About The Microbiome Solution

Live Dirty, Eat Clean—because every serious disease or chronic ailment begins in our gut.

The microbiome—the collective name for the trillions of bacteria that live in our digestive tract—is today’s hottest medical news topic. But what does this groundbreaking research really mean for our everyday health? Synthesizing the latest findings, Dr. Robynne Chutkan, a preeminent gastroenterologist, explains how the standard Western diet and our super-sanitized lifestyle are starving our microbes, depleting the “good bugs” that are crucial for keeping us healthy, and encouraging overgrowth of exactly the wrong types of bacteria. The resulting imbalance makes us vulnerable to a host of autoimmune and chronic health conditions.

But, as Dr. Chutkan explains, there are effective lifestyle and diet changes we can make to reverse this damage. Dr. Chutkan has helped thousands of patients suffering from a disordered microbiome with her comprehensive Live Dirty, Eat Clean plan, designed to remove damaging medications and foods, replace important bacteria that have been lost, and restore health. Here, she shares her powerful program to help readers everywhere recover and heal. With practical advice throughout that readers can incorporate into their lives every day, The Microbiome Solution offers:

  • An overview of the “modern microbial disrupters” that are stripping our bodies of their natural protective systems—from medications to hand sanitizers, ingredients in food, agricultural practices, our environments, and more
  • Delicious, nourishing recipes that actually encourage the growth of good bacteria
  • A list of important questions to ask your doctor if you have been prescribed an antibiotic, and how to protect your gut during a treatment course
  • A guide to choosing the right probiotics and supplements
  • Critical information on how to prevent and recover from health conditions like eczema, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn’s disease, colitis, IBS, and more
  • An introduction to the stool transplant, the next frontier for a severely troubled microbiome

This is the first book to offer a practical, effective plan for replenishing and optimizing the vital ecosystem in our gut. Start living dirty and eating clean today to ward off disease and begin the path toward lifelong, vibrant health.

Robynne Chutkan, MD, is one of the most recognizable gastroenterologists working in the United States today. The author of Gutbliss, Dr. Chutkan has a BS from Yale and an MD from Columbia, and is a faculty member at Georgetown University Hospital. An avid snowboarder, marathon runner, and Vinyasa yoga practitioner, she is dedicated to helping her patients live not just longer, but better, lives.

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Praise for the microbiome solution

“We live in symbiosis with trillions of bacteria that play a crucial role in determining our health and vitality. The Microbiome Solution is an eye-opening account of how supersanitation, antibiotic overuse and the Western diet collaborate to promote chronic disease by disrupting the gut microbiome’s ecological harmony and balance. Dr. Chutkan, a leading integrative gastroenterologist, presents a trailblazing program to heal your body from the inside-out by getting dirty and eating clean. Read this marvelous book and transform your health..one gut microbe at a time.”

-Gerard E. Mullin MD, Associate Professor of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Author of The Gut Balance Revolution

“Gastroenterologist Chutkan (Gutbliss) makes a strongly argued proposal that people should “live dirty” and “eat clean.” She believes that damage to the human microbiome, or gut bacteria, lies at the root of many current health problems. Chutkan’s health plan accordingly aims to reverse what she identifies as negative consequences of urbanization and modern medicine: antibiotic overuse, chlorinated water supply, chemical- and hormone-filled processed foods, microbe-depleting pesticides, and increased rates of cesarean sections. She proposes to “rewild” the body—using the term for the reintroduction of species into areas where they’ve become extinct—by eliminating specific medications, practices, and foods. In the book’s first half , she breaks down how bacteria works in the body during different stages of life, from the womb to adulthood, and claims that modern hygiene, for all its benefits, can adversely affect immune system functioning. The book’s latter half outlines a diet focused on food in its “natural” state, grooming and personal care advice (complete with beauty product recipes), and strategies for handling health challenges, probiotics, and stool transplants. This is a thoughtful approach to health and wellness that’s well worth the time of readers able and willing to research and evaluate Chutkan’s many claims for themselves.”

-Publisher’s Weekly (August 2015)

“We are truly in the middle of an epidemic—through our diet and our lifestyle we are unwittingly destroying the good bacteria in our bodies, the crucial allies we need to arm us against disease. In this life-changing book, Robynne Chutkan gives you simple, foolproof guidance to repair this vital ecosystem and bring you optimal health every day. Read this important book and discover the small changes that can make a huge impact.”

-Frank Lipman, MD, founder of Eleven Eleven Wellness Center and author of the New York Times bestseller The New Health Rules

“I whole-heartedly agree with Dr. Chutkan that there is a rising epidemic of vague symptoms often attributable to a damaged microbiome, from bloating and food intolerances to brain fog and weight-loss resistance. Her mantra ‘Live dirty, eat clean!’ is a scientifically sound solution. Try her simple program and get ready to feel the changes immediately. It’s the proven way to build up our ‘good bugs’ and keep your body strong and vibrant, ready to fight illness and disease. It’s something we can all do, each and every day. You will truly transform your health!”

-Sara Gottfried, MD, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Hormone Cure and The Hormone Reset Diet

“The Microbiome Solution is the medicine we all need to truly flourish.”

-Christiane Northrup, MD, author of the New York Times bestsellers Goddesses Never Age; Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom; and The Wisdom of Menopause

“The exciting research on the microbiome has the promise to help many take charge of their health and reverse chronic ailments. But what is so groundbreaking about this book is that it shows you how to put these scientific breakthroughs into practice, step-by-step. With Dr. Robynne Chutkan as your guide, you’ll understand how overuse of antibiotics, the standard Western diet, and a super-clean lifestyle starve your microbiome, and learn the essential tools to attain sustainable good health. This book is empowering and indispensable for anyone trying to get or stay well.”

-Terry Wahls, MD, author of The Wahls Protocol

“Chutkan’s “Live Dirty, Eat Clean” plan is a realistic and well thought out lifestyle program that’s full of information, recipes, and steps that allow you to take back control and influence your health for the better… The Microbiome Solution is an insightful, well written and easily absorbed book that provides the education and tools to influence your health for the entirety of your life. I strongly encourage anyone interested in better health and living well to indulge in this educational insight in lieu of trendy diets that vilify, restrict, and berate food and lifestyle choices.”

-Pam Salvadore, A Desert Health Review (June 2017)