How Those Nasty Bugs in Your Stomach Can Change Your Life!

You're Mostly Bacteria...sorry.

Lately there has been a lot of scientific research focused on the gut and the bacteria you harbor within yours.  Depending on the person, you may have anywhere between 300-1000 different species of bacteria in your intestines, with silly names like Bacteroides, Esherichia, Clostridium, Proteus, and Ruminococcus.  And that doesn't include that fungi you've got in there too!

Generally, most people have a similar group of bacteria as their immediate family, slightly less similar to others in their city, less similar to those in other states, and even less similar to those in other countries.   We get our gut flora mostly from our mother through breastfeeding and then we supplement by putting everything we can find in out mouth for about a year.  

How It Effects Your Health

Gut flora has been linked to just about everything from overweight to Alzheimer’s disease.  

Neurological Health

Links have been made between gut flora and neurological health, including ADHD, schizophrenia, autism, and many more.  Just as much evidence supports the idea that if your gut flora is out of whack, your emotions, mood, motivation, and other cognitive processes will be too!

I can tell you from personal experience, that when I am eating poorly (like during a certain patriotic holiday weekend), I become extremely pessimistic, irritable, and have trouble sleeping.  Just ask my wife…

It may be hard to make that connection between gut health and brain health, but what you may not know is that your stomach has the second largest concentration of neurons in your body.  There’s a reason it’s called “the second brain.”  You will be surprised how great you CAN feel if you eat right.  

Digestive Health

• Nutrient uptake
• Protection against pathogens, virus, and bacteria that shouldn’t be there
• Nutrient creation (Biotin, vitamin K2, butyric acid, among many others)
• Weight regulation
• Immune system modulation

What Effects Your Gut Flora?

• NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Antibiotics
• Birth control pill
• Food toxins mostly from grains
• Excess refined carbohydrate and fructose consumption
• Inflammation from excess total polyunsaturated and omega-6 fat consumption
• Infections
• Chronic stress
• Lack of sleep
• Improper nutrient intake and deficiency in some critical vitamins and minerals
• Weak immune system (often caused by all of the above)

Dietary modifications are the number one step for most people if you believe you may have some problem with your gut.  Everyone is different, but from my experience, the things that make the biggest change the quickest are avoiding grains and sugar and taking a GOOD probiotic.

Resources and Further Reading

Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Cambell-McBride - If you have a child with ADD,  have insomnia, or any unexplained problems, digestive or otherwise, this could be a good resource for you.  The "Gut and Psychology Syndrome," also known as the GAPS Diet, captures Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's experience and knowledge of nutrition and the use of probiotics. She believes that the link between learning disabilities, the food and drink that we take, and the condition of our digestive system is absolute.

Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfillipo - Our great-grandmothers didn't need nutrition lessons—then again, they weren't forced to wade through aisle after aisle of packaged foods touting outlandish health claims and confusing marketing jargon. Over the last few decades, we've forgotten what "real food" is—and we're left desperately seeking foods that will truly nourish our bodies. We're disillusioned with the "conventional wisdom" for good reason—it's gotten us nowhere.

Huffington Post on Gut Health - There are 5 pretty good articles covering prebiotics, probiotics, weight control, heart disease, and many other topics.