Nourishing Your Gut Bacteria Is
Critical for Health and Mental Well-Being
Story at-a-glance
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One of the best and least expensive ways to optimize
your gut microbiome is to eat traditionally fermented
and fiber-rich foods. Probiotic supplements can also be
beneficial
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One of the reasons a healthy diet is able to influence
your health is by creating an optimal environment for
beneficial bacteria in your gut, while decreasing
pathogenic or disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and yeast
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If you have to take an antibiotic, be sure to also take
a high-quality probiotic. To ensure the bacteria’s
survival, take the probiotic a few hours before or after
taking the antibiotic
By Dr. Mercola
Barely a day goes by without some type of media announcement
noting the importance of your gut flora.
One of the best and least expensive ways to
optimize your gut microbiome is to eliminate sugars and
processed sugars and eat traditionally fermented foods, but
probiotic supplements can also be beneficial.
Greg Leyer,1
who has a PhD in Microbiology Food Science, is the Chief Scientific
Officer of United Agricultural Services (UAS) Laboratories, a
probiotic-dedicated manufacturer, and he's been passionate about
probiotics and health for more than two decades.
"I got interested in microbiology and spent my graduate
research career looking at pathogenic bacteria, those bacteria
we want to avoid and that make us sick," he says.
"In the course of doing those studies, I became aware
that not all bacteria are bad and became intrigued in this whole
concept of probiotics ... My first post-graduate job was in the
area of developing probiotics for infant nutrition. That was 21
years ago.
I've been in the probiotic research development field
ever since, and have seen the research in the market just
explode."
Nourishing Your Microbiome Begins With Real Food
Mounting evidence reveals there's more to nutrition than
previously thought — a large component of it actually revolves
around nourishing the health-promoting bacteria in your body,
thereby keeping harmful microbes in check.
Probiotics are supplements designed to increase your beneficial
bacteria, the largest concentration of which is found in your gut.
Different types of bacteria live in different locations in your
gastrointestinal tract. You also have bacteria residing in other
areas of your body, such as your mouth and skin.
While probiotic supplements have their benefits and their place,
it's important — before taking a supplement — to optimize the
conditions where these beneficial bacteria grow.
One of the reasons a healthy diet is able to influence your
health is by the fact that it helps create an optimal environment
for beneficial bacteria in your gut, while decreasing pathogenic or
disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and yeast.
"Healthy eating" basically amounts to eating real food, which
means avoiding processed foods and
staying away from sugars, because few things fertilize and
accelerate the growth of pathogenic microbes better than sugar. As
noted by Leyer:
"In studies done in people all over the world, you'll see
different microbial communities residing in people that have
different dietary intakes. You want to provide foods that are
going to nourish this healthy community of bacteria in your
gastrointestinal tract.
Sugars aren't selective. Bacteria like sugars, but the
bad bacteria love sugars. Eating real food,
complex carbohydrates, fiber, and things like that, are more
selective. The pathogenic bacteria don't like non-fiber carbs as
much. It's more difficult for them to utilize them as an energy
source."
The Importance of Probiotics When Taking an Antibiotic
Unfortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
restricts supplement makers from making certain health claims; for
example, you cannot market a probiotic saying, "This is useful to
take after an antibiotic," because that would imply that antibiotics
might harm you in some way.
As a result of these restrictions, unless you spend a fair amount
of time reading about the subject you may not be aware of many of
the
benefits of probiotics.
"There's a lot of really exciting research that we're not
able to talk about," Leyer notes. "One of them is the
role of healthy bacteria when co-prescribed with an antibiotic,
and the effect it has on maintaining healthy populations in your
gut.
Antibiotics are selective for bacteria, but they're not
terribly selective for a particular bacteria.
Antibiotics – and many studies have shown this – will
have a tremendously disruptive effect on the overall microbial
community. They'll kill the target organism that might be
causing your infection ... but they also do a lot of harm to the
good bacteria that are there.
Studies have shown that when you co-administer probiotics
with antibiotics and continue that probiotic administration,
you're quickly able to restore that microbial community to the
healthy state it has prior to the antibiotic treatment."
Guidelines for Taking Probiotics With Antibiotics
If you're taking an antibiotic, don't simultaneously take the
probiotic as the antibiotic is liable to simply kill the bacteria
off. Instead, take them a few hours before or after taking the
antibiotic. From the clinical research Leyer has done, this strategy
appears to work quite well.
Saccharomyces yeast, a beneficial type of yeast, may also be
helpful when taking a course of antibiotics, as it has also been
shown to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
"Fifteen to 25 percent of people who take an antibiotic
end up getting antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
Probiotics – I'll include Saccharomyces in this group –
have been shown to have tremendous benefits in reducing the risk
of developing that kind of secondary complication of antibiotic
treatment," Leyer says.
The Hazards of Antibiotics in the Food Supply
Medical antibiotics are not the sole source of exposure. About 80
percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are actually used in
livestock production to fatten up the animals and prevent disease.
So, unless you're buying organic grass-fed meats, you're likely
ingesting minute doses of antibiotics with each hamburger and steak
you eat.
This continuous low-dose exposure has the added downside of
promoting antibiotic resistance. The role of antibiotics in
promoting (rather than treating) disease is slowly gaining ground.
There's no question that antibiotics have saved lives. But if you
were to carefully analyze and objectively determine their true
impact, you just might find they've done more harm than good.
Leyer cites the book "Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of
Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues," written by Dr. Martin
Blaser, which presents the theory that many of our modern disease
epidemics may be rooted in the disruptive effect modern foods have
on our microbiota.
"Keeping your intestinal microflora healthy, consuming
healthy, active, probiotic bacteria is a key component to
maintaining, in my opinion, your overall health," Leyer
says.
Probiotics for the Prevention of Leaky Gut, and More
Leaky gut results when there's a disruption in the
interconnections between the cells in your intestines. Little holes
or tears can develop, allowing food particles to enter your blood
stream, which can cause an autoimmune response.
It's a serious problem, and I've known a number of people who
nearly died from it. There are a number of causes for leaky gut, but
whatever the cause, one of the most powerful remedies is to consume
homemade organic
bone broth and
fermented vegetables. Certain probiotic supplements can also be
helpful.
According to Leyer:
"I am familiar with the evidence behind certain
probiotics and their ability to prevent or lessen leaky gut. The
issue with leaky gut is that you're getting things into the
circulation system that aren't supposed to be there.
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) ... are gram-negative bacteria ...
[LPS] is a diagnostic test to look for leaky gut.
What we're finding is that subchorionic levels of LPS
circulating in the blood causes this chronic inflammation
cascade. Chronic inflammation seems to be at the root of a lot
of disease states ... One that is front and center is type 2
diabetes and insulin resistance. There's been some really
intriguing work with probiotics maintaining tight-junction
barrier, reducing leaky gut, reducing circulating LPS, and
affecting insulin sensitivity through downplaying this
inflammation."
Probiotics have also been extensively tested for their
immunological functions. For example, in the elderly, probiotics can
help boost activity of immune cells that fight off cancer cells. The
mechanism involved here is an orchestration of immune chemical
messengers called cytokines. But there's still much to be learned
about the exact mechanisms by which probiotics influence health.
"There are some areas in the probiotic science where the
mechanisms are becoming better understood. And there are some
areas in probiotic science that is more theory than really
causal right now. But the more layers of the onion you peel
back, the more you understand this is an incredibly complicated
web of information from gut to human, to nervous system to
immune system. This complex interplay is not so simple that you
can clearly identify," Leyer explains.
Probiotics and the Gut-Brain Axis
It's become quite clear that the benefits of probiotics transcend
the gut. More recent studies have delved into the role of gut
bacteria in the workings of the gut-brain axis, and how they benefit
your mental and psychological health. Anxiety, depression and other
mood disorders are increasingly recognized as being, in part, the
result of an unbalanced microbiome.
Probiotics appear to have the ability to make compounds that
interact directly with your brain. They certainly influence your
immune system, which has interactions with and can cross the
blood-brain barrier.
"There's an interesting study that ... looked
retrospectively at a study where people gave infants probiotic
bacteria for the first two years of their life," Leyer says.
"They were really looking at the ability of this probiotic to
ward off the incidence of atopic eczema or skin rashes. When the
kids were 13 years old, they went back and said, 'Okay. Let's
look at autistic spectrum disorder, attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and [other] psychological kind of
issues.'
Of the kids that took the probiotic, none had developed
any kind of autistic spectrum disorders; 17 percent of those
that did not get probiotics developed autistic spectrum
disorders. The study wasn't designed to look at ADHD or autism,
but it's an interesting way to look back in time and say:
Here's a population of people that were essentially
imprinted with probiotic bacteria at a very young age. We now
understand that there's this developmental window in young
people that's critically important for probiotics."
Beware of 'Probiotic' Junk Food
As a general rule, I believe most people would be able to obtain
most of their nutritional support from real food. This is certainly
the case with beneficial bacteria, because there are a lot of good
fermented foods that provide them.
One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to probiotic foods is
yogurt, because most of them are nothing more than creamy junk food.
The Cornucopia Institute has published a
Yogurt Buyer's Guide and Scorecard2,3
where you can learn more about your favorite brands.
Many who seek to improve their health buy commercial yogurt from
the grocery store, thinking they're doing something good for
themselves when in reality they're not. They'd be far better off
taking a probiotic supplement, as then they'd avoid added sugars and
other unhealthy additives. The exception to that rule is
traditionally cultured yogurt made from organic raw milk.
Commercial yogurts often contain upwards of 25 to 30 grams of
sugar per serving, which meets or exceeds the daily recommended
amount of sugar for the whole day!
The amount of probiotics you'll get from commercial yogurt is
also far lower than what you'd get from a high-quality probiotic
supplement. A commercial yogurt might give you a million probiotic
cells, which sounds like a lot, but if you take a quality-made
supplement you're getting tens of billions of probiotics —
three orders of magnitude greater amounts. So in that respect, a
supplement is clearly easier and more cost-effective.
"The other thing you have to consider is that in a
yogurt, you've got a very acidic condition that's degrading the
quality of the probiotics over the course of the shelf life of
that yogurt. In a quality-made dietary supplement, these
probiotics are essentially in suspended animation or dormant
until you consume them; they come back to life when you swallow
the capsule," Leyer notes.
Probiotic Guidelines
Many tend to imagine that taking probiotics is like planting
seeds in your garden. They grow, reproduce, and all you basically
have to do is "seed and feed" them. But that's actually not the
case. Your intestinal tract contains thousands of different
bacterial types, not to mention fungi and viruses. It's a
challenging environment with lots of competition.
Probiotics have developed the ability to withstand normal
concentrations of stomach acid and bile in the small intestine, and
live there, but they don't live and thrive there forever.
As noted by Leyer:
"When you stop taking the probiotics, studies show that
you start seeing less and less of that probiotic residing there.
It will decline to this baseline level of before you started
taking a probiotic supplement. On the immune side, there are
studies that show that immune benefits decline within a few days
after stopping taking the probiotics. So it's really important
to maintain a continual onslaught of these healthy bacteria."
Factors to look for when trying to identify a high-quality
probiotic supplement include the following:
Make sure it's a reputable brand. If you trust the
products made by a company, perhaps they're doing a great
job making their probiotics as well. |
Look for a potency count (colony forming units or CFUs)
of 50 billion or higher. That's the number of bacteria being
delivered per dose. |
Declaration of shelf life, i.e. the shelf life of the
CFUs. Avoid products that only declare the CFUs at time
of manufacture. This means nothing, as they could all
be dead by the time they reach the store. |
Look for a product containing multiple species of
bacteria, as high diversity tends to be associated with
better health. That said, products containing species of
Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria are generally recommended.
Examples would be Lactobacillus acidophilus and
Lactobacillus plantarum. These organisms predominantly
reside in the small intestine or the upper gastrointestinal
tract (GI) where a vast majority of your immune cells
reside. Bifidobacteria, on the other hand, reside in the
large intestine or the lower bowel, which is another
critical location associated with health. Bifidobacterium
lactis, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum
are important ones.
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Look for non-GMO brands. |
Confirm that they're manufactured according to current
Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP)4 |
Optimizing Your Microbiome Is a Potent Disease Prevention Strategy
As noted by Leyer, "probiotic consumption for health and wellness
is here to stay." A tremendous amount of research shows that the
microbial community in your body has a wide ranging influence over
your health. "The days of 'all bacteria are bad' are long gone,"
Leyer says. "Eating clean and natural foods, nourishing your gut,
and having a healthy intestinal community are really at the core of
wellness."
I also firmly believe that applying this knowledge can make a
distinct and positive difference in your health, boosting not only
your immune function, but also your neurological function and mood.
Best of all, supporting your microbiome isn't very complicated. You
do need to take proactive steps to implement certain key strategies
while actively avoiding other factors though. So to optimize your
microbiome, consider the following recommendations:
Eat plenty of fermented foods.
Healthy choices include lassi, fermented grass-fed
organic milk such as kefir, natto (fermented soy), and
fermented vegetables. |
Antibiotics, unless
absolutely necessary, and when you do, make sure to reseed
your gut with fermented foods and/or a high quality
probiotic supplement.5,6 |
Take a probiotic supplement.
Although I'm not a major proponent of taking many
supplements (as I believe the majority of your nutrients
need to come from food), probiotics is an exception if you
don't eat
fermented foods on a regular basis |
Conventionally-raised meats
and other animal products, as CAFO animals are routinely fed
low-dose antibiotics, plus
genetically engineered grains loaded with glyphosate,
which is widely known to kill many bacteria. |
Boost your soluble and insoluble
fiber intake, focusing on vegetables, nuts, and
seeds, including sprouted seeds. |
Chlorinated and/or
fluoridated water. Especially in your bathing such
as showers, which are worse than drinking it. |
Get your hands dirty in the
garden. Exposure to bacteria and viruses can serve
as "natural vaccines" that strengthen your immune system and
provide long-lasting immunity against disease.
Getting your hands dirty in the garden can help reacquaint
your immune system with beneficial
microorganisms on the plants and in the soil.
According to a recent report,7
lack of exposure to the outdoors can in and of
itself cause your microbiome to become "deficient." |
Processed foods.
Excessive sugars, along with otherwise "dead" nutrients,
feed pathogenic bacteria.
Food emulsifiers such as polysorbate 80, lecithin,
carrageenan, polyglycerols, and xanthan gum also appear to
have an adverse effect on your gut flora.8
Unless 100 percent organic, they may also contain GMOs that
tend to be heavily contaminated with pesticides such as
glyphosate. Artificial sweeteners have also been found
to alter gut bacteria in adverse ways.9 |
Open your windows. For
the vast majority of human history the outside was always
part of the inside, and at no moment during our day were we
ever really separated from nature.
Today, we spend 90 percent of our lives indoors.
And, although keeping the outside out does have its
advantages it has also changed the microbiome of your home.
Research10
shows that opening a window and increasing natural airflow
can improve the diversity and health of the microbes in your
home, which in turn benefit you.
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Agricultural chemicals,
glyphosate (Roundup) in particular is a known antibiotic and
will actively kill many of your beneficial gut microbes if
you eat and foods contaminated with Roundup |
Wash your dishes by hand instead
of in the dishwasher. Research has shown that
washing your dishes by hand leaves more bacteria on the
dishes than dishwashers do, and that eating off these
less-than-sterile dishes may actually decrease your
risk of allergies by stimulating your immune system. |
Antibacterial soap,
as they too kill off both good and bad bacteria, and
contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. |
© Copyright 1997-2016 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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