(Ran out of time to supply responses to latest name ideas, but have read new additions. Will mull over and get back in a day or so hopefully)

Gut Health:

I want to first emphasize a comment post I made in 2015 about gut dysbiosys.

I've come across that gutcritters site before but not perhaps investigated it as deeply as I should. I found that blog post on Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase And Gut Health an interesting read (the portions I could understand at least), particularly the remarks on cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, fermented dairy foods, simple and complex carbohyrdates, black and red peppers, ginger etc. (I too have been down the road around twenty years ago of various fish oil supplements, and subsequently abandoned them) Also his remarks on intermittent fasting. I've considered going on a 6:1 or 5:2 diet. One takeaway seems to be the delicate balancing act between gut and heart health. I've found through years of experimentation that low cholesterol margarines were having a negative effect on my digestion, particularly one called Pro-Activ that was being pushed to lower LDL. I have cholesterol tests most years and have just about maintained borderline healthy results.

to switch to a diet of saturated fats in moderation (grass-fed/finished butter, eggs, beef) combined with steamed (then chilled to maximize resistant starch) potatoes. I have felt wonderful since switching to this diet. Potatoes are awesome compared to processed grains. I’m also eating high-fiber red rice and baked Halibut for dinners, which tastes fabulous and makes me feel so healthy.

Odd you should say that as I've found myself moving in that dietary direction recently, though haven't tried red rice or the steamed then chilled technique with potatoes. We're able to obtain grass-fed local lamb in our location; also venison (slow-cooked); which admittedly is farly low fat but I prefer it to beef. I eat al dente veg as raw seems to bring on my IBS symptoms, which incidentaly I've been free of for two weeks. This is how it goes: unpredictable, even with no obvious changes in diet over that period.

I also want to ask if you are getting 10,000 IU vitamin D every day with exposure of all your body skin to the sun or supplementation? I thought that of because I know it's so important for gut health and you’re in the cloudy UK.

This time of year I barely have any exposure to sunshine (currently daylight is from 7.30am - 4.30pm) during weekdays due to working indoors and imposed short lunchbreaks. However, my symptoms don't seem to improve in the summer (and last year was an unusually hot and sunny one) even with much higher exposure to sunshine - though typically rarely possible in the UK for "full body"! Yes, generally cloudy and wet, especially here towards the Welsh border.

Note I have taken nuts out of my diet. They seemed to be counter productive.

About a year ago I tried adding a wide variety of nuts to my diet for a couple of months, then dropped them. Seemed no real difference.

Leaky gut appears to originate from for example chronic bad diet, stress, and antibiotic use.

As for antibiotics. I looked back to a 2013 diary and discovered I was given Ciprofloxacin, which I see is a fluoroquinolone - hence my own wrecked gut flora and symptoms by the look of it.

So the key appears to be alkaline fiber. This means fiber from unprocessed plants and not grains. And fiber from certain raw vegetables such as celery (including eating the bitter leaves) and a green leafy vegetable such as mustard greens or pechay. I’m munching on these all day. I’m also including raw, unskinned carrots (even I eat the dirty nub and do not wash) and cucumbers.

Thanks. I'll look into this.

While I think of it, this book by The Angry Chef might be of interest to you - a food scientist who's mission is exposing lies, pretensions and stupidity in the world of food. Also, his blog

Avoiding stress doesn’t require yoga or a psychiatrist. The point I am trying to emphasize, is to not chase unlikely or superstitious posited causes for this can become wasteful (and even evasive) self-deception.

I appreciate what you say and do take your point. It's ironic in that amongst people I know I'm often the one seen as being too "logical" and dismissive of alternative medical practices! I generally persue a scientifically proven path but don't entirely dismiss other methods, (my inner deliberations between, say, Dawkins and Sheldrake!) though I'm naturally wary of hippie dippy and superstition-based "cures". CBT can be (and was for me) an effective treatement to reverse negative thought processes. Maybe not for everyone though. The point I'm trying to emphasise in contrast is the mechanistic world doesn't explain everything, but by that I don't mean I'm going to believe any old nonsense either. A process of sifting and experimentation over many years. I do see that because I don't have a science background that it might expose me to accusations of being gullable and impressionable. I attempt to keep an open mind, but not to the point of putting feelings before facts. No offence taken btw ;-)

But you didn’t mention what I’m suspecting may be the elephant in the dining room: grains.

Could be, yes. Though, for instance I have much less bread (generally tortillas) and pasta than I used to, usually substituting them with rice and potatoes. Room for improvement though I suppose.

It's encouraging to hear you are seeking more reliable and safer diagnostic techniques back in the States. Good luck with the Bovine Colostrum and in finding a suitable stool donor, maybe as suggested, somewhere in the "medical underground" - seems like there's the potential for some kind of detailed and organised database (with requisite privacy of course) of potential doners to be established. There must be lots of people out there wanting a similar service.