So many of us suffer from some type of intestinal distress—whether is be periodic or chronic. Understanding gut health and how it is interconnected to so many different mechanisms in our body is still a work in progress, and something that I find very interesting.
The human intestines have more bacteria alone than the amount of cells in our whole body, and vary dramatically from person to person. Gender, age, diet, stress, and medicine use all factor in to the type and amount of bacteria in your gut. The “good” gut bacteria fight off pathogens, digest food, metabolize medicine, and help manufacture some vitamins. As you can see, there are many benefits to the abundance of bacteria in our guts.
What’s especially interesting is that in addition to all the reactions that occur in our gut, there is cell communication going on at the same time. Connected to the vagus cranial nerve, the gut has a direct line of communication with the brain—and vise versa. When you are feeling stressed or anxious, blood flow to the gut decreases to about 20%, which can make it especially permeable. This means that beneficial nutrients could potentially be rejected while dangerous bacteria are welcomed to diffuse through the membrane. All of this because you’re feeling stressed!
Because obesity is so prevalent in the United States, there are many approaches that aim to reduce and prevent it. Physical activity and dietary changes are the top two strategies targeted at obesity, but certainly not the only ones. Probiotics, live microorganisms that promote and replenish healthy gut bacteria, have recently been shown to have some weight loss effects. An individual’s gut bacteria plays a major role in overall metabolism and immunity health. Researches, such as Rashmi Mallappa, have recently provided strong evidence that imbalances in gut bacteria increases one’s susceptibility to infections and obesity, and can even throw off the body’s insulin release after consuming a meal. This is a hot topic, and is being researched extensively to find out how exactly probiotics can impact obesity and related diseases. Decreasing abdominal adiposity and total cholesterol levels are two other suggested roles that probiotics can play, and have yet to be tested for significant evidence. Some research suggests that while certain gut microbes probably do influence obesity, their effects can also be reversed. If this is proven to be true, it could be a breakthrough for obesity prevention. The idea that metabolism is greatly affected by one’s gut microbe make up is quickly becoming more logical in the search for an effective treatment of obesity.
It’s no doubt that keeping your gut bacteria healthy can do so much more than aid in digestion, and should be an important part in determining which foods to incorporate into your diet. There are many probiotic supplements available, and more and more food items are becoming available with probiotics added. Yogurt, Kefir, Dark Chocolate, and fermented foods all contain the health benefits that probiotics have to offer. Even if you aren’t suffering from obesity or related diseases, incorporating more probiotics into your diet can still be beneficial! After all, when your stomach feels good, so do you!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263193/