MSU Nutrition & Society

Keeping our gut happy and healthy can be difficult with the endless processed foods in the stores and convenient fast food restaurants. With billions of dollars going into medical bills for treating digestive and digestive-caused disease, it is important to find ways to balance the bacteria in our stomachs. Probiotics are one of these ways to keep our body healthy and able to combat these diseases. 

Probiotics main function in our bodies is absorbing nutrients and fighting infections. More specifically they can aid in regular bowel movements, the inflammatory response, producing enzymes and B-vitamins, absorbing minerals, glucose, vitamins, and fatty acids, and also protecting against pathogens, toxins, and infections. The list of benefits goes on.

One of the most recommended reasons for ingesting probiotics by doctors is after taking antibiotics. Antibiotics are very harsh on the stomach. They disrupt the balance of the bacteria in your stomach and create a poor environment for the good bacteria to live in. If antibiotics are taken for too long, this can lead to the growth of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. Probiotics are important at these times because it helps balance out the environment of your stomach, while also introducing more good bacteria. Other reasons to take probiotics are after eating a lot of sugar, GMO foods, high carbohydrate meals, high stress, and other chemicals/medications.

There are different types and forms of probiotics. The most well-known is yogurt. Others are vinegars/fermented foods, kefir, supplements, kimchi, kombucha, sourdough bread, miso, and tempeh. However, each form contains different strains of bacteria which in turn have different benefits. Yogurt does not contain all the necessary strains and cannot completely protect agains the harmful side effects of antibiotics. Supplements can help with this, however, it is important to know which kinds to get. Some probiotic strains are to combat C. diff while others combat diarrhea. Florastor is one that is often recommended. It is strong enough to survive against antibiotics and protects against C. diff and the harmful side effects of antibiotics.

References

Freuman, T. D. (2014, July 29). How (and Why) to Take Probiotics When Using Antibiotics. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/07/29/how-and-why-to-take-probiotics-when-using-antibiotics

B. (2014, March 3). Probiotics: Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/other-supplements/article/probiotics-pros-and-cons

In the previous post, I discussed the importance of a person’s microbiota on their health, but what can we do to keep it healthy? There are many types of foods that improve your gut health, the main idea to keep in mind is to maintain a diet the is fresh and full of greens and whole grains. This leads to an optimal environment for the microbiota that benefit your body while also suppressing the harmful bacteria.

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are some of the best foods you can eat to support your microbiota. These are high in fiber which support the actinobacteria in our guts, which is a beneficial type of bacteria that can grow in our guts. Garlic and leeks are extremely high in this bacteria. Fiber also benefits the prevotella bacteria that I mentioned in the previous post, that aid in reducing inflammation.

Carbohydrates are also important for your microbiota to survive. They are the primary source for energy which shows just how important a balanced diet is. Certain diets that completely cut out carbohydrates (Ketogenic, paleo, juicing, high protein/low carb, etc.) are very dangerous to the gut and can starve our good bacteria.

One surprising food type that’s beneficial to our gut are fermented foods. Foods that are naturally fermented like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi, all help introduce new beneficial bacteria to our gut, primarily the Lactobacillus bacteria. However, avoid pasteurized foods because the pasteurizations process, although allows foods to last longer, kills the good bacteria.

Most of these are examples of prebiotics which are specifically non-digestible foods that promote beneficial bacteria growth. These include the garlic and leeks as well as asparagus, artichokes, onions, almonds, wheat flour, bananas, etc. However, probiotics are just as important to add into our diets. They aid in recolonizing lost bacteria as well as balancing out our current bacteria systems. These are especially good to add into the diet after taking antibiotics, which kill much of our good gut bacteria. Probiotics can be gotten through supplements and also foods, which include yogurt, fermented foods as listed above, cheese, sour cream, and kefir.

One last tip for keeping a healthy gut is to focus on eating fresh foods. Many processed foods don’t contain the healthy nutrients that our gut bacteria need. Sugars and unhealthy fats also promote inflammatory microbiota and cause dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) in our microbiome.

 Citations:

Foroutan, R. (2015). Microbiome: The Garden Within. Food and Nutrition.

Selhub EM, Logan AC, Bested AC. Fermented foods, microbiota, and mental health: ancient practice meets nutritional psychiatry. Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 2014;33(1):2. doi:10.1186/1880-6805-33-2.

Gut flora are often overlooked in their influence on the digestive and immune systems in our bodies. They are completely different organisms from us, but play a huge part in our lives. They are the bacteria that live in our digestive systems and have many different functions. The main functions of these bacteria are destroying harmful pathogens, improve our immune function, and digest or synthesize nutrients that we cannot. Basically, the flora help maintain intestinal homeostasis.  This has been compared to species that do not have these enteric bacteria. Often these species have lower immune function and are more susceptible to infections and have reduced intestine function.

Our gut flora depend on what we eat. They survive on our nutritional intake. Because of this, the types of flora within us changes with what we eat. Simply said, if we eat healthy we will have good stomach bacteria, and if we eat poorly we will have bad stomach bacteria. This shows the importance of eating healthy. More specifically, there are three main types of flora: Prevotella, Bacteroides, and Ruminoccocus. Each type survives on specific nutrients what we intake. Prevotella survives more on carbohydrates, so the more carbs we eat, the greater environment we create for the Prevotella to live and survive in. On the contrary, bacteroides survive more on proteins and fats. Because of this, with increased protein and fat consumption, the greater ratio of Bacteroides will survive.

 Gut flora also influence brain function and activity. It has been found that gut flora has an effect on anxiety, depression, and brain disorders. It does this through control of hormones, nervous system, and immunologically. This is how they communicate with us. Each type will communicate with us to survive. Therefore, the Prevotella flora will communicate to us to eat more carbohydrates to improve their survival. Similarly, Bacteroides will communicate to us to eat more protein and fats.

 This all shows how important it is to pay attention to your diet. The flora in our body are influenced by everything we eat. The changing types and ratios of gut flora influence not only our digestive system but are connected to growing number of body functions as well.

 Citations

O’Hara AM, Shanahan F. The gut flora as a forgotten organ. EMBO Reports. 2006;7(7):688-693. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400731.

Mu C, Yang Y, Zhu W. Gut Microbiota: The Brain Peacekeeper. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2016;7:345. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00345.