Tag: microbiome

Posted by Christine Pope on in Environment, Health Care, Nutrition, probiotics

Microbiome or genome – what tells you more?

shutterstock_609019046What tells us more about your risk of developing a disease, DNA or your microbiome? The explosion of DNA testing has meant that we have developed much more knowledge about an individual’s DNA. It’s also clear that simply having a particular gene or a snip does not mean you will necessarily develop the relevant condition. Our DNA is the terrain but the environment is the trigger.

The microbiome on the other hand can tell us more about whether the environment is triggering a condition. Microbial diversity is more critical to health. Loss of diversity seems to have a more negative impact on health and an overgrowth of particular strains of bacteria can also contribute to a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.

Cholesterol is a good example. Looking at the risk factors for cholesterol levels close to 50% is derived from your underlying genetics and 50% from your microbiome. A good diet which increases microbial diversity can make all the difference to your cardiovascular risks. In fact the microbiome strongly influences many of our metabolic risks including factors such as fasting glucose, lactose intolerance and waist circumference.

The bacteria in our gut enable exert their effects by the production of key metabolites. Certain gut bacteria can control the production of these metabolites and therefore significantly influence our function. An example of this is Bifidobacterium lactis. It increases the production of short chain fatty acids in the bowels. These activate the vagal nerve and signal that we feel full. So a deficiency of Bifidobacterium lactic can mean that we don’t have that signal working quickly and therefore we are prone to overeating.

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In conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Ankolysing Spondylitis the gut bacteria is often low in strains that produce a metabolite called butyrate. It is often the case that the microbiome has an elevated level of Prevotella Copri or another problematic strain. That is why treatment needs to be focused as much on rebalancing the microbiome to support the strains that are healthy and to crowd out the problematic strains. Prebiotic fibres such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Boulaardi) can be a useful part of treatment. The other critical factor is to ensure that you are feeding the microbiome and my blog on 6 Tips for feeding your gut bacteria right! is a useful guide.

There is still a lot of emerging research in this area so please follow my blog to see the latest updates.

Christine Pope is a naturopath and nutritionist based at Elemental Health at St Ives in Sydney. If you think your microbiome needs some attention you can make an appointment online at http://www.elementalhealth.net.au or phone on 8084 0081.

 

 

Posted by Christine Pope on in Nutrition

Do you have the right bugs in your gut?

Bacteria

Does everyone you know seem to have a food intolerance, allergy or asthma?  Why is this so much more common than  20 years ago? I remember at school only one child having an asthma puffer but now it seems that schools need to keep a spare in the first aid kit as so many children have asthma.

One of the reasons there are so many allergies is that our “microbiome” or the bacteria in our intestine has changed a lot due to the food we are eating. Candida for example thrives on sugar and the highly refined diet that many people eat feeds it beautifully. Not only does it feed it but candida is smart and basically causes you to crave sugar as well making it harder to treat.

Some recent research on rats found that a common bacteria, E. coli , increased inflammation to gluten (the protein in wheat, barley and rye) , prompting what’s sometimes called a “leaky gut”. However a beneficial bacteria called bifidobacteria protected the intestinal barrier.  Your gut bacteria may influence the immune response to gluten.  How many other intolerances to food are being created by the balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria ? Certainly significant research is being directed at understanding the roles of these bacteria and how they can support your health or undermine it.

An easy way to support good gut health is to include small amounts of fermented food or drinks in your diet. Ideally you need a range of good bacteria as they all seem to have different functions.

Traditional diets always included a form of fermented food to support good gut health as well as ensuring you could extract the maximum in nutrients from your food.  Have a look at keffir, kombucha and other forms of ferments with vegetables such as sauerkraut and kim chi.  Sites such as Pinkfarm and Kitsa’s kitchen on facebook have lots of information about how you can easily incorporate these foods into your diet.