Speaker 1: 00:00 Welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast, the weekly podcast where Dr G gives you the tools you need to boost your health and live your healthiest life.
Dr. Gundry: 00:14 So welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast, where we’ve all heard the term superfood before. But when you start calling almost everything a superfood, how do you actually know what’s super and what’s just plain old good for you? Well, my guest on today’s episode is here to straighten it all out. He’s Darin Olien, the founder of Super Life and author of Super Life. The five simple fixes that will make you healthy, fit, and eternally awesome. But why? These are big promises. He’s been nicknamed the Superfood Hunter for his remarkable ability to track down many of the world’s most exotic and powerful foods. Today Darin’s here to chat with me about what he’s learned in his travels. The one superfood, almost no one is eating except probably Darin and me, and why that needs to change. Darin, welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast. It’s great to have you on.
Darin Olien: 01:18 Oh, it’s great to be here, Dr. Gundry. Thank you.
Dr. Gundry: 01:21 All right. So let’s start with your background. Why did you start studying food as medicine?
Darin Olien: 01:27 It really started when I had a career ending football injury in my sophomore year in college. So that kind of stopped me in my tracks and I kind of went through this depression. And I realized well, I care about not only health and nutrition but I want to get my body strong again. So I changed my major to physiology and nutrition. Once I started digging into the miraculousness of the body and then the interaction that foods and plants and medicinal plants had on it, it kind of turned on this forever curiosity. So that kind of set the stage for me to start digging in a little bit more.
Dr. Gundry: 02:17 How did this all start? You graduated from college, you can go, “Okay, I’m going to get on a bark canoe and float down the Amazon and I’m going to land in a village and I don’t speak the language. And I’m going to point to the pot and say, Oh, what is that?” I mean, how do you do that? I think our listeners would love to hear this story.
Darin Olien: 02:37 Yeah. Well I think the first ones were, I was actually looking into … because I was starting to formulate some stuff. Individually I was very curious to bring some things to market. So I started looking into, I think it was maca back in the early 2000. It was Sasha inchi, which was revered as ink and gold by the Incas. There was this other, which you’ll probably find really fascinating, called yacon syrup, which is one of the highest prebiotic foods that we know of.
Dr. Gundry: 03:14 We know [crosstalk 00:03:14]. Yeah.
Darin Olien: 03:14 Huge, huge. So I know the top researchers that look into that. So I was poking around because knowing and needing that I needed to reach out. I had hired a good friend of mine and indigenous guy that was an expert in plants. So once we started seeing who was processing what, we got some names, we got some numbers. We started having relationships. We started getting on the phone. Then eventually those processors who are really more of the businessmen of it, and then they have a chain of suppliers. So we contacted them, we said, “Hey, we want to show up and see what kind of supply you have and if you’re open to it, we want to see the whole supply chain.” And they were like, “Really? You want to go out and be on top of the Andes or be in the jungle?” And I said, “Absolutely.” So it kind of started, I mean there was a little bit in India back in 2003 and Himalayan salt, but it really started in Peru.
So when I showed up in Peru and met these people that I’ve been conversing with for six months, and they took me around. And it was really that you come away with not only greater knowledge that you could possibly gather from any research, but also you have a list of another 25 things you’ve never heard of. So then that just turns on this whole other aspect. Then I guess over the years, Dr Gundry, it was just poking around 40 different countries. It just kind of becomes, “Hey, check this out, check that out.” And you have to weigh it on many different levels. You have to weigh it on, “Okay, what is this botanical? What is it used for? Is a medicinal plant? Is it trying to combat certain ailments? Is it a food? And what is that food? What’s volatile in it? Can it even be commercialized? Can it even be scaled?” Because volume is a huge component and if you are scaling it, how are you doing that? You have to work with the people.
Then all of that and about 50 other questions, you can go, “Okay, who’s processing this? And who can pass the rigorous audits that you have to apply?” Because then you’re going into testing and testing compounds and anti-nutrient testing and active ingredient testing and microbiological testing. And simply just how they’re processing audits. They have to pass certain tests. There can’t be birds flying around and pooping in your product. I mean, as much as we think that should be thought about. Believe me, I’ve been in facilities all over the world and you will never guess how by the way, many products existing today don’t have a clue where their stuff’s coming from. I’m telling you if they don’t look under the hood, it’s just playing Russian roulette. Because you have to do the research yourself. You have to send your own crews. It’s not easy. It takes time and money. But from my point of view, especially this modern day world where money drives so much, as companies, as food companies, as supplement companies, you have to do your own quality control and audit controls. I mean, that’s just a mandatory from my point of view.
Dr. Gundry: 07:13 No, I think you’re absolutely right. Recently we had gotten a lead that there was this incredibly rich polyphenol rich olive oil in the deserts of Morocco. And the testing looked fabulous. But I actually took our team there to … “Come on, what’s this guy doing?” And this guy, a wonderful young man by the name of [Athmain 00:07:42], who’s a fourth generation olive oil grower. He had this nutty idea that great wines come from stressed grapevines and they’re underwater, they’re in rocks, they’re struggling. He got the nutty idea, he asked his father, if he could do it, to go to this rocky part of the desert, Moroccan desert and plant the olive trees right next to each other, almost in hedge rows so that the roots competed. And the amount of rock that he had to move just to get these things in and then underwater them.
It turns out his polyphenol content was 30 times what the assays in the French government had ever seen. So I’m going, “What, the guy’s a genius.” And I said, so then I go, “Okay, well how are you going to process this stuff?” Well, he realized that he didn’t want to truck these olives through the Moroccan desert, two hours in the blazing sun because it was going to destroy everything he did. So the minute they’re picked, he built a plant in the olive grove. And nitrogen, the minute it’s pressed, nitrogen gas is everywhere. So there’s no oxidation. And if I hadn’t seen that and seeing the detail that they’d gone into that. You’re right, you got to be there.
Darin Olien: 09:14 That’s a perfect example because that’s usually the challenge where someone will find a good product and then somewhere along the line the process fails, the power of the plant or how they’re growing it. So he put that plant under stress that in order for that plant, that olive tree to grow, it had to fight its way, which increased the antioxidants, vitamin, mineral contents. Then I’ve seen it so many times where you don’t process it correctly or at the source and then you lose all of the stress that was created and the beneficial compounds. That’s a perfect example of how you have to walk down the road of doing every part of the process in order to preserve that, which you’ve taken so much time to create in that plant to benefit us.
Dr. Gundry: 10:10 All right, so now you figured all this out. How do you find a new superfood? What’s the process? You just go in and say, “Hey, any superfoods around here?”
Darin Olien: 10:29 I would say that ultimately, number one, by showing up many times it’s happened by way of being in a village, watching how people eat and also eating with them. I found moringa aloe vera that way about eight years ago, going, “What is that plant and why are you cooking it?” “Oh, it’s moringa. It’s a vitamin tree. It’s all of these things.” And you’re like, holy, now I’ve seen it and researched it on seven different continents. Then all of a sudden you realize it’s one of the most powerful leaves and plants in the world. So there isn’t one way, but there’s many. Like the barukas for example, the nuts I found out of Brazil. Like I was in Brazil looking at some interesting Palm fruits in the Amazon, like not even close to the Cerrado where it comes from. I had a guy reach out to me because he saw pictures on social media and he says, “Hey, you’re in Brazil. I’m Brazilian. I found this nut. Is it any good?” Next thing you know, he’s sending me samples, we’re looking at a research in Portuguese and bingo.
I tell you what, it’s when you’re not looking, you’re showing up for one thing and when you’re open. Because for me, I feel like, Dr Gundry, it’s wild to me that in this day and age I can end up in the middle of nowhere and feel like I’m looking at something for the first time and many people don’t know about it. That’s pretty remarkable when you find a new mushroom in Bhutan. You find a new Palm fruit in the Amazon that no one could harvest before that turns into an incredible high fat milk. Then you show up in the middle of the Cerrado the Savanna of Brazil and this nut that is the most delicious nutrient dense nut in the world. So I think it’s being open and forever being a student. That is you have to show up just like you had the experience of your olives situation.
You’ve now have seen it. You’ve met the people, that product to you will probably be different than any other ones that you haven’t had the opportunity to see. Not that it hasn’t passed all the tests, but when you physicalize it and then you know the people, so now it’s dimensional. You’re like, “Wow, this is good for them because we’re paying them fairly. This is good for the environment because we’re creating food and opportunity in areas that didn’t have it.” And that it’s benefiting the customer. Then you get to tell the story from your experience that no one can take away from you. So that to me is some of the biggest advantages of showing up innocently. And honestly, I’m not the only white person that’s showing up. Unfortunately a lot of people have been screwed over, not necessarily intentionally by people of my skin color, but it’s happened. When you get to rectify that by your ethics and your morality and showing up and doing what you say you’re going to do, then that really pays dividends.
Dr. Gundry: 14:21 I think that’s very interesting. Give me an example of how an indigenous people have been screwed in this process without naming names.
Darin Olien: 14:31 Well, I can tell you with the barukas story, because it’s so close to us. We were an areas, so the nut comes from the baruzeiro tree. And that baruzeiro tree, goes from Paraguay, most of the Cerrado Brazil and into Bolivia. So we in Bolivia looking at and talking to the indigenous people. Well, it wasn’t necessarily they got screwed over from an intentional standpoint, but they were given this indigenous group that was trying to make the barukas expand. They were given money, a lot of money by an NGO and without having a lot of structure, they ended up kind of having indigenous wars as a result of so much money so fast and not really understanding how to manage it. So it kind of exploded in their face and became almost impossible for them to get this nut out.
So it wasn’t like they were getting screwed over, but it was imploding in what they were trying to do, but they didn’t have the infrastructure to do it. Then in other situations, it will specific to barukas, you’d have people come in and literally say, “Hey, we’re going to buy this amount from you.” So the people would go out, forge, which is not easy. They come back and then there was no one, “Oh, you know what? I don’t have the money. The market didn’t really work out well, so I can’t pay you.” That would happen over and over and over again. And you can not do that. That will destroy virtually everything because you have to have integrity. So that’s something that we’re extremely proud of that we say to those people in Brazil. You gather the barukas, in these areas, we’ll give you these fair wages, which we’ll announce on the radio so no one can undercut you and we’ll buy it for the next 20 years. So it will create security, longevity and integrity.
Dr. Gundry: 17:00 Wow. Now I know everybody’s wondering what the heck is a baruka nut. So don’t tell us yet because we’re going to take a quick break and you got to stay tune if you want to know about barukas because you have to know about barukas. So we’ll be right back. Hey podcast listeners, Dr Gundry here and I need your help. I’m always trying to improve this podcast so I can bring the most valuable and insightful information to you, the listeners. In the show notes, for each episode of this podcast, you’ll find a link to a survey. Please just take a few minutes to fill it out so I can learn more about you and what you would most like to hear us discuss on the show. Your opinion really matters. So thank you and now back to the show. Okay, welcome back. We are talking superfoods, but I promise we’re going to learn all about barukas. So what the heck is a baruka, Darin?
Darin Olien: 18:03 I tell you what man, the barukas is a nut that we found out of the Cerrado of Brazil. So a landmass the size of three States of taxes that South of the Amazon. No one knows really what it is. It doesn’t get a lot of press. But here’s the thing, it’s producing the highest nutrient value of any nut and it tastes better than any nut. Believe me, I couldn’t believe that when we actually found it. This is what it looks like. So this little thing is found in this. So this is what we call the fruit. So there’s a light fruit layer, which by the way has a lot of prebiotic activity, which is fantastic, high antioxidants, high fiber, but there’s one nut per fruit. You cannot grab it early. You can’t pick it from the tree. You have to let it drop. It’s a completely wild food which scaling on a wild food is virtually unheard of in this day and age.
So you have that huge landmass. We’ve had to gather tens of thousands of indigenous people to collect. But what you get in this nut is lower calories. So this is like the perfect example of what a superfood is. Lower calories, high nutrient value. So you have lower fat calories, you have six grams of protein per serving, which is virtually the highest nut, protein and all of the amino acids, which is crazy. Then in terms of antioxidants, let’s compare it to now it’s poor cousin, which is an almond, the regular old almond. Number one, almonds have all artificial irrigation, barukas has zero. It comes from the rain, it’s in the wild. No irrigation, no pesticides, no herbicides, none of that stuff. And it has over 300% more antioxidants than an almond. It’s off the chart. So you’re getting a third higher than any other nut and fiber. Then you have magnesium, calcium, copper, zinc, manganese, phosphorous, potassium in terms of its minerals. So it’s like this little vitamin pill, antioxidant, fiber-rich, high protein, low calorie, super dense food and it happens.
I’d love to hear you describe it because for me, when I ate it for the first time, it blew my mind that it could be this good for you and taste this good. And that to me, instead of trying to formulate around things which I’ve done in my career where things are bitter, pungent, sour, salty, have lots of tannins and you want people to ingest it, but it’s too intense. This is like the opposite. This is like people and kids reach for it out of their instincts. And that to me, it was a slam dunk and of course then connecting it to planting trees in the Cerrado. We plant a tree for every five pounds we sell. We have nurseries. We give it back to the indigenous people. We’re funded through a charitable trust that our goal is to plant trees, millions, tens of millions of trees in the Cerrado while sharing this amazing nut. But yeah, I’d like to hear your … I mean, when you ate this for the first time, how was that for you?
Dr. Gundry: 22:12 Well, first of all, for people who are listening to the podcast, I describe this, it looks kind of like a beer nut for most people. And the thing that got me interested, and maybe you’ve done the research. Does the skin of the baruka nut have resveratrol in it?
Darin Olien: 22:34 That’s a very good question. We haven’t specifically … we’ve realized that there’s two or three polyphenols in there. I think we can definitely zero in on what those are, but yes, the antioxidants in the skin are off the chart.
Dr. Gundry: 22:49 Yeah. It tasted a polyphenol-rich to me. And I literally have three bags in my house at any one time. I must say it’s become my go to nut. I have no relationship with you. And I’m not a paid spokesperson. But I actually have talked about it before that … and I was so excited to get you on because this is a win win. You’re helping indigenous people. It’s an amazing nut that people do need to try. And I haven’t found anybody that doesn’t like it.
Darin Olien: 23:32 Yeah, me either. And we’ve done a lot of historical data. We’ve done a lot of anti-nutrient tests. People with severe allergies, we can’t say, it’s a dangerous thing to say everyone can’t. But we’ve had a lot of people try this with their doctors and not have reactions. We’ve done historical data as far back as we can go. We’ve talked to the two or three PhDers in Brazil and have found no direct allergen warning for this thing. So it’s super exciting. I love your story because it wasn’t through a promotion, it was through you looking into this, you finding a comfort in the nut and then enjoying it. I love that because the nut speaks for itself. It not only tastes great, but it’s so rich in nutrients. That we always believe that our marketing is if people can try it, then we got them. Because like you said, no one doesn’t like it.
Dr. Gundry: 24:46 Yeah. It’s interesting. Well, one of the things, I was actually approached by a James Beard award winning chef about this nut years ago. And he said, “What do you know about this nut?” And I said, “Really, I don’t know anything.” He says, “Well, I need to know if it’s got lectins in it.” So literally I did find a report that there aren’t any lectins in it. And I went, “Oh, that’s cool. Well, I’ve got to find out more about this nut.” So that’s how I got involved in. And just as an aside, I won’t let any of my patients in my offices try a supplement or a product that I don’t know much about until I’ve researched it, number one and I’ve tried it on myself. It’s funny because a lot of what I’ve learned particularly about medicinal plants is a patient asking me, “What do you know about such and such?” And back in the good old days, I didn’t know much about and I said, “Well, I’ll be back with you.” So can you imagine a regular physician testing all the prescriptions that he gives to patients on himself?
Darin Olien: 25:55 [inaudible 00:25:55].
Dr. Gundry: 25:56 Of course, who would be that crazy? Think of the side effects.
Darin Olien: 26:00 Exactly.
Dr. Gundry: 26:02 So good for you. All right. So how do the indigenous people eat barukas?
Darin Olien: 26:08 So the interesting thing is we were seeing them in this day and age tried to crack this nut open with a rock or machete. Then someone would have these old ovens that they would toast the barukas to liberate the nutrients. That was what’s going on literally now. But it’s digging into some of the older people who are familiar with barukas, they used to take the whole fruit. So they would take this whole thing, they would throw it on the fire at the end of the day. Then the morning it was toasted inside, more easily cracked open and they would consume it that way. So yeah, extremely cool. Then they would also realize the animals were eating the fruit on the outside and then just spitting out the hard shell. So of course I saw this nut breaking down in the wild that was out exposed and that’s why I started shaving this off. We tested it and saw the high fiber, the high antioxidants. So yes, right now you can get the dehydrated fruit with the nuts as our trail mix. It’s the perfect alchemy.
Dr. Gundry: 27:21 Oh wow. And that’s on your website?
Darin Olien: 27:24 Absolutely.
Dr. Gundry: 27:25 Okay. Other than eating them like beer nuts, what other ways can you use baruka nuts?
Darin Olien: 27:32 Yeah, well they’re great on smoothie bowls. They’re great with salads. We’re doing a lot of R and D with the butter. That’s probably one of the most highly requested. When are you making the butter? Here’s the thing. The fat content is so low that we have to add back oil a little bit so that it becomes … but I’ve also added back yacon syrup. So now we’re really, it’s an interesting dynamic that we’re playing with the butter. It’s ridiculously good.
Dr. Gundry: 28:05 And how about flour? Can you make it into a flour?
Darin Olien: 28:07 Yeah, you could. I mean, we’ve done it in Brazil. We’ve also pressed the oil out of it, but economically it’s just better and more full to consume the whole thing. So then we’re also looking at certain bars that we’re making, sprinkling the fruit, the fruit chips on top. You can certainly mix it up in this smoothie, like literally blend it up and it gives that peanutty flavor with zero, obviously craziness of peanuts and also the trail mix. You add a little almond milk or whatever kind of milk you want and it becomes an incredible cereal with the baruka nuts and the light sweetness from the fruit layer. So there’s a lot to do and we’re digging into it.
Dr. Gundry: 29:08 Speaking of the fruit layer, I mean, most people I think still are unaware that the coffee bean is the nut inside the coffee fruit. And the coffee fruit has so many great qualities, probably far more than the bean itself including neuron boosting potential. I actually use coffee fruit extract every day. So you’re right, these fruits maybe even better than the nuts.
Darin Olien: 29:43 Yeah, for sure. And that’s the alchemy of those two because even with the coffee fruit, because I’ve, but 10 years ago got to work with the guys perfecting the coffee fruit in Mexico. And you’re right, because they found out that the fruit combined with the slow drawing of the seed in this case, the coffee bean, it created that neurodegenerative effect. So they weren’t as good on their own. Definitely had benefits, but when you combine the two, you get this, what’s called a like a pleomorphic effect. You get infinitely more L chemical interactions when you start understanding why they’re together, keep them together. In many circumstances, you just observe nature and nature will reveal that right path.
Dr. Gundry: 30:35 Yeah, that’s exactly right. So sometimes the whole is better than the parts.
Darin Olien: 30:43 Exactly.
Dr. Gundry: 30:44 So give me three superfoods that you really think are essential for human health. You only get three, and longevity.
Darin Olien: 30:54 Oh God, that is …
Dr. Gundry: 30:55 Come on, you know it’s tough.
Darin Olien: 30:57 That’s tough. Well, I mean …
Dr. Gundry: 30:58 You’re stranded on an Island and you only get to take three things with you.
Darin Olien: 31:03 I think I would take the King of all mushrooms. I would take chaga mushroom.
Dr. Gundry: 31:07 I take it every day as a supplement.
Darin Olien: 31:13 Beautiful. My dog’s name is chaga, so I have to roll with that one. And my Nordic culture consume chaga, so I have to do that. Then I do have and I’ve done a lot of experiments and in terms of growing and stressing and processing from Africa to Thailand, to Cambodia, to the Philippines with moringa. Moringa as the African people would call it never die. So if you take it, you would never die. So that one for sure, because it’s the vitamin tree. And come on, of course I’m going to take the highest nutrient value nut in the world because I’m going to enjoy the hell out of that if we have two that don’t taste that great and one that tastes great. So I’m going to take the third one barukas.
Dr. Gundry: 32:07 Perfect. All right. So speaking of never die, you’ve gone all over the world and as you know, my latest book is the longevity paradox. How to die young and ripe old age. So what have you learned all over the world? What are these super old people doing? Is there any commonality or any tricks you’ve learned?
Darin Olien: 32:34 Absolutely. Well, I’ve seen a lot of people in villages, older elders and I actually this past year 2018 got to interview a few, 102 and 104 year old women in Sardinia. Which is as you know, a healthy blue zone and got to hang out with Dr Pez and Dr Valter Longo. So we really got to dig into that. So you quickly realize also from my travels, you quickly realize in talking with these people that it’s not one thing. Of course we all want the one thing, but it’s everything. I would say the first vital nutrient is needed is that is open-heart community, good people around you. That is huge. Even a good healthy pet to expose you to other microbes and all those things. And then purpose. Every one of these people that I talked to had a purpose. It didn’t matter if it changed the world, it could be, “Hey, I’m here to make my grandchildren better. I’m here to pass on my knowledge.” So those things for sure.
Then it’s more of certainly diversity of food. We’ve gotten so far away from that. So as you know, very clearly that that color and diversity of food is just indicators of all the other polyphenols and antioxidants. So diversity of food is also combating micronutrients so that you’re getting a balance of micronutrients and obviously moderate, consistent movement. Go to work, take a break, go work some more, take a break, do some work, take a break. Those kinds of things. And also food that’s close, that’s for sure. Food that’s close to you is extremely important. So if you can grow your own food, great. If you can support your local farmer’s markets, all that stuff, extremely important.
Dr. Gundry: 34:55 Yeah, I think those are all points well taken actually. They’re all summed up in my book. One thing I think we forget as actually Americans during world war two, 40% of all the food consumed in the United States was from Victory Gardens, backyard Victory Gardens. I mean, it boggles the mind that 60 years ago, 40% of everything we ate came out of our backyard. It’s like, if you think about it, I’ve often fantasized about this. If we all planted our front yards over to a vegetable garden, imagine what that could do. It’s mind boggling. I mean it’s good for you to have a garden and believe it or not.
Darin Olien: 35:50 Exactly. Get in the dirt for sure.
Dr. Gundry: 35:54 Get in the dirt. When my kids were growing up in Michigan, we had a Victory Garden. We’d go out and you pull the damn carrot out of the ground and you brush it off on your pants and eat the damn thing.
Darin Olien: 36:10 Exactly.
Dr. Gundry: 36:12 You wouldn’t wash it off.
Darin Olien: 36:14 Of course not good enough. If I can’t see it, it’s good.
Dr. Gundry: 36:17 Yeah. And [inaudible 00:36:18], little did we know we were seeding our microbiome.
Darin Olien: 36:22 Totally.
Dr. Gundry: 36:24 All right. So you’ve got baruka nuts. What research are you excited about right now? Anything new and exciting?
Darin Olien: 36:31 Well, I mean, I’m certainly doing a lot of R and D on the barukas, different variations of how to use it, different variations on the fruit layer on the outside, researching that. I am helping a friend with some Palm fruits out of the Amazon and seeing if we can, he created these harnesses to be able to climb to trees that haven’t been able to be climbed to before. And it’s totally sustainable new Palm fruit that’s got me excited. So other than that focused on barukas and what we can do there. It’s a big task to coordinate around the Cerrado. We’re also mechanizing certain things, but it’s tough for me to focus because I do find so many interesting things that I want to participate in and help get to the market. Because these things are literally lifesavers for us and nothing gives me greater joy than to help indigenous people thrive and also help the environment and then help end consumer. I mean, I’ll do that for free for the rest of my life for sure.
Dr. Gundry: 37:51 Well, that’s great. Now, where can listeners find out more about you, Super Life and the other work you’re doing?
Darin Olien: 37:59 Yeah, so I got superlife.com, soon to be coming out darinolien.com. Got a lot of new interesting stuff coming down the pipe. Super Life living on all social media platforms. Then of course we have @eatbarukas for social media as well and barukas.com for the nuts.
Dr. Gundry: 38:20 Where can people find barukas besides your website?
Darin Olien: 38:23 Yeah, so Amazon all over. We’ve got some Southern California Erewhon stores and some smoothie shops. We’re also, I can’t say it yet, but we’re launching in some very big retailers at the moment. They’re simply coming to us, but we like a really good customer. We actually liked the kind of people that listened to your show because they know enough to care about what they’re getting. They know enough to by them voting with their hard earned money and getting something great, they’re also supporting directly these indigenous people in this land. So we love that direct online customer and the ones that care. So we know that we’re selling out of these barukas, so we want the customers that care. That’s really what matters to us because we care so much and the people in the Cerrado do as well.
Dr. Gundry: 39:22 Great. Well thanks again for being on the program and keep hunting. I can’t wait for your next discovery.
Darin Olien: 39:31 Thanks Dr. Gundry. Appreciate it.
Dr. Gundry: 39:33 Hey, pleasure to meet you. Okay, it’s time for audience question. We’ve got a question from Isaac on YouTube. What about lacto fermented fruit? Are your rules different for this due to the sugar is being consumed by the good bacteria? Well, lacto fermentation often refers to the first process of fermentation. For instance, pickling is often referred to as lacto fermentation, chutneys are also referred to as lacto fermentation. While this does remove some of the sugars, it actually doesn’t remove most of the sugars. So the same rules apply. You could use this like a chutney as a condiment, but please don’t be fooled that it’s a low sugar food. It’s the same way I’ve talked about kombuchas. A true kombucha actually ought to be fermented, what residual sugars are there should be virtually nil.
But so many of the kombuchas that are commercially available have tons of added sugar. So please read the label carefully because these are mostly sugary drinks. If you pick up a bottle of kombucha and noticed the serving size is two, you actually have to multiply that sugar content by two to actually see what you’re going to drink. Because I rarely see anybody consume half the bottle and leave the other aside. So just be careful with these. But fermentation does help reduce lectins, but lacto fermentation really isn’t going to get rid of a lot of sugar content.
Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Dr. Gundry podcast. Before you go, I just wanted to remind you that you can find the show on iTunes, Google play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want to watch each episode of the doctor Gundry podcast, you can always find me on YouTube at youtube.com/doctorgundry, because I’m Dr. Gundry and I’m always looking out for you.
