Gut as the foundation of health or the hidden world within us

About how bacteria can determine our wellbeing, disease development and how to make them work for your benefit.

WHAT IS A MICROBIOTA?

Right now, your body is inhabited by about 100 trillion invisible microbes, covering the body inside and out, ten times exceeding the number of cells in your body. If they could be all put together , they would have filled approximately two liter volume tank. Imagine for a minute this amount of microorganisms, which is in our body all the time. Not surprisingly then, they have a direct impact not only on our health, but also on the development of numerous diseases. In fact, to a certain extent, they affect even the expression of our own genes! Simply put, our future health depends not only on genetic predispositions, but also on what coexists with us every day.

What does it have to do with the gut?

95% of the human body microbiota is concentrated in the digestive tract. Human intestines are also inhabited by yeast fungi, viruses, protozoa and eukaryotic pathogens - all of which play an important role for the health. But bacteria are the key players which interact with human physiology. The total weight of intestinal bacteria is about 1.4-1.8 kilograms, so the microflora of the intestine of a person can be considered as a separate organ. And these bacteria are just as important as the heart, lungs, liver, and brain.

The important role of the intestinal microflora was a decisive factor that encouraged the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to launch the «Human Microflora» project in 2008. Since then a great number of discoveries have been made, bringing to light the newest approaches to reestablishing the balance in human organism.

WHAT DOES THE MICROBIOTA DO?

- Helps with digestion and absorption of nutrients.

- Creates a physical barrier against potential «invaders», such as «bad» bacteria (pathogenic flora), dangerous viruses and harmful parasites.

- Acts as a detoxification tool. Intestinal bacteria play an important role in preventing infection and serve as a protective barrier against many toxins entering the digestive tract. In fact, intestinal bacteria neutralize many of the toxins entering our bodies. Thus, as the amount of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract decreases, the burden on the liver automatically increases.

- Has a significant impact on immune system response. Regardless of what you think, gut is actually your biggest immune organ. In addition, bacteria can teach and support the immune system by controlling certain immune cells and preventing autoimmune diseases (a condition in which the body attacks its own tissues).

• Produces and releases enzymes and important substances required for the body's vital activity, including vitamins (e.g. B12) and even neurotransmitters (e.g. glutamate and GABA)

• Helps to manage stress by affecting the body's endocrine (hormonal) system

• Helps to control the development of inflammatory processes in the body, which in turn reduces the risk of almost all chronic diseases.

This is just a short list of the functions that our microorganisms - the gray cardinals - perform. The most basic processes that we rarely think about happen with the help of microbiota, for example, absorption of nutrients, removal of toxins and bad cholesterol, the use of carbohydrates and fats and even giving a person the feeling of hunger or saturation. The state of the intestinal microflora affects the mood of the person, their libido, metabolism, immune system and even their perception of the world and clarity of thinking. In many cases it determines whether the person will be overweight or skinny, energetic or apathetic. In other words, a many aspects of our health - both physical and psychological - are influences by the state of the intestinal microflora.

If the microflora is healthy, i.e. dominated by friendly and beneficial bacteria, these functions are carried out properly. Otherwise, it is dominated by pathogenic bacteria and this will provoke certain unhealthy conditions ranging from chronic pain, fatigue and depression to serious bowel diseases and autoimmune diseases.

The most common diseases directly related to our microbiota include:

- asthma;

- allergies;

- chronic fatigue;

- mood disorders, including depression and anxiety;

- diabetes and sugar/carbohydrate addiction;

- excess body weight and obesity;

- memory problems and poor concentration;

- chronic constipation or diarrhea;

- frequent colds or infectious diseases;

- intestinal diseases, including celiac disease, mucous colitis, Crohn’s disease;

- painful joint inflammation and arthritis;

- high blood pressure;

- atherosclerosis;

- chronic problems with yeast fungi;

- skin problems such as acne and eczema;

- bad breath, gum and tooth diseases;

- extraordinary symptoms during menstruation or menopause;

How can I determine the state of my microbiome?

The quality of our internal world is influenced by dozens of factors and now it is one of the most promising areas for scientific research. It even matters whether you were born by natural delivery, how you ate and what medications you took as a child, your hygienic habits (such as whether you use hand antibacterial substances), where you live and what kind of diet you maintain.

Tools for analyzing intestinal microflora seem to gain popularity, but they are still rather uninformative due to non-existent common standards of «ideal microbiota» and an infinite variety of variations of its composition. Moreover, when it comes to dysbiosis analysis, it can not present a real picture of our microbiota, because most bacteria have a parietal habitation in the intestine and simply do not get into the biomaterial for analysis, or rather 5% of all bacteria do.

Fortunately, in order to be healthy, it is not necessary to know by name our small friends, it is much more important to be able to maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the body, which, as Ilya Mechnikov, a biologist and Nobel Prize winner claimed, has a direct impact on life expectancy. He also first advanced the theory that the number of «useful» bacteria should exceed the number of harmful. It’s also important to add that the key to health is not only the ratio of «good» bacteria to «bad», but also the presence of species diversity.

A naturopathic specialist can only by collecting the patient’s history and symptoms give a preliminary estimate of the person’s microbiome. I’ve prepared a short test that will help you understand how high your personal risk of dysbiosis is.

1. Did your mother take antibiotics when she was pregnant with you?

2. Did your mother take steroid medications during her pregnancy?

3. Were you born via C-section?

4. Have you been breastfed for less than two months?

5. Did you often suffer from ear and/or throat infections as a child?

6. Have you had your tonsils removed?

7. Have you ever taken steroid drugs, including nasal and inhalation drugs, for more than a week?

8. Do you take antibiotics at least once a year?

9. Do you take acid-blocking drugs (to improve digestion or fight reflux)?

10. Do you have gluten intolerance?

11. Do you have constipation/diarrhea at least several times a month?

12. Have you been diagnosed with staphylococcus infection?

13. Do you have regular skin rashes?

14. Do you notice white plaque on your tongue or an unpleasant taste?

The more positive answers you give, the greater your likelihood of having a microflora imbalance.

How did we get here?

No one had to care about it before, and everyone was fine! - people are screaming and they are right. Except we should not forget that we are paying for the conditions we live in. Nowadays we don’t harvest vegetables from enriched soil, we don’t eat fruits directly from the tree ( mind the fact, that the diversity of microorganisms is as important, as is their ratio), we use antibiotics, we are exposed to chemical pollutants, experience a lot of stress and pressure and in addition we feed pathogenic microflora daily with sugar and transfats, while fiber and fermented products ( e.g. sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi ( salted and fermented cabbage in Korean cuisine), natural yoghurt) are losing their positions in modern diet.

CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR MICROFLORA?

Of course, it’s not so simple as to exchange unsuitable mittens in the store, and also not such a fast process, but it is absolutely real using the right approach to help the «friendly» bacteria win this fight with the pathogenic flora, and restore the internal balance.

Studies say that within the first two weeks of dietary modification, our microbiota already starts to change. So just by changing our diet that we can make a big difference. And with the right nutraceutical supplements in the form of herbal extracts, seeds extracts, antioxidants, we can help the body fight pathogenic flora even more effectively, adding diversity to our microbiome with probiotics and supporting gut colonization with the right prebiotics ( food for bacteria ) from foods or natural additives.

Sources:

1. NIH Human Microbiome Project Defines Normal Bacterial Makeup of the Body, National Institutes of Health: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-human-microbiome-project-defines-normal-bacterial-makeup-body

2. Human Microbiome RSS: https://portal.hmpdacc.org

3. Sara Reardon, Gut-Brain Link Grabs Neuroscientists, Nature 515: 175–77, doi: 10.1038/515175a.

4. Think Twice: How the Gut’s ‘Second Brain’ Influences Mood and Well-Being), Adam Hadhazy, Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/

5. Dr. Siri Carpenter, That Gut Feeling, Am. Psychol. Assoc. 43, no. 8/50, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/09/gut-feeling

6. Gut Microbiota as an Epigenetic Regulator: Pilot Study Based on Whole-Genome Methylation Analysis. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.02113-14

7. Mother-to-Infant Transmission of Intestinal Bifidobacterial Strains Has an Impact on the Early Development of Vaginally Delivered Infant’s Microbiota, PLoS One 11, No 8: e78331. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/24244304

8. Mucosal Barrier Function in Health and Disease, Nat. Rev. Immunol. 9, No 11: 799–809, doi: 10.1038/nri2653. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19855405/