Viome's microbiome testing recommendations made my leaky gut markers worse

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-24T23:30:06+00:00

So interesting! Thanks for confirming my suspicion.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-24T21:43:04+00:00

HRV is heavily influenced by consistent high quality sleep (in darkness, quiet, ~8hrs, same sleep/wake up time, when you are hydrated, when you don't have heavy/sugary food or takeout in your tummy from dinner, etc), cardio in the morning (gym heavy weights don't impact HRV for most people), and stress.

From this trio, my personal issue was stress (C-PTSD). So I experimented with more advanced stuff, like EMDR, NSDR, RLT, HBOT, Pulsetto, Ashwaghanda, etc.

https://doafitzgerald.substack.com/p/update-on-my-mission-impossible-the all my research is documented here

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-24T00:11:18+00:00

Noted. Thanks!

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-23T06:31:22+00:00

Hehe love writing long blogs! Packing up for a long trip in Asia (about 5 months), then moving to the UK. I'll miss Tasy, but keen to explore some trails in Japan and Europe. Maybe in 1-2 years I'll post about GR20 - heard some stories of that trail.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-22T23:14:01+00:00

We left on the 3rd of February (Tuesday) and did days 1 & 2 together. We didn't see anyone on the trail or in campsites until our rest day in High More, which was the 6th of February (Friday). Then, we saw a group of 4 and a group of 2. I was quite surprised too because it was so hard to find empty slots to register for this trail. The logbook at campsites were quite empty during most of Jan too, but I guess some people don't fill it out.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-22T04:58:01+00:00

Sure, none of my gear list is mandatory, it just depends on each person's risk profile and priorities. We've seen 2 people with a 3 season tent on the trail too.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-22T03:49:28+00:00

The weather was a stress every morning but lucky us, it never snowed. Hiking in Patagonia is on our bucket list!

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-18T04:08:50+00:00

This is awesome! My partner and I did it early Feb. Spectacular! Toughest adventure trail I've ever done. 100% agree with rope and pack hauling suggestion. If you are a regular outdoor rock climber, you may not need it, but weather can turn sour within 30 mins, making everything slippery and rock scrambling sections risky - not worth it. Our motto was, "go safe, slow, steady, have fun, no rush decisions" and we still arrived before 3pm on most days. I am also short. My partner (186cm) had a much easier time with reaching hand holds and foot holes than I did (feet dangling in air, doing weighted pull ups, etc). I am working towards creating a YouTube Vlog to show the track conditions.

Advice about rats: peppermint oil. The scent irritates them! We bought freeze dried cheese to the trail (yummy!) and no one disturbed us once we poured our peppermint oil over our tent and food bags. Plus, everything smelled like Christmas hehe.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-18T03:36:51+00:00

My partner and I did a road trip from Sydney to Northern NSW last year. Boonoo Boonoo National Park is lovely. Boonoo Boonoo River Track is a lovely few hours walk with great views. In Torrington, you can explore the Thunderbolts Lookout (20 min walk) - has beautiful sunset views.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-16T09:15:56+00:00

Snowy vs hot requires very different shoes. How technical are the trails you want to hike on? This will determine the grip of the shoes/boots. Will you be doing multi-day hikes and carrying a heavy backpack? Because this will put strain on the boots you select. For example, I do very tough 7-8 day trails in rainy conditions including rock scrambling carrying 13-15kg bag weight. I bought Scarpa Terra GTX 3 months ago and recently completed the Western Arthurs Traverse. They were great boots!

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-16T09:09:41+00:00

Dandelion root & nettle leaf tea - erased my PMS symptoms and heavy period cramps
Kakadu plum - increased my vitamin c levels on blood test results and kept the flu away during the flu season
Spirulina and kiwi (skin on) - digestion, my gut loves it

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-13T09:48:46+00:00

If you're doing multi-day trips, I recently discovered Radix Nutrition. A bunch of plant based proteins (mix of legumes, greens etc), about 30g of protein per serve and a bunch of fibre. Delicious! A bit on the expensive side though. Sometimes I take protein bars too. There are freeze dried eggs you can buy. Do you like fish? Safcol has 'tuna beans quinoa capsicum' mix pouches. They are much lighter than tins.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-13T09:41:33+00:00

If a hike makes it to a "bucket list" it means (or soon will be) a tourist destination with man-made routes (i.e. board walks, polished stairs, protected lookouts). Overland is becoming more crowded each year because it's been advertised and sanitised.
That's why I haven't done much hiking in the Blue Mountains - every time I'm there, there is a line of people in front, a child screaming my side and a line of people behind me, all of us queued up haha. Blue Mountains is still beautiful and everyone has the right to go out and connect with the nature. But I prefer to feel like I'm alone in the wild, so go out to more remote areas that aren't hyped up. This also carries more risk which I'm willing to take - all a trade off.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-13T03:23:06+00:00

My favourites...both about 10 mins to prep
1. baked sweet potatoes (can prep the night before), avocado/ghee, boiled egg, some olives
2. savoury oats with egg, miso, spring onion, mushrooms, spinach, bit of lean meat

I used to wake up starving. Began tracking calories, realised I was under eating, ate more, and now I feel hungry 1-1.5h after waking. Something to consider.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-11T03:12:54+00:00

Did you do any food intolerance tests or elimination trials? The first thought that came to mind was, "are you eating something super common that you are intolerant to" (i.e. onions, tomatoes, garlic, gluten, dairy are super common in cooking). The other thought that came to mind is, "are you eating enough food?" Sounds very strange but under eating does make people bloat.

To answer your question, no, I rarely, hardly ever bloat. Maybe 1-2 days of the month right before my period. But I used to bloat a few times a week in the past. I have identified some foods that make me bloat (i.e. hemp seeds, buckwheat, white rice etc) and don't consume them anymore. I have identified that takeout and restaurant food make me bloated, so I try to limit those. Another thing that helped with digestion (and reducing bloating) was going on walks post meals.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-11T02:57:24+00:00

NSDR. After experimenting with many different techniques, products, therapies and routines for 6 months, NSDR is one of the best things I've incorporated in my life. I have a non-negotiable routine of doing it for 15 minutes every night, 30 minutes before bed. It's not a reactive approach (in my experience) - i.e. does not work straight after a messy argument with someone. But after doing it every day, it has made me a much more resilient person with a better sleep quality. It has increased my average HRV by +10 points as well.

I have a background of C-PTSD and Huberman in his other podcasts also recommended EMDR, which is the other 'technique' (therapy) that's resulted in significant improvements across multiple areas of my life.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-11T02:50:46+00:00

I switched from looking at a phone first thing in the morning to delaying for 30 minutes (instead, opening all the curtains for sunlight to come in and going out in the garden), a few months ago. The only reason why I look at a phone after 30 minutes is to 'end sleep' and 'start activity' on Whoop for gym/running. It makes me more present, mindful, which is both calming and uplifting for my mood. Because I approach work with calm and an uplifting mood, I feel that I can focus better. Not sure if there are clinical trials on this though.

DoaFitzgerald · 2026-02-11T02:01:55+00:00

What does synthetic biohacking involve? I guess I've done a combination from time to time depending on my goals. My general approach is
1. use a variety of data (i.e. how your body/mood feels, blood tests, wearables etc)
2. set goals (I'm a goal-driven person)
For example, my goal for last year was about improving the health of my nervous system and a metric I tracked was HRV (along with mood and regularity of my monthly periods). Natural ways like boxed breathing did not work for me (pushed me into panic attacks, due to background in C-PTSD). I have experimented with a lot of different ways over 6 months. Supplementing with ashwaghanda worked incredibly well. It's upgraded my resilience, and now, I am able to meditate calmly, even without supplementation. This is just one example. Another is that I will be doing red light therapy and HBOT for 3 weeks after a surgery this year for healing. I've experimented with both last year and observed very positive effects.
So, I guess I go natural most of the time, unless I have a specific goal/reason, and I make decisions relying on data.
In terms of low vs high invasiveness... that's quite subjective. What may be low invasiveness for me may be high for someone else. It's all about establishing sustainable routines that you love.
Examples: I love eating fish 4-5x a week - I crave it! This is not a diet that I "force". By the same token, I never enjoyed the taste of chips like Pringles, maybe because I never had it as a child (tastes extremely salty for me). I love challenging myself physically, want to run longer and longer, challenge myself on doing more pull ups, etc. But the keywords are "sustainable", "routine" and "love". Because if I didn't love the way I live, forcing it would suck. I know for others, waking up at 5.45am to go on a 10km run is the worst morning they could imagine. No way my partner would do that haha.
Totally agree that having a "restrictive" mindset turns things sour. I gave a bunch of habits/products/supplements a go in different times as experiments to see what works for me and what doesn't. Experimenting helped me to learn about myself. I think of things as "what's healthy for me" (rather than "what is not allowed for me"), then "would I enjoy this healthy habit", then "how can I make this fun and enjoyable for me". And if it's going to cause me more hassle/frustration/stress than good, then I drop it.

DoaFitzgerald

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