Action plan for gut health
Colin Austin © 8th November 2021 Creative commons this document may be reproduced without permission but the source should be acknowledged. Information may be used for private use but commercial use requires a license.
Our ever important gut brain
In my previous article pooh4.pdf I summarised the theme that runs throughout my web that our gut is a genuine brain which controls much of our automatic functions and we would all be fitter, healthier and live longer if we were eating food that fed our gut biology.
People don’t get fat and sick simply because they just happen to eat too much, they get fat and sick because their gut brain is not working as it should – so then they end up eating too much.
It is a message I have been preaching for years and no one disputes it.
But the fact is that I have a mailing list of some 500 people who are growing their own Gbiota food in their back yards – however understand this – there are 500 million people who are suffering from severe medical conditions associated with poor gut health (note the jump from 500 to 500 million) and some ten times that number with no immediate medical diagnosis who would be fitter, healthier and live longer if they were eating the right food to feed their guts.
It may be fine for keen home growers but what about the millions of people who do not have gardens or live in apartments – particularly that important group ‘new mums’ and pregnant women; ‘mums to be’ who will determine the health of their kids for years to come.
This is such a quantum jump in numbers that it requires a major rethink – it wont be solved by having having a few extra people growing gut food in their back yards.
Walking and an aeroplane are both modes of transport, but there is a quantum difference in the distances that can be covered..
The great challenge we face is how to ensure that these millions of people have ready and convenient access to gut food at an affordable price – and it must be fresh because the moment a plant is harvested the beneficial gut biology starts to die.
Now that is a challenge.
My solution is the Gbiota box and this is how I see it working.
Let me walk you backwards through the process.
Delivery of the Gbiota box
A Gbiota box, loaded with soil full of beneficial biology and growing plants, is delivered by a local grower to the customer. They simply harvest by cutting off the tips of the growing plants (see video tipping).
The plants will continue growing for quite some time, the box is full of nutritious soil so there is no need to feed the plants, but they do need watering – and in a special way.
Anyone who studies micro-biology knows there are millions of different species with very long names, but for simplicity we can say there are just three sorts, good bugs, dozy bugs and bad bugs. The good bugs are essential for life and health, the bad bugs will make us sick or kill us, and the dozy bugs just don’t care either way.
It is very difficult (=impossible) to kill off the bad bugs without killing of the good bugs but bugs don’t live very long and have to breed to survive. If the conditions favour the good bugs they will simply out breed the bad bugs, who then won’t be a problem.
The good bugs like the soil nice and moist – not too wet and not too dry – what we call Goldilocks moisture. Soil likes to hang on to water , so water will not move through the soil unless it is seriously wet.So to get the soil moist, without being totally wet, throughout the box, we have to use a system called partial flood and drain, which works like this.
The Biota box itself has an external water container which is used to water the Gbiota box.
The way is works is simple. The Gbiota box is placed on something to raise is off the ground. The external water container normally sits at the same level as the Gbiota box.
When the Gbiota box needs watering, the water container is lowered to the ground, so any excess water drains out of the Gbiota box back into the water container.
After draining the water container is refilled with water by pouring water into the pipe which runs from the water container, along the base of the bed then merges through the soi up into the surface. This also helps flush out any stagnant water.
The water container is then raised above the Gbiota box so the water flows out of the water container and into the Gbiota box – this only takes a few moments.
The water container is then lowered back to its home position at the same level as the Gbiota box where is sits gradually topping up the water in the Gbiota box as the plants use it.
This filling and flushing process only needs to be done maybe once a week (depending on weather).
But what this flushing process does is keep the water moving so that it does not become stagnant, which would cause the nutrients in the bed turn putrid and full of bad bugs. However, the flushing contributes to pumping fresh air into and out of the Gbiota box as the water flows in and out.
It is really simple and ensures the Goldilocks moisture level that the good bugs will thrive on.
When the plants in the Gbiota box begin to get old – or are eaten up – the customer just orders a replacement box from the grower.
No gardening skill, nor space is needed, for everyone to have access to healthy gut food at an affordable price.
Providing growing plants in a box is an intrinsically better system than supplying harvested plants and hoping that someone buys them before they deteriorate.
And that is really all there is to it, from the customers perspective.
In the sister article I will explain how the grower can ensure the Gbiota bed is full of the necessary nutrients and beneficial biology, essential for your health. I suggest your next read should be on community food.
