Dr. Grace Liu, PharmD, AFMCP, is a functional medicine practitioner with an international functional medicine practice that includes nutritional consultations, integrative laboratory analysis, and personalized counseling. I first became aware of her work last summer at the Ancestral Health Symposium where she presented the idea of an ancestral core microbiota.

Over the past couple of years, I've been lucky enough to meet many gut experts. Dr. Liu is the first that can review a bacterial taxonomy from a fecal sample and give a meaningful research and practice orientated narrative. The taxonomy I have came from the results of taking part in the American Gut Project. A faster way to get hold of the data is uBiome. These tests are great if you're feeling pretty good. If you have any chronic health complaint, you will be better off first doing a test like the BioHealth 401H or Doctor's Data comprehensive stool analysis with parasitology.

Dr. Liu's blog and podcast are fantastic resources for anyone interested in better understanding in the inner workings of the gut and improving their health. Look out for her next presentation at PaleoFX.

In the interview, we mention the keystone species: Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Bifidobacterium longum and Akkermansia muciniphila, none of which I have!

Prebiotics: glucomannan. Probiotics: Prescript-Assist.