This book covers a lot of information and has lots of very good advice. The book is a little slow and I found it hard to get through at times, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

An excellent book to review Ayurvedic practices for gut health. As a obesity medicine doctor and culinary medicine physician, I am asked about gut health on a daily basis. This was informative and interesting. Very user friendly in terms of information and facts. Plan to use much of the information to inform patients in my practice about simple techniques to manage a healthy gut microbiome. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy for an honest review.

An insight into Eastern thoughts and ideas around the balance of body and nutrition. A useful, thought provoking guide,

*I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Me waiting for the world to recognize the importance of the microbiome and whole body wellness...

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This book, though a bit scattered, is brilliant. I expected this to be a regurgitation of the information that I already knew, but it's more than that. Shea has accumulated a massive amount of information in this book. The microbiome is rising in the public eye, but we still don't regard it as highly as we ought to. I've been researching this topic on my own off and on, but this book really blew my mind!

It does more than deal with the subject of our tiny external and internal communities, however. It gives insight into organs that Eastern medicine has long known of that we've only just "discovered" in the West, it draws in scientific studies, it explores the science behind Eastern tradition, it explores how the average person might incorporate some of those traditions into their daily lives, and it finishes with a protocol for a gentle lifestyle reset. I've long been fascinated by Eastern medicine and wondered how it might connect with what we perceive as science in the West, so this was a welcome insight! I also appreciated Shea's wisdom in regard to things like probiotics and fad diets.

If you're interested in the microbiome and/or Eastern medicine, I'd recommend this book.

I really wanted to love this. However, I found it difficult to follow- and extremely slow. I gave up about half way through.

This book provides an holistic guide to managing gut health naturally based on Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine principles. It highlights the importance of your internal flora and its influence on all other bodily systems and functions such as the brain, the immune system, sleep, mood, hormones etc. This book is a wake up call to how everything is connected and how we can cultivate our own microbiome for overall better health. Bridgette Shea offers diet advice, herbal remedies, and so much more. I found it fascinating, and very useful. But also too scientific and a bit overwhelming in places. If you just take the bits that appeal to you and build up from there, it would be a beneficial start. There was some advice I definitely wouldn't want to follow but lots I would like to explore and try. Overall a very good and important book.

This was a fascinating book that really covered gut health and the importance of it well. Since gut health impacts so much more than just your stomach, such as your immune system, it is really important to make sure that it is functioning optimally and efficiently. As I suffer from IBS, I found this to be really informative and helpful with tips to utilize in my life.

I wanted to read this book for two reasons. 1. more and more studies are showing that our digestive system has a HUGE effect on so much in our body, so it's vital to maintain good health and 2. I have Crohn's Disease. This was a really good book to read to learn about how to improve your digestive health, but also to learn about some alternative ways to make your body healthy and about Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic practices.

There's no denying the sheer amount of information in this book. It is extremely well researched and referenced, which is useful for those wanting to go deeper into the subject matter.

There are a couple of niggles. First of all, although there is a lot of scientific literature referred to, there are then connections made between different theories or analyses which are based on no evidence whatsoever. They are mere supposition or thought experiments,

Secondly, although for the most part the book is user friendly, it sometimes requires more complex knowledge without setting the foundations. For example, the book discusses the role of acupuncture, but then goes on to recommend certain needle points, which unless you had prior knowledge you really would not know from the book alone what you were doing.

Finally, there's a section on the mysterious 'mind-body 'type' which is so mysterious the book can't help you find out which you are.

All in all, it's worth reading especially for the dietary and lifestyle recommendations.

I found this to be a very interesting and informative book. I expected it to mostly deal with fermented foods and such, since the title has to do with the microbiome. While it does talk about these foods, it doesn't overly glorify them and it also focuses on all of the other ways that we can create balance and health throughout the body. It comes from an Ayurvedic perspective with some traditional Chinese medical advice. Shea doesn't villify any foods (though she recommends against things like caffeine and alcohol) and includes healthy meats, wheat, dairy, etc. in her suggestions for foods, although she provides a dietary reset that avoids many foods for a short period of time. There is also a focus on breathing, stress relief, healing trauma, exercise and other healthy practices that help heal physically and emotionally. There is a short takeaway at the end of each section that summarizes the key points.

There's lots to think about here, and lots of good advice.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

Cultivating Your Microbiome talks about gut health from the perspective of Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine.
It's a quite thought-provoking book about what and how we eat and whether we're in harmony with our bodies. I quite liked the mental challenge of my beliefs, which at places aligned and at places clashed with the book. In the end, I feel that I've gained something from reading the book, even if I don't agree 100%.
The only negative thing about the book for me is that it can sound quite preachy at times, which I didn't appreciate, as it made me want to get a bit defensive. However aside from that, is was a very curious read.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Inner Traditions - Healing Arts Press for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*