Baby greens can help combat modern chronic disease by reducing sugar spikes and improving gut biology. They do not “remove” sugar, but slow digestion so sugar enters the blood more gradually. More importantly, Colin Austin argues that baby greens grown in biologically active, mineral-rich systems can help restore gut biota, which influences hunger-control hormones, mood, and immunity. This article explains sprouts, microgreens, and baby greens, why Gbiota-grown baby greens are different, and how better food targets root causes, not symptoms.

Baby Greens and Health

Baby greens are one of the most effective ways of improving health and combating our modern diet, which leads to chronic disease such as overweight and diabetes. Colin explains that baby greens act in two ways. First, they work as “sugar blockers” by reducing the size of the sugar spike. Second, they can change gut biota, which is less well understood but may be more important, because gut biology affects hunger-control hormones and appetite.

It is important to understand what “sugar blocker” means. Baby greens do not magically eliminate sugar. Instead, they spread the sugar spike over a longer time so the body has more time to burn off excess sugar. This matters, but Colin argues baby greens work in a more complex way as well: by improving gut biota and supporting the release of hormones that help control hunger.

What Are Baby Greens?

People often mix up sprouts, microgreens, and baby greens, but they are different stages of growth. Sprouts are simply seeds that are sprouted and eaten before there is any root development. Seeds contain nutrients, but those nutrients can be difficult for our bodies to access. Sprouting makes nutrients more available, but there is no new nutrient input from roots because roots have not properly formed. Sprouting usually takes only a few days.

Microgreens take a little longer. The seed develops roots and may take up water, helping the seed convert into a small plant. However, Colin notes that the nutrients still come largely from the seed itself. Microgreens are commonly eaten after about a week or so.

Baby greens are one step further along. They may take up to a month or more before they are eaten. In the Gbiota system, they are grown in biologically active soil and are regularly flushed with compost tea and mineral supplements. They develop a fully working root system, and in the Gbiota growing system they take in both nutrients and biology from the soil. Colin states this is the key benefit of Gbiota baby greens.

Why Baby Greens Are Different in Practice

Colin argues that many highly beneficial plants can be grown as baby greens that would not be suitable if allowed to fully mature. Linseed is his example. It is an excellent source of Omega 3, which is important for health. But as linseed matures, the stems become tough and indigestible, making it less useful as a food.

As a baby green, linseed becomes an excellent food source. The tips are tender, tasty, and full of nutrients. Colin suggests the ideal harvest method is to cut off the tips and eat them, leaving stalks and older leaves intact. This allows the plant to keep producing energy for further growth. The result is a “cut and grow” cycle where a plant can be harvested many times before it becomes too old and tough.

Colin describes this cut-and-grow approach as both economic and practical, but also beneficial for production. Plants can be grown very close together, which reduces weed pressure. Harvesting is often completed before insects seriously discover the crop. This can make it easier to grow without toxic chemicals, and without the high costs associated with organic production of fully mature plants.

Baby Greens as Sugar Blockers

Vegetables contain fibre, and fibre slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. This reduces the size of a sugar spike. Baby greens do not eliminate the effects of sugars and high-glycaemic carbohydrates; they slow the rate of digestion so the body has more time to burn off excess sugar.

Colin says this is beneficial, but he believes there are two other mechanisms that can be even more important when baby greens are grown in a biologically active, nutrient-rich system. Before explaining those, he uses a simple example to show how powerful baby greens can be in real eating: what he calls the banana paradox.

The Banana Paradox

Bananas are generally a healthy food because they contain a broad spectrum of minerals. However, they are also full of sugar, which can cause sugar spikes. Because of this, many dietitians recommend that diabetics or people on a diet avoid bananas and other sweet fruits.

Colin argues that when a banana is eaten with baby greens, the sugar spike is blunted. He also says that baby greens can improve gut biology, which can help control appetite over time. In his view, baby greens are most effective when combined with other foods. Many people do not find baby greens particularly tasty when eaten alone, but when combined with foods like banana, they can create a pleasing taste while making a sugar-rich food healthier.

Our Friendly Gut Biota: An Intelligent Control System

Colin says the greatest benefits of baby greens come from how they can improve gut biota. Gut biota contains trillions of cells across thousands of species. It is incredibly complex. Modern science is still learning how it works, but we already know it is far more than a collection of organisms. It operates like an integrated system.

He compares gut biota to human civilisation. A society contains people with many different skills—plumbers, dentists, farmers, engineers, bricklayers, musicians, and drivers. People do not work alone; they communicate and cooperate. Colin says gut biota works the same way: trillions of different cells communicate with each other and also with the head brain, forming an intelligent control system that helps manage how the body operates.

We may not fully understand the “supercomputer” complexity, but we can observe outcomes through the hormones gut biology releases. These hormones influence appetite (hungry or full), mood (fear, anger, happiness, sadness), and defence systems that protect us against toxins and harmful biology. Colin emphasises that this system works so well that we often do not realise how much we are being protected every day.

Changing Gut Biology and the Principle of Ecological Balance

Gut biota is not fixed. It starts to develop before birth, receives a major boost during birth and breastfeeding, and then continues to shift through life based on the food we eat. Colin warns that it is a big mistake to think we can simply take a few probiotic pills and quickly “change” gut biota.

He compares this to early mistakes in agriculture. When some farmers first realised how important soil biology is, they tried to sterilise soil using highly toxic chemicals such as methyl bromide and then add a few “good” microbes back in. Colin says this approach failed because it ignored how ecosystems really work.

Today, we understand ecological balance. In soils—and in our guts—there are beneficial and harmful organisms. Powerful chemicals can kill organisms, but microbes reproduce rapidly, and natural variability means some will survive and become resistant. Colin argues that toxic control methods tend to breed resistant organisms.

The biological approach is different. Harmful organisms are controlled by competition: creating conditions that strongly favour beneficial organisms, so they outcompete and outbreed harmful ones. Harmful biology still exists in tiny amounts, but it does not cause harm while the system stays balanced.

Colin gives a simple example: most people carry potentially harmful E. coli in their gut, but it is usually present at low levels and the immune system manages it. When gut balance is disrupted, people can become seriously ill. Colin argues that a global rise in chronic disease is linked to modern food disrupting this natural gut balance.

People who understand this, and return to a more traditional diet that our bodies evolved with, can avoid the modern epidemic.

Baby Greens Grown in a Gbiota Bed

Colin argues that baby greens grown in a Gbiota bed are more than sugar blockers. They can be tender and tasty, so they can be eaten with other foods to balance sugar intake. But he says the prime benefit is that they are grown in biologically active soil with a balance of minerals and phytonutrients. This can help restore gut biology, leading to a feeling of satisfaction and better appetite control.

He contrasts this with the modern diet, which is rich in sugars and fats but low in micronutrients. In that situation, people develop cravings, overeat, and end up on what he calls the overweight or diabetes highway.

The Gut–Brain Axis

A healthy gut biota contains trillions of cells that communicate with each other and with our head brain. Colin describes this as a master intelligent control system that evolved over millions of years to protect the body and help us eat the right amount of the right foods.

When this system is working, it happens automatically. We do not have to rely on endless willpower, expensive programs, or constant forced control. We simply feel full and satisfied.

A healthy gut ecosystem also helps protect against harmful microbes by maintaining conditions where beneficial microbes dominate through competition. This natural balance is happening constantly, and it works so well we usually do not notice it.

Colin argues that modern food produced by chemical industrial agriculture severely damages gut biota. When that happens, we lose automatic appetite control and develop cravings.

The Gbiota Growing System: Modernised Traditional Agriculture

Colin describes the Gbiota system as learning from traditional biological growing systems and then using modern technology to make them practical at scale. The basic principle is to create a mix of compost, organic waste, and minerals to form a biologically active tea. This tea floods the root system on a flood-and-drain cycle, delivering biology and nutrients, then drains back out for reuse. As it drains, air is automatically pulled back into the soil.

In this system, plants are biologically active, high in nutrients and fibre, and can help improve gut biology. Because baby greens are tender and tasty, they can be combined with virtually any other food, acting as sugar blockers and supporting gut health.

Insulin: Friend and Foe

When the body senses high blood sugar, it releases insulin. In a healthy body, insulin helps excess sugar enter fat cells, bringing blood sugar under control. The extra sugar may contribute to weight gain, but initially may not cause serious illness beyond the trend toward insulin resistance.

Over time, however, excess fat accumulates in vital organs, particularly the liver and pancreas. When fat in the pancreas reaches a critical level, it blocks further insulin creation. At that point, the body can no longer control blood sugar and diabetes becomes fully developed.

Colin’s point is that in the short term insulin helps control blood sugar, but in the long term, continual high insulin levels are damaging, driving overweight and diabetes.

Health Systems: Treating Symptoms vs Fixing Causes

Colin argues that modern health systems are overwhelmed by the scale of the chronic disease epidemic. As a result, they focus on short-term symptom management, such as lowering blood sugar, rather than addressing root causes tied to modern food production.

The longer-term solution, he argues, is simple in concept: eat food that makes us healthy. The modern diabetes epidemic is new. If we go back fifty years, when diets were more traditional, there was no such widespread diabetes epidemic.

However, he says we cannot simply return to old farming methods. There are too many people, and modern society would not accept the higher costs. Instead, we must study traditional agriculture, learn why it produced healthier food, and then incorporate the essential features into a modernised, automated system that remains economically realistic.

The Real Hurdle: Distribution Costs

Colin argues the major barrier is not just production but the structure of the modern food industry, dominated by profit-oriented mega corporations. A modern grower may receive only 15% to 20% of the retail price. Put another way, over 80% of the retail cost comes from distribution, marketing, and advertising budgets that run into billions of dollars.

So the challenge is to create a system where growers can receive enough income to grow food in biologically active, nutrient-rich soil, while consumers can afford healthy food. Colin’s view is that production costs matter, but the biggest savings are in reducing the 80% distribution and marketing burden. That is where change can be made.

He notes that this is part of a wider discussion in his writing on community food action and “new food”.

Conclusion

Baby greens can reduce sugar spikes through fibre, but Colin argues their deeper value is supporting gut biology and restoring appetite control through gut–brain signalling. Baby greens grown in biologically active, mineral-rich systems such as Gbiota beds are designed to deliver nutrients and biology through active roots, not just seed nutrition. In Colin’s view, this offers a practical path to better health, but the wider system must also change: growers need fair income, and the biggest opportunity lies in cutting the 80% distribution costs that dominate modern food pricing.

Modern chronic disease is not an accident but the outcome of how we grow, process, and distribute food. Colin Austin argues that humans evolved to eat diverse, nutrient-rich foods grown in living soil, not extreme diets dominated by sugar, fat, and chemicals. He outlines why the health crisis is not a technical problem, how Gbiota beds can grow nutrient-dense food efficiently, and why the real solution lies in reconnecting growers and communities through local cooperation.

The Essence

The food we eat determines our health. To understand what food truly makes us healthy, we must use science and epidemiology, but we must also consider evolution. Humans evolved as omnivores, eating a wide range of foods. Extreme diets, whether vegan or carnivore, are not part of our evolutionary history, and there is insufficient long-term evidence to show they are healthy.

For hundreds of thousands of years, most humans prospered on varied diets. Only in rare cases did people eat extreme diets, usually due to environmental constraints. Today, however, our modern food system has pushed us into a new extreme: a diet high in sugar and fat, heavily promoted by multinational corporations that spend billions convincing us these foods are healthy.

Sugars and fats are not inherently bad. They are our primary sources of energy. The problem is imbalance. Modern diets often lack essential trace minerals and complex phytonutrients that are critical for health.

Gut Biology and Plant Nutrition

Another major problem is exposure to toxic chemicals that damage our gut biota. Gut microbes are a critical part of our internal control system, helping regulate appetite and support immune function. When this system is damaged, appetite control breaks down and disease risk increases.

The encouraging news is that we now have the knowledge and technology to grow plants that supply the minerals, phytonutrients, and biological quality our bodies need. These nutrients come largely from plants grown in biologically active soil.

What Are Gbiota Beds?

Gbiota beds are a growing system where mineral-enriched compost tea delivers nutrients directly to plant roots using a flood-and-drain cycle. This system supplies both nutrients and beneficial biology, producing highly nutritious plants.

Baby greens grown in Gbiota beds can be harvested regularly, providing a continuous supply of healthy vegetables at a reasonable production cost. They are not as cheap as chemically produced farm-gate food, but they are vastly superior in nutrient quality.

This highlights a major flaw in the modern food system: growers receive only a small fraction of the retail price. Marketing and distribution costs can exceed 80% of what consumers pay. Direct purchasing from growers allows people to access healthy food while giving growers a fair return.

Balance, Not Another Extreme

Colin is clear that people should not live on vegetables alone. That would be just as extreme as the current high sugar and fat diet. Attempting to live mainly on baby greens would lead to serious digestive problems and malnutrition.

The goal is balance: a diet that includes a wide range of foods, supported by vegetables and greens that genuinely contribute to health rather than simply filling space on a plate.

A Practical Proposal

Colin proposes a volunteer-driven system where people concerned about the health crisis work together to create access to healthy food at a reasonable price. The key is forming local buying groups that act like cooperatives.

These groups commit to buying directly from growers who are willing to adopt regenerative, biological growing systems. This approach breaks a fundamental catch-22: growers will not invest in biological systems without a secure market, and individual buyers lack the influence to persuade growers to change.

The Chronic Health Crisis

We are all aware of the chronic health crisis caused by food high in sugar and fat and low in trace minerals and phytonutrients. This has been discussed endlessly in books, media, and online.

What is rarely discussed is how to fix it. Colin argues that the solution may be simpler than we think. The technology already exists. What is missing is coordinated action.

Not a Technical Problem

This is not a technical problem. Colin and many other researchers have spent years developing systems that grow food capable of supporting human health. He has invested significant time and money experimenting with growing systems and has a long history of successful innovation.

He states without hesitation that the Gbiota bed is the innovation he is most proud of. It works. It produces food rich in nutrients and biology using largely waste inputs such as organic residues and mineral dust. It is productive, water-efficient, and capable of automation.

There are still improvements to make, including harvesting efficiency and testing additional plant species, but the system already works. The real challenge is scale: getting this food to the millions, and eventually billions, of people who need it.

The Reality of Money

Colin acknowledges economic reality. Chemical industrial agriculture is, in the short term, the cheapest way to produce food. He has worked hard to make Gbiota systems competitive, and while they come close, chemical systems remain cheaper at the farm gate.

However, this comparison ignores hidden costs. Chemical agriculture causes widespread illness and long-term soil damage, yet these costs are treated as externalities. If the food industry had to pay for hospital amputations and soil destruction, food economics would look very different.

Globally, every thirty seconds someone loses a limb to diabetes. These are not abstract numbers. This is why action matters.

The Distribution Problem

The real opportunity lies not just in farming, but in distribution. Farmers typically receive only 15–20% of the retail price. The remaining cost is tied up in transport, storage, marketing, and retail.

By shortening the distance between grower and eater, healthy food can become affordable without forcing growers to operate at a loss.

Advertising and Sugar

Large corporations use massive advertising budgets to promote unhealthy food as healthy. Sugar itself is not the enemy; it is fuel. But excess fuel does not improve performance. Eating more sugar does not make the body work better.

Hidden sugars now appear in foods where we would never expect them, from breakfast cereals to bread. The last thing we need is more sugar disguised as health food.

The Internet Changes What Is Possible

While the internet has many problems, it also gives power back to people. Colin believes this power can be used to create alternative food systems that serve health rather than profit.

The challenge is not missing technology, but missing coordination.

What Already Exists

The Gbiota system already works. It grows food in biologically rich soil, is productive and efficient, and is available to anyone who wants to use it. Many home growers already use it successfully.

To make a real impact, small commercial growers must also be involved.

A Global Problem, A Local Solution

Chemical agriculture is global, and its damage is often worst in poorer regions such as India and Africa. Any solution must be global in principle but local in action.

Many growers want to change but cannot risk their livelihoods without guaranteed demand. Likewise, millions of individuals want better food but cannot change the system alone.

Forming Local Groups

The solution is local organisation. People who understand the problem must form local groups committed to buying healthy food. These groups may form through friendships, health networks, gyms, or local food communities.

Once demand is organised, growers can confidently invest in biological systems. Colin provides technical support through his existing resources.

Transport and Food Hubs

The final step is logistics. Ideally, food is collected from farms and delivered the same day. Where that is not possible, food hubs allow centralised pickup.

Why This Matters

Many people are content with supermarket food. Others are not. For those who care about health, the environment, and fairness, an alternative system is necessary.

Colin’s motivation is personal and global. His wife reversed diabetes through dietary change, but millions of others are still at risk. The current system enriches a few while damaging public health and destroying soil.

Conclusion

“New Food” is a call to rebuild health by rebuilding food systems. The technology exists. The knowledge exists. What is required now is community action: people organising locally to support growers and reclaim food that truly supports human health.