How the Gut Microbiome Effects Your Health

What is the Gut?

The gut, also known as the gastrointestinal tract, is the tract from the mouth to the anus, which includes all the organs in your digestive system. The gut runs from your mouth, down to the oesophagus, stomach, intestines and then finally your anus.

What is the Gut Microbiome?

The gut microbiome are the trillions of microorganisms that live in our gut. They are made up of viruses, bacteria, fungi and other life forms. They exist in the intestines, but also on the skin. The human gut microbiome contains over a 1,000 species of bacteria. The majority of which play a vital role in our health. This is why antibiotics are thought to be bad for the gut microbiome, as even though they will kill the bacteria that harm us, they will also inadvertently kill the good bacteria that helps keep us healthy.

How does the gut microbiome effect your health?

A healthy gut microbiome is thought to contribute to a healthy immune system, heart and brain health, mood, sleep, prevent autoimmune diseases and some cancers. This means that just by having a healthy gut, we can greatly reduce our risk of falling ill. Here at Optimum we are all about prevention, and we are on board with anything that helps up prevent disease. The reason for this is because:

• Diseases and Infection: The healthy bacteria help fight the bad kind that can cause diseases and infections. The good bacteria also help break down food so your body can use the nutrients it needs.

• Heart Disease: The good bacteria in the gut can help stop the build-up of fat in the arteries.

• Mental Health: An unbalanced gut microbiome been linked to brain health, and may even cause or exacerbate certain mood disorders. The reason is that there are neurons in the gut that communicate to the brain, if the gut is unhealthy, it can affect your emotions and the way the brain processes information.

• Obesity: An unhealthy gut has been linked to the obesity epidemic. Scientist believe the reason for this is an unhealthy gut causes the signals that tell the brain you are full be crossed. There have been studies between twins that show the obese twin has an unhealthy gut microbiome compared to the healthy weight twin.

What can harm your gut health?

·       Stress

·       A lack of physical activity

·       A chronic lack of sleep

·       Not eating a diverse foods in your diet

·       Excessive alcohol consumption

·       Antibiotics

·       Smoking

How to improve your gut health; prebiotics vs probiotics

Prebiotics are foods, usually fibre, which cannot be digested by the body. This means they pass the stomach and small intestines and end up in the large intestine, where they can feasted on by the good bacteria. Eating prebiotic foods help grow, and therefore improve your gut microbiome. Prebiotic foods are:

·       Onions

·       Garlic

·       Artichokes

·       Bananas

·       Asparagus

·       Oats

·       Barley

Probiotics are live bacteria or live organisms that can be eaten to add more bacteria to your gut. Prebiotics are foods for the bacteria, probiotic foods are the bacteria themselves. Examples of probiotics are:

·       Kimchi

·       Sauerkraut

·       Greek yoghurt

·       Yoghurt drinks that contain live bacteria

·       Kefir

·       Kombucha

·       Miso

·       Tempeh

How to maintain your gut health

In conclusion, gut health and the gut microbiome is a young science and there is always new information coming out about it. It has a significant effect on our health and we should do what we can to keep it healthy. To do that we need to stay active, eat a healthy and varied diet, consume probiotics daily and get a good night’s sleep. Lifestyle factors that we can all control.