powder

The whey is to maximise protein. At lunch and dinner I tend to have quite light meals with vegetables and little protein plus I do intermittent fasting.

So I need to maximise protein at breakfast. If you have a good amount of protein and not just sugar at breakfast you will feel fuller and have less hunger pangs.  

Quark

This is popular in Germany where I live, and is a bit like Greek yogurt. It is rich in protein, low fat, and low carb, so it’s a good base which is neutral in taste.

OIL

Linseed oil

This is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. There aren’t many oils which are rich in omega 3 [which is anti-inflammatory].

I use oil rather than seeds here because it is is easy for the body to digest. Because if you use seeds it’s a lot of processing for your gut to get the fatty acids.

This oil promotes higher levels of omega 3 in the blood.

We have some studies in our clinic on this - there are good levels of omega 3 in people’s blood after eating flax oil after fasting - without necessarily eating oily fish or other things containing omega 3.

FRUIT

I move around fruits for diversity and so not to get bored.  Most of the ingredients are quite neutral so if you add some berries or apples it helps the taste too.

I use blueberries when in season. I try to get something that is local and seasonal.

I try to buy organic when I can - for health and environmental reasons (less pesticides).

I have done research on glyphosate [a herbicide, a type of pesticide] and I could see it acting on the microbiota by making an imbalance - killing some good bacteria, and leading to some pathogenic fungi growing.

An imbalance of gut bacteria [like this] could lead to digestive problems (eg irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation or/and diarrhoea) because with the gut the first impact is local.

Then there can be fatigue, drowsiness, and mood disorders. This is because there is a clear link between the brain and gut.

So what do I do if I’m travelling and my eating goes haywire?

Firstly, I don’t beat myself up! Everyone can have days that aren’t perfect. To get back on track I do some fasting as this is a way to get a reset in the body and mind. We are programmed to alternate between fasting and eating. Fasting is an easy tool. The solution is to remove the food and have the systems of the body repair.”

TAKE AWAYS

Jeannette:

1. Try different fibres on yourself – what works for one person doesn’t work for another – eg psyllium husks - for some people they swell up in the digestive system and give you the perfect poo. For others it causes bloating and discomfort. Can’t get hold of resistant dextrin? Maybe give inulin powder (another type of prebiotic fibre) a go? Don’t do well on wheat? Mix some gluten-free oats with ground flax seeds. To avoid bloating and wind with psyllium, resistant dextrin, inulin, or flax, start with half a teaspoon a day and increase the dose gradually over a week or two to 5-10 grams per breakfast. This helps your gut get used to the newcomers.

2. Protein - if you don’t get on with the milk-protein whey, use ground hemp instead. As we age, we need to keep on top of our protein intake to prevent wasting of muscles, so including it at breakfast is a good idea. If you don’t fancy whey protein (eg you are intolerant of dairy proteins), then try ground hemp seeds instead which are high in protein.

3. In my experience flaxseeds/linseeds can be effective anti-inflammatories despite the text books insisting that animal sources of omega 3 are better. Inflammation is involved in anything from heart disease to cancer to rheumatoid arthiritis and other autoimmune disorders. Interesting to note that you can get the anti-inflammatory impact quicker by adding oil rather than the actual seeds to your muesli.

4. Buy organic fruits when you can - better for your microbiome, digestion, and energy levels. Also help prevent cancer.

5. Do some intermittent fasting if you aren’t eating so well - as a reset.

   My book The 10 Hour Diet explains the mechanisms involved in time-restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting, and how to nail it with 14-hour overnight fasting.

6. Try longer fasts (several days) for a body reset supported by the Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting boxes.

FINAL TIP: 🤫 Did you know you can ask artificial intelligence app ChatGPT how much fibre and protein are in the breakfast you design yourself? Type in a list of the ingredients and it should work it out.

FURTHER INFO…

💬 Dr Robin Mesnage posts on Linkedin here and Instagram here.

🏨 The Buchinger Wilhelmi residential fasting programmes in Lake Constance in southern Germany, and Marbella in Spain are here.

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