This project is not an abstract health theory for me – it began with watching my wife battle diabetes, face possible amputation, and being told there was no hope of reversing it.
Why Diabetes Became Personal
We are all aware of the damage caused by non-infectious diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. They destroy lives, families, and swallow health budgets. For me, this is not just a statistic – it is my wife’s story.
My wife developed diabetes. Her eyesight began to fail. She fell down a flight of stairs and broke multiple bones in her foot. After surgery, her foot started to turn black and we genuinely feared amputation.
The diabetes specialist gave us the standard message: diabetes is a chronic disease, it is not curable, it will get worse over time. We were told she would need stronger and stronger medication, move on to insulin injections, and probably die young. We were sceptical. So we began our own long search to understand what was really going on.
Questioning the Standard Approach
We discovered there are many qualified doctors who strongly disagree with the “progressively worse, nothing you can do” view. One of the most vocal is Dr Jason Fung (search him on YouTube), who argues that treating diabetes with ever more insulin may help in the short term, but actually makes insulin resistance worse in the long term.
We also learned that diabetes is dominated by diet – but not in the simplistic “eat less, exercise more” way. That approach has failed millions of people over decades, yet it is still handed out as the default prescription along with a stronger pill.
We don’t get fat just because we overeat – our hormones make our bodies store fat, which then makes us hungry and drives us to overeat.
This process is automatic. Willpower has very little to do with it. If we want to change the way our bodies handle insulin and fat, we have to change the hormones running the show.
Hormones, Gut Biology and Appetite
That led us to the next layer: hormones are largely controlled by our gut biology. The microbes in our intestines act as a kind of gut brain. They influence which hormones are released, how hungry we feel, what we crave, and how we store or burn energy.
So the chain looks like this:
- Change your gut biology → you change your hormones.
- Change your hormones → you change how your body handles insulin and fat.
- Change that system → you change your risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.
If you want to change your hormones, you have to change your gut biology – and the most powerful way to do that is through the food you grow and eat.
Fortunately, in our case, we were able to turn things around. My wife’s health improved, and she has been able to cut back on her diabetes medication instead of endlessly increasing it. That experience convinced us that other people should have the chance to benefit from what we learned.
Why I Started Developing the Gbiota System
We were lucky. My wife, Xiulan, is a qualified doctor and respected surgeon. I am an engineer who spent much of my life as a technical entrepreneur, building Moldflow – at one time Australia’s leading exporter of technical software. Between us we had the skills and stubbornness to question the standard story and dig deeper.
It became clear that simply telling people to “eat healthy” was not enough. Our desire for food is controlled by the gut biome. If we want to help people stay healthy, we have to focus on improving gut biology, not lecturing them about willpower.
So I began developing a growing system aimed specifically at improving gut biology: Gbiota beds. These beds are designed to grow plants in a highly biologically active environment, with the right microbes, minerals and phytonutrients to support a healthier gut.
The Role of the Gbiota Club
The first practical step was to form the Gbiota Club. This is a citizen science project where people – completely independent of me – can set up their own growing beds, eat the food, and monitor the effects on their health.
This independent experience is essential. It is not enough for me to say “it works for us.” We need many people, in different places and circumstances, to try the system and report what happens. Only then will the idea earn real credibility.
The long-term goal is for commercial growers to offer plants grown with the Gbiota system. Home gardeners and small growers can start the movement, but to reach the huge number of people suffering from diabetes and other chronic diseases we need commercial-scale production. That means making it practical and profitable for growers to supply biologically active “gut-friendly” food.
Why I Am Sharing This
My motive is simple. I have seen what happens when the standard story about diabetes is accepted without question. I have also seen what can happen when we change diet, improve gut biology, and challenge the idea that decline is inevitable.
I cannot promise miracles, and I do not offer medical treatment. What I can offer is a system for growing better food, a community of people testing it, and a different way of thinking about diabetes and chronic disease – from the gut up.
If this resonates with you, I invite you to learn more about the Gbiota system and consider joining the Gbiota Club.
