Time travel
The aim of the Gbiota technology is to replenish our gut with living beneficial biota and the food it needs to thrive. Gut biota has a short life so it...
Why Gbiota boxes
Our gut brain consists of trillions of cells which communicate with eat other and send out signals saying we need to eat more of this or that or simply stop...
I am a person
The aim of the Gbiota technology is to replenish our gut with living beneficial biota and the food it needs to thrive. Gut biota has a short life so it...
Bioboxes basics
The aim of the Gbiota technology is to replenish our gut with living beneficial biota and the food it needs to thrive. Gut biota has a short life so it...
The paradigm shift
In the wonderful world of food the established paradigm, based on chemistry, has been incredibly successful. In my life time, incredibly short on a geological time scale, we have increased...
Gut health
We have two brains, one that lives in our head and another we can call Gertrude that lives largely in our gut. They both work in the same way with...
Gut biology basics
The purpose of the Gbiota local food movement is to help people set up viable, ethical, and sustainable businesses supplying their local community with gut food. To understand why this...
Local gut food
It is about breeding beneficial biology in the soil and in the guts of the creatures that live in the soil. This biology enters the plants which we eat together...
Open Letter to the Prime Minister: A Climate Strategy Using Soil Carbon and Wicking Beds
This letter outlines a practical way to strengthen Australia’s climate strategy by pairing carbon trading with real, measurable carbon reductions. The core…
Secure Water in the Murray–Darling Basin: The Facts and the Hard Choices
The Murray–Darling system has been over-allocated for years, and there is simply not enough water to satisfy every user and still protect…
Community food
Let me tell you a story about food. In our modern society all we seem to want as adults is a catch phrase ‘Make plum pudding tasty again’ or better...
Gut health
Our gut is one of the most important organs in our body – made up of trillions of cells that communicate with each other – it has real intelligence –...
Mother bed
Gbiota beds were developed to grow plants to feed our guts. Technically they have been successful but may be a bit complex for many people, particularly pregnant ladies and mums...
Action plan for gut health
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...
Alice
Our gut is not strictly part of us and we, or rather our mum, has to make it for us from the food she eats and feeds us as a...
ecobalance
Why our gut brain is so important Our gut is one of the most important organs in our body. It contains trillions of cells which communicate with each, like in...
Get started
Life, even our modern sophisticated life, is totally dependant on the microscopic biota that are virtually everywhere on earth – but particularly in the soil making inert minerals available and...
Gbiota box story
Over hundreds of thousands of years we have evolved a gut brain that automatically looks after us, without us even thinking about it – and it does it much better...
Opportunity
We all have to eat and the way we are currently growing our food is slowly but inevitably destroying our planet’s ability to grow the food we need. We are...
Introduction to Gbiota
This web is a bit different. We are not trying to sell you something – there are not special offers – buy now before prices jump – or any of...
Gbiota boxes
The purpose of GBiota beds is to breed beneficial biology in the soil. This biology enters the plants growing in the soil so when we eat the plants they act...
updateAug21
This is an update on the practical side of making and managing Gbiota beds. I assume you are familiar with the previous publications and videos available under videos, blogs and...
Anthropocene
What should I eat so I am fit and healthy – what can eight billion people eat so they are fit and healthy and what will my great grand kids...
Overview
How gut food will enhance our gut biology and immune system – overview
Gut Biology Sources
Technical references on food, health and gut.
What food does
I start with what food does which explains the various jobs that food does in our bodies and how innovation has dramatically increased the overall supply of food – far...
Principles of Gbiota beds
Gbiota beds grow plants to enhance our gut biology – here is the basic principles of how they work
Feed your gut brain
Feed your gut brain My interest is how to grow plants that improve our gut brain – one of the most vital organs in our bodies and the key to...
Minister’s Reply on Water Reform and Water-Saving Innovation (2006)
In May 2006, Malcolm Turnbull MP replied to Colin Austin’s letter about Australia’s water policy and new technologies to harvest more rain.…
News flash 30 Oct 20
News flash for Gbiota club members When the virus has gone, as it surely will, the world will be a very different place. People will understand that the best protection...
Food for health
Gbiotafood was developed to provide the trace minerals and beneficial biology essential to health but missing in our modern food system.
Letter From China: Fermented Food, Gut Health, and Why We Age So Differently
I came to China to look for better ways to make fermented foods that support gut biology, because gut biology is a…
What an Ordinary Chinese Town Reveals About Diet, Gut Health, and Aging Well
This article describes careful observation — “gawking” — in Jiangkou, an unremarkable town in inland China, and what it reveals about health,…
Diabetes and the Eco-Village: Wicking Beds, Minerals, and Practical Recovery
Type 2 diabetes is when insulin struggles to move sugar out of the bloodstream and into the muscles and organs. This article…
Reversing Type 2 Diabetes the Yangtou Way
Many people are told Type 2 diabetes is permanent and will only worsen, but that message is often wrong. This article explains…
Stay at Our Gbiota Village: Practical Support for Diabetes Recovery
Spend a few weeks at our Gbiota village and improve your chances of reversing Type 2 diabetes. You will be supported by…
The Coach Scheme for Wicking Bed Technology
This article explains the Coach Scheme for wicking bed technology: why it exists, how it works, and what coaches do. It traces…
Healthy Food Association: Registry of Coaches
This registry is a simple public list of coaches connected to the Healthy Food Association. Coaches provide their own details by email,…
De-Boggling China: Food, Farming, and Health in a Rapidly Changing World
Halfway through a trip to China, Colin Austin is “de-boggling” — trying to separate real insights from quackery while looking for Chinese…
Gin Gin State School Wicking Bed Project: Educational Gardening for Schools
This community project at Gin Gin State School in Queensland brought teachers, students, parents and local volunteers together to build outdoor wicking…
The Future of Agriculture: Adapting Farming to Climate Change
This article is based on a talk Colin Austin — inventor of the wicking bed — gave during a China tour in September 2009.…
The Healthy Food Association: Growing Together for Better Health
This article introduces the Healthy Food Association, a non-profit community focused on improving health through nutrient-rich, biologically active soil and home-grown food.…
What Traditional Food Systems in Yunnan Teach Us About Health
This article is a practical travel reflection written from Shenzhen after a trip to Yunnan. The “official” reason for the visit is…
Climate Change and Al Gore
This article reflects on the global impact of Al Gore’s work on climate change, particularly his film An Inconvenient Truth. It argues…
“We’re Not Running Out of Water?” — Politics and Queensland’s Drying Future
This article examines the tension between political reassurance and scientific reality in Queensland’s water debate. While confident public statements may calm concern…
Why Water Tanks Matter: Rethinking the Marsden Report and Short-Term Water Policy
The debate over water security often suffers from short-term economic thinking that ignores long-term risk, climate change, and system resilience. The discussion…
Global Warming and Government Policy
This article examines the contrast between Australia’s increasingly proactive water policy and the far less convincing response to global warming. While there…
The Howard Turnbull Water Plan
This article reflects on the Howard Turnbull Water Plan for the Murray–Darling Basin and places it in the wider context of Australia’s…
Queensland’s Water Crisis and the 2006 State Election
In the lead-up to the 2006 Queensland State Election, water emerged as one of the biggest public concerns. This short update explains…
The Doctor and the Water Crisis: How Local Solutions Can End a Man-Made Shortage
This article explains why the so-called water crisis is largely man-made and how communities can manage water successfully using simple, local technologies.…
Wanted: Regenerative Farmers to Grow Food for Health, Soil, and Climate
This announcement is a call to regenerative farmers who want to grow food that supports real human health while restoring soil and…
News from China: Scaling Wicking Beds for Food Security and Climate Action
This update explains the progress of international work to scale wicking bed technology as a practical response to food insecurity and climate…
Queensland Floods — What Role Does Climate Change Play?
The Queensland floods of 2010–2011 raised a hard question: was this simply another natural flood, or a sign of a changing climate?…
Dear Malcolm: Proposal to Help Solve Australia’s Water Crisis
This short letter sets out a straightforward problem and a practical next step. Australia receives an enormous volume of rainfall overall, yet…
Eco-Village Accommodation In Queensland: Heritage Stay At Kookaburra Park
Looking for a slower, healthier way to live (even if only for a week)? Kookaburra Park Eco Village offers a calm heritage…
Response to Green Paper on Climate Change and the Carbon Trading Scheme
This submission argues that climate change cannot be solved by emissions cuts alone, especially while rapidly developing countries expand. It proposes a…
China Floods and Droughts: A Wicking Bed Research Proposal for Climate Resilience
China and Australia share a similar challenge: major food regions are being hit by stronger flood and drought cycles, now made worse…
Invitation To Join International Research On Soil Carbon, Water, And Climate Resilience
Climate change is driving a tougher flood-and-drought cycle, and the normal tools are not reducing atmospheric carbon fast enough. This invitation outlines…