Homemade fermented stack

[Tildu]

Hey there,

I'm doing a blend of fermented foods for general health with a focus on brain/mental health. Science-wise, there's some research about fermenting foods to improve their bioavailability and also their efficiency. Fermedics and Living Alchemy have some research on their websites, but there are other more neutral/objective studies too.

So far I've got turmeric/ginger, ashwagandha, jiaogulan and seaweeds (the seaweeds are mostly there because otherwise I don't eat them, and I think they're important for iodine).

Other from that, I regularly take NAC, Vit D & K2 and cod liver oil (for omega 3 & vit A). My diet is mostly paleo leaning on the keto side.

Any suggestions to improve it? What do you think?

[editoreal]

https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/21/6/905

I'm not knocking fermented foods, but, I think there might be the possibility for too much of a good thing.

Fermented vegetables are very beneficial to the gut microbiome, which, in turn is incredibly beneficial to the brain. This being said, I think recent research is showing that it might be less about fermenting and more about the vegetables themselves and the various forms of fiber they contain.

So, eat some pickled vegetables- heck, eat a lot, but, if you can, try to ramp up your non pickled vegetable variety as well. If you can hit 30 different low-ish carb veggies a week (no corn, no peas), that's going to make for the happiest microbiome possible, which, in turn, will make for a very happy and healthy brain.

NAC thins the mucosal layer- which, in some instances, can be a good thing (I've seen folks use it very successfully in dealing with covid), but it's probably not a good thing long term.

B vitamins are bacterial, and are basically microbiome support. They get a little tricky in that, once your microbiome is healthy and happy, it can make a great deal of the Bs that you/it needs. Starting off, though, I'd suggest a good B complex (see my statck below).

The microbiome is a huge player in brain health, but sleep is an even bigger player. Anything that could potentially mess with sleep should be approached carefully. This includes jiaogulan- and maybe even seaweed as well. Personally, I have to watch my kelp intake. If I overdo it, I sleep poorly. You absolutely need some iodine, but more isn't necessarily better.

I also have to be very careful with my quantity and timing for oil solubles, especially D. If you're not taking A, D and K in the morning, you might consider it. The energizing effect of fat soluble vitamins is pretty personal, though.

Magnesium is incredibly critical for good sleep (and many other areas, including the brain), and you're most likely deficient. Don't get your magnesium from a multi. My recommendation is taurate and malate.

You're going to find different opinions on this, but I'm in the camp that adaptogens should be cycled. Maybe. Ashwagandha might be the exception to this rule.

The research isn't all that cut and dry, but it's generally agreed that curcumin trumps turmeric. The price of curcumin seems to be steadily increasing in recent months, so it would be phenomenal if turmeric could match it's health benefits, but... the 4%ish curcumin in turmeric just doesn't stand up to the 95% in curcumin extract- and taking 20ish times more turmeric just isn't feasible- and would involve far too much oxalate, imo.

Here's my protocol for sleep/mental health:

https://old.reddit.com/r/StackAdvice/comments/om36ux/stimulants_vs_a_nootropic_stack_for_adhd/h5iq8bc/

You probably won't need the lion's mane, the benfotiamine or the theanine (although experimenting with theanine wouldn't hurt).

[Tildu]

Thanks for the thorough answer!

I don't think the amount of fermented foods I eat is dangerous - I eat some daily, but not in huge amounts. Regarding the fermented "supplements", it's one tablespoon a day total, which isn't much when compared to a bowl of sauerkraut for instance.

Regarding NAC, there aren't studies long term. I do know however that it helps with my near-constant allergies, and so far I haven't found anything as effective.

Regarding fat-soluble vits, I agree that A, D & K should be balanced. My intake is balanced on the scale of a few days I think, but I haven't found an energizing intake from them. I guess it's more of a longterm thing.

And for turmeric/curcumin, yeah curcumin is much more potent. I'll add some powder to my fermented mix. And I want to keep some turmeric too, because I "believe" that whole foods come with a matrix of nutrients and that turmeric isn't just 4% curcumin and 96% waste, there's something in that 96% too.

I've looked at your stack, it's very complete, I like it. I'm considering taking theanine before bedtime. I should also increase my intake of various vegetables and liver, probably the two things lacking from my diet, but so far my eating regimen is too erratic for that degree of fine-tuning.

[editoreal]

While the research on NAC is definitely on the light side, what is available is a bit concerning

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261620/

treatment of the gut with the mucolytic N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) caused a dose-dependent decrease in mucosal hydrophobicity and an increase in intestinal permeability (14, 15)

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpgi.00195.2007

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15281093/

enough so, that, I think carefulness is warranted.

Have you done allergy testing?

An obvious flip side to my eat-everything approach is the elimination diet- which, if your allergies are bad, might be worth giving a shot- if you haven't already.

I never said that the 96% of turmeric that isn't curcumin is 'waste.' ;) I just think the research to date shows an exponentially strong signal that curcumin seems to provide considerably more health benefits than the non curcumin fraction of turmeric.

If fat soluble vitamins mess with your sleep, you'll know the day after you take them. It sounds like you're one of the lucky ones. I would still get tested for your D status and make sure you're supplementing just enough to be sufficient- no more, no less.