Paléobiotique, Marion Kaplan: What I’m Taking From a Microbiome First Way of Eating

I came to Paléobiotique already wearing a very particular lens. I had already read Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind by Georgia Ede which mentions the Paleo diet as the first step towards Keto or Carnivore diets.

I am keto. I already care about sugar, gluten, blood sugar, food quality and what certain foods do to my brain, energy and mood. So I did not read Marion Kaplan’s book as someone discovering for the first time that industrial food might be a problem.

I read it more like someone being handed the missing layer.

For me, Paléobiotique is less about following a perfect system and more about noticing the body terrain I have been ignoring.

The layer underneath macros.

The layer underneath willpower.

The layer underneath “what should I eat?”

Kaplan’s answer, again and again, is the microbiome. The living terrain of the body. The soil.

That is the part of Paléobiotique I kept coming back to: food as information for the gut, not food as another moral test. Paléobiotique gives that idea a name I can remember, and this Paléobiotique lens makes the whole book feel more practical to me.

And once you start thinking of the gut like soil, food choices feel different. Not moral. Not good person, bad person. More like gardening. What am I feeding? What am I disturbing? What am I trying to grow back?

A note before going further: this is not medical advice. I am not prescribing fasting, removing food groups or following Marion Kaplan’s protocol exactly.

This is a personal reflection on the book and what I am taking from it through my own keto, cautious, real life lens. If someone has a medical condition, is pregnant, has a history of disordered eating or is considering major dietary change, this is a conversation for a qualified practitioner.

I am only a learner and I simply like sharing what I’ve learnt, it is not settled science! And the more I read about health, the more I realise that no diet or way of living fits everyone. We are all different and our differences need learning about and adjusting.

What Paléobiotique Means

The word itself combines two ideas.

“Paléo” points to the evolutionary argument: that the human body developed over a very long time eating foods closer to meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, fats, eggs and wild foods than to modern industrial products.

“Biotique” points to the living side: the gut microbiome, the bacteria, yeasts, viruses and other microorganisms that live mostly in the gut but influence far more than digestion.

Kaplan’s argument is that modern life has damaged the terrain. Industrial foods, sugar, refined cereals, additives, pesticides, stress, antibiotics and highly processed products all push the body away from the environment it recognises.

Her proposed answer is not only to eat in a more ancestral way, but to actively support the microbiome with living foods, probiotics, prebiotics, gentle cooking and a less industrial plate.

That is the part I found most interesting.

Because many diets are built around removal.

Remove sugar. Remove gluten. Remove dairy. Remove processed foods. Remove snacks.

Kaplan is saying: yes, but what are you rebuilding?

The Microbiome as Terrain

The strongest image in the book, for me, is the microbiome as soil.

If the soil is poor, the plant struggles. You can polish the leaves, move the pot, buy a prettier watering can and still miss the point. The problem is underneath.

Kaplan describes the microbiome as an organ in its own right, involved in digestion, vitamin synthesis, immune regulation, inflammation, metabolism, mood and the absorption of nutrients. Her notes emphasise that no supplement or superfood makes sense if the terrain cannot use it properly.

That landed.

Because it is very easy to think in isolated fixes. More magnesium. More collagen. More protein. More this, less that. I do that too. But the book keeps pulling attention back to the system.

What is the state of the gut?

What is being fed every day?

What is being irritated every day?

What is alive in the food?

Kaplan also talks about the mouth as part of the chain, not separate from it. The oral microbiome, the beginning of digestion, dental health, all of it matters. I like this because it resists the modern habit of slicing the body into separate departments.

The body does not work like that.

Where It Overlaps With My Keto Lens

My keto lens made parts of this book feel familiar.

Kaplan is very critical of sugar, refined carbohydrates and modern cereals. She talks about insulin, blood sugar, glycation, cravings and the way industrial food can keep appetite switched on rather than satisfied.

That aligns with a lot of why keto works for me.

When sugar and high carb foods are out, my brain feels steadier. My cravings calm down. My mood feels less hijacked by the next snack. I do not experience it as restriction as much as relief.

But Paléobiotique adds nuance. It is not just about keeping carbs low. It is about food quality, microbiome diversity and the difference between a clean plate and a living plate.

That distinction matters. And it resonates in me and might explain why the next step as carnivore does not resonate as much with me. Maybe I’ve known all along that my microbiome needs taking care of too. Paléobiotique helps me name that hesitation without turning it into another rule.

You can technically eat low carb in a very processed way. Bars, sweeteners, packaged keto treats, low carb versions of industrial habits. Kaplan’s book made me question that. Not because perfection is the goal, but because the body is not only counting carbohydrates. It is responding to signals, additives, cooking methods, fibres, fermented foods and the microbial life of what we eat. It also made me realise that there is a whole consumerism industry behind keto and some people are trying to replace “bad processed food” with equally as bad if not worse “keto processed food”.

So for me, the question becomes:

Is my keto supporting my terrain, or just controlling my macros?

That is a much better question.

The Part I Found Most Useful: Repair, Not Just Remove

This is the Paléobiotique line I keep from the book: once you have removed what irritates the system, you still have to replant the garden.

For Kaplan, that means rebuilding with probiotics, then prebiotics and fermented foods.

Prebiotics are fibres that feed the beneficial bacteria. If you take them first in a terrain with bad bacteria, you’ll feed them too! The notes mention foods like garlic, onion, endive, topinambour and banana. From a strict keto lens, I would be selective here, especially with banana, but the principle still matters: feed the microbes you want to encourage.

Probiotics are the living organisms. Kaplan is particularly enthusiastic about fermented foods and mentions things like lacto fermented vegetables, kefir, kombucha, olives, cornichons and K-philus, a goat or sheep milk fermented product she rates highly.

Again, this is where I would be cautious and personal. Not every fermented food suits every gut. Histamine can be an issue for some people. Dairy, even goat or sheep, may not suit everyone. Kombucha can contain sugar. So I would not turn this into a blanket prescription.

But as a direction, it feels useful.

Less sterile food. More living food.

Less “what can I remove?” and more “what can I gently add that helps the terrain?”

That is a softer and more sustainable way to think.

The Caution I Want to Keep

Kaplan’s book is strong. It has conviction. I like conviction but I also know I need to read health books with both openness and brakes.

Some of the claims are big. Some of the recommendations are strict. The cheat sheet version of the protocol is very firm: no cereals, no sugar, no industrial food, avoid starches, avoid bovine dairy, move more, eat less and listen to true hunger.

There is usefulness in that clarity. There is also a risk, especially if someone turns it into fear.

I do not want food to become another religion.

I do not want the Body category on Notes from Soph to become a place where we panic over every bite, demonise whole food groups for everyone or pretend one protocol fits all bodies.

So my approach is: take the principles seriously, apply them carefully.

For example, Kaplan recommends fasting as part of a transition. I am not going to tell anyone to fast. Fasting can be powerful for some people and completely wrong for others. It depends on health history, hormones, stress, relationship with food, medication and support. That belongs with proper guidance, not a blog instruction.

The same goes for removing food groups. Some people feel better without gluten or dairy. Some need a structured elimination and reintroduction process. Some need professional help to avoid nutritional gaps or anxiety around food.

The point is not blind obedience.

The point is informed experimentation.

I also found myself reading Paléobiotique alongside my earlier notes on La Routine des Audacieux, because both made me think about food, energy and the body as a system rather than a willpower project.

Practical Takeaways

1. Think terrain before tactics. Before adding another supplement or hack, ask what your daily food environment is doing to your microbiome. Is it feeding, irritating or starving the terrain?

2. Keep the keto lens, but widen it. Low carb can help blood sugar and cravings, but food quality still matters. A keto plate built around real food is not the same as a keto plate built around packaged substitutes.

3. Add living foods gently. Fermented vegetables, kefir, kombucha, olives or other fermented foods may support microbial diversity, but start small and notice your own response. More is not automatically better.

4. Feed the good bacteria. Prebiotic foods are part of the rebuilding layer. From a strict keto perspective, choose options that fit your carb tolerance and your digestion.

5. Respect cooking methods. Kaplan is very clear about gentle cooking, especially vapeur douce, and avoiding burnt, heavily grilled food. This feels practical: more steaming, less blackened crust.

6. Read labels without becoming obsessive. Industrial food often contains hidden sugars, gluten, starches, seed oils, sweeteners and additives. Awareness helps. Fear does not.

7. Do not prescribe your body to someone else. What works for me, especially with keto, may not work for another person. The useful question is not “what is the perfect diet?” but “what makes this body calmer, clearer and more resilient?”

Why This Belongs in Body

The Body category is where I put the books that help me live inside my body with more intelligence and less noise.

Paléobiotique belongs here because it is not just about weight, food rules or discipline. It is about the ecology of the body: the microbiome, the mouth, the gut, the cooking method, the hidden additives and the way modern food can make us hungry, inflamed and disconnected from true signals.

What I am taking from Marion Kaplan is not a rigid new identity.

I am taking a question.

What would it look like to eat in a way that repairs the terrain?

For me, that means staying with keto because it works. It also means paying more attention to fermented foods, gentle cooking, food quality and the living layer of nutrition.

Less panic.

More listening.

Less industrial.

More alive.

Notes from Soph | Learning, not perfection.

Et toi? Have you ever noticed a link between your gut, your cravings, your mood or your energy? Come and talk about it in the Notes from Soph community on Skool.

Source Details: Paléobiotique by Marion Kaplan Éditions Thierry Souccar

Health note: this post is a personal reading reflection only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or a prescription to fast, remove food groups or follow a specific protocol.