scientist’s estimate The typical human gut microbiota is thought to contain 300-500 species of bacteria. The gut microbiome is a complex ecological community, and the food it feeds, the new species it attracts, and the waste products it produces can all impact physical and mental health.
Here’s a guide to the busy world of “biotics” that live in your gut and how to care for them.
The word “biotic” refers to “life” or living organisms. ProfessionalBiotics are living microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, that have beneficial effects on health. Think of probiotics like seeds in the soil. With proper care, they can repel pests, drive out weeds, and transform into flowers that beautify your garden.
Probiotics help metabolize food and produce vitamins, fatty acids, and other nutrients. They regulate the immune system, lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, and keep the bad guys from colonizing the gut.
The most well-known probiotics are bifidobacteria. These bacteria colonize our digestive tract as soon as we are born. We receive them from our mothers during childbirth and through breast milk.
Lactic acid bacteria, another common probiotic, are found in many fermented foods. Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are just two of the many different types of bacteria that live in our intestinal gardens.
How can I increase probiotics in my body?
Probiotic supplements that come in capsule, gummy, powder, and tablet form are very popular, but they shouldn’t be your first choice. They may help certain people, but research shows they can also keep the wrong microbes out. In general, a better way to grow your gut garden is to eat plenty of fermented foods and fiber-rich plants.
In a recent study, researchers at Stanford University found that feeding people fermented foods daily for two and a half months reduced inflammation and increased the diversity of their gut microbiota. Higher levels of microbiome diversity lead to better health and lower rates of disease.
Examples of fermented foods include:
- Kimchi and sauerkraut.
- Kombucha, a sweet and sour carbonated drink made with tea.
- Fermented milk products such as yogurt, kefir and cottage cheese.
- Soy fermented products such as tempeh, natto and miso.
- Cheeses such as Gouda and Gruyère. Cheeses containing probiotics can be identified by looking for phrases such as “live culture” or “active culture” on the label.
Think of prebiotics like fertilizer for your microbiome.Prebiotics are usually high fiber food.
The trillions of microbes that live in your gut depend on you for nutrition. Every time you eat, you are also feeding the microbes.
“If probiotics are the good guys, prebiotics are the foods that promote the good guys,” says Erica Sonnenberg, senior researcher in microbiology and immunology at Stanford University.
Prebiotics are primarily composed of complex carbohydrates and fiber found in various plant foods. When you eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other plants, much of the fiber in them passes relatively intact through your stomach and small intestine because you lack the enzymes to break it down. increase. However, microbes in the colon can metabolize the fiber and break it down into other compounds.
According to Chris Dunmann, a gastroenterologist at the Center for Digestive Health at the University of Washington Medical Center, one way to boost a variety of good bacteria is to feed them lots of fiber and prebiotics.
How can I eat more prebiotics?
- Vegetables such as asparagus, onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, cabbage, peas, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and chicory.
- Chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, soybeans.
- Whole grains such as oats, barley, rye, wheat, and corn.
- Fruits such as apples, berries, bananas, grapefruits and watermelons.
- Almonds, pistachios, cashews, and other nuts and seeds.
Prebiotic supplements are generally not recommended.one Found a small study He suggested that low doses of a prebiotic supplement called inulin are likely to be good for health, but more than 20 grams daily could be harmful. “There are individual differences in the effects on health,” he said.
Some marketers sell prebiotic drinks, but nutrition experts say there is no strong evidence that prebiotic drinks work.
Gut microbes break down high-fiber foods. The waste products left over from this process are called postbiotics. These compounds include a wide range of novel compounds such as vitamins, enzymes and amino acids.
“There are thousands of different compounds they’re making,” Dunmann says.
When you feed your gut microbes prebiotics, they convert them into a group of postbiotic compounds called short-chain fatty acids that are extremely beneficial to your health.
One of the best-studied short-chain fatty acids is butyric acid. This compound helps maintain intestinal health by acting as a fuel source for the cells lining the colon.Butyrate helps reduce inflammation and mediate the immune system. Dammam said it can affect brain health and stimulate the production of GLP-1, a hormone that reduces appetite. (Ozempic and Wegovy, popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs, work by mimicking the actions of GLP-1.)
“Butyrate is probably the superpower of the microbiome,” Dunmann says. “It’s one of those key generating things that matter in every aspect of our health.”
Postbiotics are produced during the digestive process when gut bacteria break down fiber. One of the interesting things about postbiotics is that compounds produced by one species of bacteria can become food (or prebiotics) on which another species of bacteria depends.
“It’s cyclical,” Dunmann says. “There’s a lot of web of players, and in this community they depend on each other and feed each other.”
How can I increase postbiotics in my body?
Fermented foods contain postbiotics such as lactic acid (yogurt) and acetic acid (kombucha), and these compounds have been shown to provide health benefits.
Coffee, chocolate, and some teas don’t contain live bacteria, but they do contain postbiotics, which may be part of their health benefits, Dunman says.
“We’re still trying to figure this whole thing out,” Sonnenberg said. “For example, if lactic acid turns out to be the most important part, the probiotic tablets that people are taking may be missing the most effective ingredients of fermented foods. We are telling people that they should just eat fermented foods.”
We’ve talked a lot about friendly bacteria, but there are also plenty of pathogenic bacteria that cause deadly infections. The best line of defense against harmful bacteria is: antibiotic medicineIt kills bacteria or makes it difficult for them to grow or multiply.
Antibiotics are one of the great discoveries of the last century. they saved many lives made possible So that doctors can pioneer medical procedures such as open-heart surgery and organ transplants. experts say The introduction of antibiotics a century ago increased the average human lifespan by 23 years.
But one of the downsides of antibiotics is that they kill both harmful and friendly bacteria in your gut. Remember the lawn parable. If you have a lot of weeds all over your lawn, you may need to use herbicides to destroy some grass or plants to make room for new grass.
If you have a bacterial infection, taking antibiotics will kill off the bad microbes, possibly sacrificing some good microbes in the process.
Should I use probiotics to counter the effects of antibiotics on my gut health?
Many people who take antibiotics combine it with probiotic supplements in the hope that the supplement will protect or restore the beneficial gut flora.
But research shows that instead of taking supplements, you’re better off eating fermented foods or letting your gut heal naturally. In one study, the microbiomes of people who took probiotics while using antibiotics took much longer to recover. While probiotic supplements can be very helpful for certain conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, traveler’s diarrhea, and inflammatory bowel disease, there are more reliable ways to nourish your gut microbiome.
A way to increase the variety of good bacteria is to feed them plenty of fiber and prebiotics, Dunmann says. “It all comes down to food,” he added. “Diet isn’t everything, but it’s important. The problem for many people is that they’re not eating the right foods.”
Questions about healthy eating? Email [email protected] I may answer your question in a future column.
