Originally Posted on April 24, 2015
Updated and reposted January 29, 2019
Here we are, week three and today we are taking a deeper look into the gut microbiome. There has been much discussion and media of late on this topic. It makes my heart sing to see more and more this topic being brought to light. Why? Because your gut health is the foundation of how vibrant YOU are.
My favorite saying is: life = life when it comes to making your food choices. How alive your food is dictates how alive you are. Now, let’s take that a step deeper and the statement is you are only as vibrantly alive as your microbiome is; especially your gut microbiome. Any change in your diet will directly affect your microbiome. When that happens your body’s genetic response to food changes; depending on your choices, for the better or for the worse. How does it do that? Let’s see…
Friendly Bacteria; Your Foundation For Vibrancy
Researchers have established that 85-90% of our microbiome should be of the beneficial kind and the remaining 10-15% the possible pathogens. Why do we even need the pathogens in the first place? Why not all beneficial? Because the pathogens keep the “balance”. They help you maintain your immune system and some species even emit a metabolic waste that our bodies actually use in a good way. The concern these days is with overuse of antibiotics and sterilization that wipe out too many of the pathogens and throw our natural balance off.
We as humans live in a world where our balance with all life forms is a symbiotic relationship of dependency. For example, the roots of plants need fungi and bacteria in order to get nourishment and thrive. That nourishment passes to us when we eat that plant. So we are dependent on the microbes that nourished the plant. This is why the soil your food is grown in is of vital importance also. It dictates how much life is in your food and thus how much life you get from your food. As I mentioned in my previous blog about bacteria being your friend, our microbes outnumber us 10:1. The microbes in your gut are constantly working for our health and survival. That means our bacteria outnumber us 99:1! Wow, it’s no wonder they play such a huge role in our immune system, how our thyroid functions, our thoughts, our food cravings and so much more.
Microbes and Inflammation
Today we hear so much about inflammation and there is hardly anyone who does not experience it in some part of their body in some way. Inflammation is the chief concern today in health being reported on in magazines like Time, on local and national news commentaries, on the internet and so on. Our microbiome is our first line of defense against inflammation but it has its work cut out for it and struggles because of antibiotics, genetically altered foods, lack of sleep, stress, EMF’s (electro-magnetic fields) and environmental toxins. Inflammation plays a large role in exasperating all health issues and symptoms.
Microbes and Your Brain
Our microbiome can cause our brains to experience things like increased anxiety or calm, increased learning, enhanced memory and various moods depending on the ratio of beneficial bacteria to pathogens. And on the flip side, our brains can alter the microbiome through hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and cortisol just to name a few. The good news is we can support our brains to be sharper with the right food choices such as those I talked about in the first blog about your microbiome. And we can support hormones and neurotransmitters with the same beneficial food choices. But how do they affect our brains?
We have two primary nervous systems. They influence and alter each others processes. Stress is damaging to both. Inflammatory cytokines are produced in the intestines and can directly affect the brain triggering moods. Anxiety and depression for example. Therefore it might actually be your bacteria feeling these, not you per say. Because of this it is often said we have two brains; the one in our head and the one in our gut. These two brains are in constant contact with each other through the vagus nerve and messenger molecules.
Microbes and Leaky Gut
Leaky gut happens when chronic inflammation in the small intestines causes degeneration in the intestinal tissue allowing the cells that absorb things to fail and allow large, complex molecules to pass directly into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the immune system kicks in and attacks these foreign invaders. This process is very taxing on the body and can lead to autoimmune processes. Triggers that can cause this opening to happen in the first place are allergenic foods, candida and pathogens. These triggers incite this action because they cause inflammation and alter your intestinal ecosystem. This is one reason why many basic protocols and detoxes to address leaky gut, candida and so on often only provide some relief but do not heal or correct the issue for the long term. Unless one addresses and brings balance back to their microbiome full healing is often not possible.
Solutions
We’ve already talked about some ways to support your microbiome here, and another thing you can do is include soluble and insoluble fiber and supplements into your habits because these support your microflora to flourish or the lack thereof can support decline of your microflora. Supplementation of fiber benefits you by:
- feeding your bacterial colonies to thrive and promote health
- supporting detoxification of heavy metals by absorbing them as they enter the small intestine from the gallbladder
- supporting cholesterol and glucose metabolism
Some of you might have tried supplementing with fiber though and it made you feel worse, perhaps causing bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea. If this is the case you might have other digestive issues causing imbalance and I strongly recommend working with someone who is knowledgeable with microbiome rejuvenation to help you bring lasting relief, balance and health back again.
We’ve spoken about whole food probiotics or raw, traditionally fermented foods before and since it plays such a large role I am mentioning it here again. There is no substitute for the healing these foods can contribute. In addition probiotic rich beverages such as water kefir and kombucha are beneficial as well. Herbs and spices such as cumin, turmeric, black pepper, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, tarragon, bacopa, ashwagonda, cayenne, saffron to name a few, have all been found to be beneficial in support of healing too.
As you can see there is much to say on this subject and I will leave off here for today and let you digest what you have just read. In my one on one wellness coaching I use a specific four step process that I have studied and been specifically trained in as a Microbiome Rejuvenation Specialist to support individuals to find true vibrancy of their microbiome and themselves. Using this process is how I finally recovered from an environmental toxic exposure almost a year ago that destroyed my microbiome and health. This four step process has also supported many of my clients to regain their vitality and health as well. Curious to know how you can benefit too? Then take advantage of a discovery session with me! Go here to schedule yours now.
Please do leave your questions and comments here, I would love to hear from you!
~Live Vibrantly!
Posted in Allergies, Colds & Flus, Exciting New Learnings, Immune, Menopause, Vibrant Life, Womens Health.
