1st Edition
The Toxic Microbiome Animal Products and the Demise of the Digestive Ecosystem
Gut microbiomes are dynamic communities varying from population to population and throughout life. In Western societies, a toxic metabolic shift of gut microbiomes is a driver and underestimated risk factor for the development of many noncommunicable chronic pathologies. This book identifies the root cause of these deleterious microbial changes. During the last several decades, increased consumption of animal products, coinciding and correlating with global climate change, has been a contributing cause of undesirable gut microbiome changes.
Key Features
- Establishes a connection between poor gut microbiome health and chronic disease and cancer development
- Demonstrates how animal products and low-fiber diet patterns induce a detrimental metabolic transition of the gut microbiome from a human health-maintaining towards a disease-promoting state
- Discusses the opportunity of a toxic microbial metabolic signature as a powerful clinical and diagnostic tool to effectively predict chronic disease and cancer development
- Provides the latest evidence on different strategies to rebuild a healthy microbiome metabolism and effectively prevent noncommunicable diseases and colorectal cancer
- Documents the gut microbiome benefits of a plant-based diet
Table of Contents
Dedication
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Diet related chronic diseases are the most critical health problem of modern societies – how did that happen?
Chapter 2: The "industrialized" microbiome - a caution label for a global epidemic
Missing microbes - does it matter?
Chapter 3: The subtle problems of microbiome research
Is the microbiome "oversold"?
Is microbiome science heading in the wrong direction?
Chapter 4: The gut microbiome: a new perspective
Our microbiome is a metabolic organ
Functional omes: metabolites over species
Finding a new definition for a "healthy" microbiome and "dysbiosis"
Chapter 5: Shaping the microbial behavior
Diet: the master educator of the gut microbiome
Starving the microbial self: a foundation for developing a chronic disease
Chapter 6: The toxic microbiome
"It’s not the fiber, it’s the animal protein"
Protein fermentation
Fat toxicity
Secondary bile acids
Heme iron
TMAO: the way to a man’s heart is through his gut microbiota
Toxicomicrobiomics
A toxic microbiome: useful for predicting chronic diseases?
Chapter 7: How to build a healthy gut microbiome and prevent chronic diseases
The "true" human diet: are humans really omnivores?
"The Paleo diet is a myth"
Protein concerns: Do we get enough on plants?
Feeding microbes for disease prevention and treatment
Chapter 8: "Fixing" the microbiome - Can we restore a healthy microbiome by other means than diet?
Probiotics – hype or hope?
Fecal microbial transplantation or "The Power of Poop"
The "Wild West" of microbiome science: drugging the microbiome and personalized nutrition
Glossary
Abbreviations
Literature
Biography
Dr. Sarah Schwitalla holds a PhD in biochemistry and cancer research, she is a lecturer and public health consultant based in Germany and Scandinavia. Dr. Schwitalla worked as a research scientist at Harvard University and at the Technical University in Munich (Germany) for several years. She specialized in colon cancer development and cancer stem cell research, microbiome and inflammatory bowel disease for over 12 years now. Later on, she included public health, food policy and nutrition science to her expertise. Apart from her research, she engaged with international development aid projects and gained experience in the pharmaceutical industry as a Scientific Advisor and Medical Manager. In 2018, Dr. Schwitalla founded the virtual center for public health, focusing on microbiome and gut health (www.drschwitalla.com) The center’s mission is to provide independent and evidence-based support to those affected by chronic intestinal diseases, digestive disorders and colon cancer. Schwitalla provides consulting services for companies and public health care system workers for the prevention of chronic digestive diseases and offers training courses, seminars and lectures health care specialists.
