About this video

• Video Title: Gluten Beer Wine Yeast And A Mystery Cough | Five A Day
• Channel: Goobie and Doobie
• Speakers: (The transcript does not explicitly name the speakers)
• Duration: 00:44:49

Overview

This video discusses the importance of fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet ("Five a Day") and shares a personal anecdote about how eliminating gluten and certain fermented beverages helped resolve a persistent, unexplained cough. The speaker also touches on their experience with a power outage and the reliance on electricity.

Key takeaways

• The "Five a Day" principle: Emphasizes consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily for optimal health, providing fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• Personal Gluten Sensitivity: The speaker experienced a chronic, dry cough for months that interfered with daily life. After going gluten-free, the cough resolved, suggesting a sensitivity to gluten.
• Fermented Beverage Impact: While gluten-free, the cough returned when consuming fermented beverages like beer and wine, which contain yeast. Distilled liquors did not trigger the cough.
• Mystery Cough Resolution: The speaker suspects yeast or its byproducts in fermented beverages, in combination with gluten, caused the cough, though a definitive medical explanation remains elusive.
• Reliance on Electricity: A recent power outage highlighted the speaker's dependence on electricity for modern conveniences and communication.

Here are the points made in the video, organized by topic:

Power Outage Experience:

• The power was out for two nights due to a bomb cyclone storm.
• The speaker was grateful for the restoration of electricity and the ability to use appliances like the dishwasher.
• During the outage, cell phone towers were not working, limiting access to information unless the speaker drove to the city center.
• The refrigerator's contents were at risk of spoiling, though the hot water heater (running on natural gas) still worked.
• Cooking was done on a camping stove on the balcony to avoid using the gas stove indoors without ventilation.
• Entertainment during the outage was "old school" - reading books or using a phone with charge.
• Backpacking/camping gear like a headlamp and flashlights were useful.
• The experience felt "spooky" and like a "scary movie."
• The restoration of power allowed the speaker to upload videos again.

Diet and Health ("Five a Day"):

• The "Five a Day" concept encourages consuming five servings of fruits and vegetables daily for health.
• Fruits and vegetables provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein (from vegetables), and antioxidants.
• They support a healthy microbiome (gut bacteria), which is crucial for the immune system.
• A serving can be one banana or two cups of kale.
• Nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes are also beneficial.
• The speaker has a medical background but is not a nutrition expert.

Gluten and Mystery Cough:

• The speaker experienced a recurring, severe dry cough twice a year, usually during seasonal weather changes.
• The cough was dry, itchy, burning, and irritating, without phlegm.
• It lasted about a month and seemed to be getting worse over time.
• Initial treatments included cough suppressants, asthma inhalers (albuterol, a long-acting one, and a steroid inhaler), antibiotics, and acid reducers (pantoprazole, ranitidine). None were effective.
• The speaker was advised to be checked for tuberculosis, but it was deemed a "post-viral cough."
• The speaker's girlfriend was advised to go gluten-free, which improved her health.
• The speaker decided to try going gluten-free out of curiosity and solidarity.
• After going gluten-free, the speaker's cough disappeared within a couple of weeks.
• Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and other plants, with wheat being the most common source.
• Modern wheat has significantly more gluten than ancient wheat.
• The speaker's gluten sensitivity symptoms, besides the cough, include bloating, constipation, and brain fog, occurring 1-2 days after consumption.
• Gluten is thought to cross the gut barrier, draw water, leading to constipation and bloating, and potentially affecting the brain.
• It also seemed to dry out the speaker's lungs, triggering the cough.
• The speaker is not Celiac but avoids gluten due to these adverse effects.
• Gluten-free options are more readily available now than in the past.

Fermented Beverages and Yeast:

• The cough returned when the speaker started drinking alcohol again, particularly beer and wine.
• Beer is made from gluten-containing grains (like barley) fermented with yeast.
• Wine is made from grapes (naturally gluten-free) fermented with yeast.
• The speaker suspects yeast or its byproducts in fermented beverages are a cause of the cough.
• Distilled liquors (vodka, gin, brandy, tequila, whiskey) did not cause the cough, as the distillation process separates the alcohol from other components like yeast bodies and byproducts.
• Consuming distilled liquors did cause other issues like weight gain, poor sleep, and mood changes.
• Cider (made from apples and yeast) also triggered the cough.
• The speaker theorizes it's something in the yeast itself, dormant yeast, or a byproduct of yeast metabolism.
• Since stopping alcohol (especially fermented beverages) and remaining gluten-free, the cough has not returned.
• The speaker has not found medical literature explaining this connection.
• The speaker had a severe reaction (pneumonia) after trying to make kefir, another fermented product with a symbiotic culture, and is wary of kombucha.
• Fermented foods like kimchi (using lactobacillus, not yeast) and yogurt are consumed without issue, though kimchi is eaten rarely due to its high salt content.