Microbiota Reset Diet - Three Month Check-in

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Collette and I initially planned to eat this way for one month, and then settle back into an improved version of our standard-usual. But after enjoying improved sleep, clearer minds and younger-looking skin, we decided to extend our experiment through the Summer.

The Microbiota Reset Diet is really pretty simple - eat food. Food like our ancestors ate, not the extruded, manufactured, strip-mined calories that dominate the Standard American Diet (SAD). We continue embracing the five points we outlined back in April, with one adjustment.

  1. Increase consumption of live-culture fermented foods
  2. Increase fiber consumption (> 60g of fiber per day)
  3. Eliminate all processed food (all – even plant-based milks and oils)
  4. Eliminate all sugar 
  5. Replace coffee with tea (> 70% reduction in caffeine intake) Eliminate all caffeine
Collette led the way. A few weeks into our reset, she observed that the modest amount of green tea she consumed was accompanied by agitated mind-states. I conveniently ignored her decision to eschew the remaining caffeine doses, and merrily continued my daily consumption of Early Grey tea. After a few weeks, however, the ease in Collette's mind was radiantly visible in her comportment. While I was reluctant to give up my remaining gustatorial vice, I wanted more of what she displayed, and bid adieu to the remaining doses of caffeine.

Eat food.

The first few days, not unexpectedly, were pretty rough. Fatigue, headache and irritability ruled the days, while an unexpected insomnia ruled the nights. Thankfully these symptoms subsided fairly quickly, and with Collette's encouragement I was able to stay the course. We're now settled into our dietary routine, and are more pleased than ever with the results.

Our experience suggests that diet deeply influences the mind. We have a long-standing committed to working with our minds through meditation, though the foods we ate did not reflect this commitment. What we put into our bodies was at cross purposes with our shared interest in calming our minds, opening our hearts and awakening wisdom.

Employing the five steps outlined above supported steadying our minds, which in turn provided greater support to working with afflictive mental states, such as craving and attachment. In sum, the diet is both path and fruition. I doubt we could have persevered in this reboot without the years of mind-training, and the dietary reboot supports greater steadiness in training the mind.


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