Gut Health
The little bugs inside you are playing a big role!
As promised, the next series on Healthy in Bulk is all about gut health – something that’s gained quite the popularity in recent years… for good reason. To clarify, the term ‘gut’ encompasses the entire digestive tract beginning with our mouth and continuing through the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine before terminating at an unnamed location. Along this journey from mouth to large intestine (& beyond), our bodies require assistance to break down and absorb the nutrients we consume, produce beneficial byproducts, and fight off harmful invaders that inevitably get into our system. Microscopic organisms (microbes), primarily bacteria, play a critical role in this process. Although bacteria are often thought of in a negative light due to the harmful ones that cause illnesses, these microbes are actually working for our benefit — think of them like elves on the assembly line in Santa’s workshop!
Did you know that the number of microbes on and within our bodies outnumber the total number of cells we contain? Extrapolating, one could argue we are actually less ‘us’ than we are the bacteria we harbor… pretty spooky when you think about it.
Although found in a variety of areas, these microbes aren’t randomly distributed throughout the body. Instead, they concentrate in strategic locations and form microbial communities which I’ll refer to as a microbiome for short, although it’s more nuanced than that… my apologies to all the microbiologists in attendance. The gut microbiome — particularly the large intestine — contains the largest quantity of these little critters and you’ll come to find out why in the following paragraphs.
Before getting into more detail, it’s important to define a couple of terms. The word probiotics refers to substances that promote beneficial growth and diversity of the gut microbiome whereas dysbiosis describes a detrimental gut microbiome which can develop for several reasons.
Today marks part 1 of the gut health series where we will focus on the function of the gut microbiome and how to promote it through the incorporation of probiotic-rich foods.
Why is our gut microbiome so important?
The gut microbiome serves a crucial role in many processes during digestion, and recent research overwhelmingly points out that it therefore is pertinent to overall health. In fact, population-level studies have demonstrated that a dysregulated gut microbiome is highly correlated with disease — especially of the non-communicable types such as cancer, heart disease, and metabolic syndromes.1
Let’s analyze how our gut microbiomes promote healthy outcomes:
1. Digestion and Metabolism
A primary function of the gut microbiome is to aid in the process of digesting and metabolizing the food we eat so we can utilize it to fuel our daily activities. Specifically, our gut microbiome serves a role in vitamin production (especially B vitamins), amino acid synthesis, digestion of cholesterol and sugars, etc.3
The gut microbiome is additionally important for fermentation – the processing of non-digestible compounds that results in the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These SCFAs provide remarkable protective benefits for our heart, liver, and brain as well as alleviating digestive issues such as constipation. They do so by regulating our immune response and inflammatory levels.4
As I mentioned above, most of the gut microbiome is located in the large intestine and that’s because it’s the location where this valuable fermentation process materializes!
2. Immune System Health
The immune system is incredibly complex and interwoven into our various bodily systems to protect us from germs that have the capability of interfering with our health. A common misconceived notion is that it’s best to have a highly active immune system when in reality that is what leads to problems such as autoimmune diseases where the immune system becomes hyper-responsive and attacks one’s own body. Instead, we want a highly functioning immune system that recognizes the time and place to intervene and just as importantly, when not to. SCFAs produced by our gut microbiomes are essential in the process of regulating immune cell vitality and activity!4
3. Inflammation Control
To continue hyping up SCFAs, this section concludes by discussing their importance in regulating inflammation. As discussed repetitively on HIB, chronic inflammation is extremely harmful to our health and is the primary driver of non-communicable diseases which are far too common today. SCFAs impact inflammation on both sides of the equation — they decrease inflammatory markers while simultaneously promoting the production of anti-inflammatory compounds.4
If you have yet to get the memo, here you go: our gut microbiomes serve a key role in supporting our health through various mechanisms. It’s our job to ensure our gut microbiome can do this effectively as poor gut health is a recipe for disaster.
One of the primary ways we can promote a healthy gut microbiome is through dietary interventions.
How to leverage your diet to improve gut health?
To start this conversation, it’s important to define what entails a ‘healthy microbiome’. Although research in this field is still relatively new, most experts agree that having a diverse makeup of bacteria (there are thousands) is the major indicator of a healthy gut microbiome. Having a diverse microbiome is key because it provides the most widespread benefits; lack of diversity (dysbiosis) has been shown to be indicative of numerous poor health conditions such as diabetes and irritable bowel syndrome. Now the conversation turns to the decisions we can make in order to diversify our microbiome… and yes this is possible!
In a study out of Stanford University, a research group looked at the impact that increasing consumption of fermented, probiotic-rich foods has on gut microbiome diversity. Probiotic-rich foods contain live and functional bacteria that are absorbed when we consume them. To spoil the story rather quickly, this 10-week dietary intervention resulted in significantly more diverse gut microbiomes as indicated by stool studies as well as lower inflammatory markers.5
It's important to note that the participants in this study consumed, on average, six servings of probiotic-rich foods daily.5 This is quite a bit but it absolutely does NOT mean that incorporating fewer than this amount has less or no benefit.
What are the best sources of fermented, probiotic-rich foods?
In the study mentioned above, participants consumed the following probiotic-rich foods: kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, fermented cottage cheese, and other fermented vegetables such as pickles.5 I hope you didn’t instantly change your mind on probiotic consumption but can find at least one, if not multiple, foods on that list to increase your daily intake.
Although it can be difficult to reach six servings every day, I’ve made strong efforts to increase my daily intake by eating yogurt parfaits which often include kefir (2 for 1!), adding sauerkraut as a quick gut health snack, and drinking kombucha.
One thing you must take into consideration when choosing a probiotic-rich food is the handling and preparation process. It’s well-known that these foods are highly sensitive to temperature and MUST be kept refrigerated. Therefore, if you are buying canned sauerkraut, understand that there are ZERO live and active microbes and you won’t get the gut boosting benefits. In addition, don’t heat these foods as this will kill off the microbes before they can get to where they need to go!
Tip: Always check the label for ‘fermented’ and/or ‘live and active cultures’ to ensure the product qualifies!
Should you take a probiotic supplement?
Probiotics in pill form are also very popular and many people choose to go this route. Candidly, I started taking a probiotic supplement early last year and have seen noticeable benefits. However, it’s important to point out that the current research doesn’t necessarily condone these supplements as being effective. It’s likely that they impact individuals differently depending on where their gut microbiomes are when they start taking the supplements. If you are considering supplements, do the research to ensure you are getting a high-quality product as they are expensive and some are better than others.
Practical Takeaways:
Start slow… begin by consuming just 1-2 servings of probiotic-rich foods daily. Figure out which ones you enjoy and make it a habit of incorporating them into your diet. As the weeks go on, attempt to increase the serving count to 4, 5, or even 6 servings daily to reap the rewards.
How will you know if what you’re doing is making a difference?
The process of healing/improving our gut health will take some time to notice but consistency is key! A healthy gut may be recognized by subtle things such as relief of digestive issues like bloating, positive mood changes, healthier looking hair and skin, less achy joints and a decrease in the frequency of minor illnesses.
There’s plenty more to come on gut health in the coming weeks… stay tuned!
Quote of the week:
“The road to health is paved with good intestines!” – Sherry A. Rogers
Works Cited:
1. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01973-8
2. DOI 10.7759/cureus.31313
3. DOI: 10.1155/2012/872716
4. DOI: 10.3390/foods11182863
5. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.019
DISCLAIMER
- This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program