IBD Clinical Remission | A Day Following the Biome Optima Meal Plan | An Ulcerative Colitis Case Study

My name is Kenny Honnas and I’ve been in clinical remission from a severe case of Ulcerative Colitis since the end of 2016. Shortly after my diagnosis in 2014, I experienced a flare that was so bad I began filling toilet bowls with pure blood. After weeks of constant bloody diarrhea throughout the day and night, I was eventually hospitalized. I lost 30lbs in two weeks, had four blood transfusions, and was just barely able to avoid having my colon surgically removed. After being released from the hospital, I eventually began studying nutrition. In 2016, after reading several articles and studies on pubmed, I learned that there seems to be a relationship between the pathogenesis of IBD and a dysbiotic gut microbiome. So I wondered what would happen if I optimized my gut microbiome and reversed the dysbiosis. I designed and began following my own gut microbiome optimizing diet which allowed me to finally achieve the level of health I was looking for- which is to be able to consume a full range of foods without bleeding, mucus, urgency or diarrhea; to have well-formed, solid bowel movements; and to be on no medication.

Quick disclaimer

Just want to be explicitly clear that I am not a doctor, or a dietician, and that the information on this blog and in my videos is based on my personal opinion and should not be taken as medical advice. If you have, or suspect you have, a health condition, you should contact your doctor, or other healthcare practitioner. You should consult with your doctor before making any dietary changes with the intent to treat an illness. I recommend that you follow your doctor’s advice and take medication as prescribed.

Affiliate Disclosure

Please assume that links and posts on www.teamhonnas.com are affiliate links and that I will receive commission for sales using those links.

Since then I’ve gone on to create two separate resources that explain the tactics that I used to improve my health. I have my Boot Camp series that you can find on my channel under the playlist tab and I have my online learning course Biome Optima™. The Boot Camp series shows several example recipes and explains the gut microbiome optimization principles that I follow in depth. I recommend starting with Boot Camp Episode 10 because this episode makes some important changes to the overall Boot Camp series. And then the other nine episodes should be watched through the lens of episode 10. 

All of the information that has allowed me to get better is available on my YouTube channel for free. So if that’s the case, why would you want to take the online course Biome Optima™? Three reasons: 

1. Number one is convenience. Biome Optima™ provides a 5 week sample daily routine and meal plan that is broken down by the hour and gives you three sample recipes to choose from each day. It also includes a sample training routine and explains how I would incorporate exercise throughout each week. It also gives instructions on how I would progress the levels of probiotics and other supplements each each week. So it really takes away the guesswork on how to structure your day. The routine starts at 8:00am in the morning and ends at 11:00pm each night.
2. ‍Reason number two, and I think this is the most important reason, is understanding. I spent a lot of time reading and citing research in this course in order to demystify what seems to be the causative mechanism of inflammatory bowel disease based on current available studies. And understanding that process and seeing the visuals, really helps the logic of Biome Optima’s objective make sense. Understanding why it’s important to eat and live eubiotically, at least in my opinion, is more important than following a pre-made meal plan. The meal plan is like training wheels on a bicycle, it’s helpful and convenient at first as you’re learning and getting your bearings, but my hope is that Biome Optima teaches you how to ride this metaphorical bike without training wheels. Will teach you the logic of what to eat so you can do it on your own without the need to rely on a meal plan. And Biome Optima™ does this better than my Boot Camp series because it’s more in-depth, there’s new information, and the content is presented in a succinct and sequential step-by-step educational process.‍
3. Reason number three is community. Everyone who enrolls in the course will receive access to the Biome Optima™ facebook group. My goal is for this group to be a place of encouragement, a place to ask questions about the course to other people working through the course, a place to share food photos, new recipes, and a place to interact with Kara and myself and other members of Team Honnas. We want you to join the team and work towards gut microbiome optimization with other team members. 
   

Now it’s very important that you understand I am not a doctor or a dietician, and the information on this channel, blog post and in this course is intended only for educational purposes and should NOT be acted upon without the approval and supervision of a licensed physician. Seriously, I want you to be as safe as possible and to err on the side of caution. Please do not act on this information without the supervision of a doctor who knows you, who understands your current level of health, and is aware of the many other health and medical factors that are unique to you.

That being said, in this video, I’m going to show you what a full day following the Biome Optima™ Meal plan looks like including exercise and supplements. Biome Optima is based on the gut microbiome optimizing principles that I believe have allowed me to achieve and maintain clinical remission from inflammatory bowel disease. 

For the first week of the Biome Optima™ Daily Routine & Meal Plan, I recommend consuming a high quality probiotic supplement first thing in the morning upon waking, approximately 8:00am. And then I recommend intermittent fasting until around noon to reduce stimulating the gastrocolic reflex which triggers the occurrence of bowel movements. 

At approximately 12:00pm, I have Meal One scheduled as your choice between a smoothie or a cooked meal. If you choose the smoothie, the sample ingredients are 2 ripe bananas, an avocado, frozen blueberries, cacao powder, kefir, and psyllium husk. Simply add everything to the blender in the amounts specified in the program, and blend thoroughly. This is my favorite smoothie recipe and it’s a eubiotic powerhouse. The kefir I’m using in this video is store bought, though I generally recommend making your own kefir at home so that you know it was made correctly and is full of live probiotic microorganisms. You can watch my homemade kefir video to see the easy way that I make it. I only use store bought kefir if I don’t have any homemade kefir on hand when I need it, and when that’s the case, I think Lifeway is a pretty good brand and I can find it at most local grocery stores.

You can also choose to have a cooked meal instead of a smoothie for Meal One. The ingredients are going to be carrots, white rice, salmon, kefir, fermented vegetables, and sea salt. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rinse the rice. If using an instant pot, I add 1 cup of water for every 1 cup of uncooked white rice. Add salt. Cook the rice. Chop the carrots. Add them to a pot and steam them. Place the salmon on a baking sheet. Then rub some olive oil on both sides of the salmon. Then add salt to taste. Then place the baking sheet in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the salmon is cooked. By now the carrots and white rice should be done or almost done cooking. When the salmon is finished cooking, add everything to a plate. Now the program calls for fermented vegetables to be consumed with cooked meals, and here I'm using kimchi. However, the program explains that fermented vegetables should be made from vegetables that contain higher levels of soluble fiber during phase 1 and phase 2 for the most part. I love kimchi and sauerkraut, but since cabbage leaves are composed mainly of insoluble fiber and are considered roughage, they can be irritating to inflamed intestines. So the program explains which type of vegetables to ferment and consume instead. Kimchi may also be a little too spicy for individuals with active inflammation in the intestines. And like kefir, I generally recommend that fermented vegetables be made at home so that you know they were made correctly and are full of live probiotic microorganisms. You can watch my video on how to make fermented vegetables to see the way that I make them. And once again like kefir, I only use store bought fermented vegetables if I don’t have any homemade fermented vegetables on hand when I need them. And of course, a small glass of kefir goes with this meal. 

At some point during the day, if you are physically able, I would encourage you to engage in some form of exercise. The reason I encourage exercise is because IBD patients are known to have a somewhat stagnant and clogged lymphatic system which can contribute to inflammation due to certain types of immune cells being trapped inside the intestines. The incredibly simple solution to this is to exercise because musculoskeletal movement plays a large role in driving lymphatic flow. So exercise can get the lymphatic system flowing and help dissipate that inflammation by allowing a functional trafficking of immune cells. The Biome Optima™ Daily Routine & Meal Plan calls for exercise three times per week if physically able and provides a sample training regimen. I generally prefer exercising in a fasted state, though it’s totally fine to eat before exercising and it can be done at whatever time of day best fits your schedule. 

I have Meal Two scheduled about 5-6 hours after Meal One at approximately 6:00pm. Meal Two is always scheduled as a cooked meal. And this one is a slow cooker recipe, so I recommend starting the cooking process earlier in the day so that it’s ready to eat around 6:00pm or whenever you’re ready to have dinner. The ingredients for this meal are carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, 1 sweet potato, turmeric powder, high quality sea salt, and a whole chicken. I give the carrots a rough chop and then set them aside. I then proceed to peel both the Yukon gold potatoes and the sweet potato. Potato peels are considered roughage, so I recommend removing them to avoid causing further irritation to any inflamed areas inside the intestines. After that, I’ll chop the Yukon gold potatoes and the sweet potato into roughly similar sized chunks. Then I’ll add 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of sea salt to a bowl and mix them. I’ll then add the carrots and potatoes to a crock pot or instant pot so that the chicken can lay on top of them while cooking. I’ll then season the chicken by rubbing it with the turmeric and salt before placing it in the crock pot on top of the carrots and potatoes. I’ll set the crock pot on high and let it cook for 4-5 hours until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and has an internal temperature of at least 165 ºF. When the chicken is ready it should look like this. Plate the food, add the fermented vegetables and a glass of kefir as specified in the program, and enjoy! I think this really tastes amazing, it’s so easy to make, and great for the gut microbiome. 

During dinner, there are some scheduled supplements to take including a good multivitamin and Vitamin D. And just like the day started, I recommend consuming a high quality probiotic supplement just before bed to end the day.

And that’s it. That’s what a day following the Biome Optima™ Daily Routine & Meal Plan looks like. This was just one day out of a 5 week program. If you’re looking for a convenient program that provides structure and removes a lot of guesswork, a better understanding of the relationship between the gut microbiome and IBD, and a community of other people working towards gut microbiome optimization, then I recommend going to teamhonnas.com and enrolling in Biome Optima™.

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Sources

1. Brown K, DeCoffe D, Molcan E, Gibson DL. Diet-Induced Dysbiosis of the Intestinal Microbiota and the Effects on Immunity and Disease [published correction appears in Nutrients. 2012 Oct;4(11)1552-3]. Nutrients. 2012;4(8):1095-1119. doi:10.3390/nu4081095.

2. von der Weid PY, Rainey KJ. Review article: lymphatic system and associated adipose tissue in the development of inflammatory bowel disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Sep;32(6):697-711. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2010.04407.x. PMID: 20636483.