September 4, 2015
Found My Fitness Podcast: The Sonnenburgs on How the Gut Microbiota Interacts With Our Bodies
8/10 Microphones: Listen to the Podcast
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- Sonnenburg Bona Fides: Stanford researchers on the effect of diet on the gut microbiota
- Role of healthy gut microbiota
- A newly discovered/appreciated microbial organ that is essential to metabolism, the immune system and even moods/behavior by a link with the brain
- Fun Fact: By total number, we have 10x more bacterial cells and 100x more gene than human cells/genes
- Maybe humans evolved to serve as houses for bacteria?
- Gut Microbiota are mostly found in the end of your intestine, AKA “distal gut”/”colon”
- Fun Fact: The Gastrointestinal (GI) tract also houses the most immune cells of any part of the body
- When in balance, the microbiome and the immune system work in harmony and set our baseline response to respiratory infections, vaccines, and progression of auto-immune disease
- Our diet directly impacts the gut microbiome, so it is up to us to manage it an keep it healthy
- Dietary Fiber (complex carbs): A key food component that can be metabolized into short chain fatty acids (not digestible by humans)
- Processed western food/simple carbs get absorbed in upper GI tract and don’t reach microbiome in lower/distral GI = starving your friendly microbiota
- When starved, the good bacteria ends up relying on your mucus lining of intestine for food which breaks down the barrier between them and you immune system
- à which can trigger your immune system to attack this good bacteria
- This leads to inflammation, releasing endotoxin (body then responds by creating more LDL cholesterol = link with heart disease)
- Short chain fatty acids are actually the bacteria’s waste that we absorb to regulate multiple areas of human biology
- These help increase the # of T-cells to the calm immune system/inflammation
- Without t-cells we end up with a hyperactive immune system/inflammation
- Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis all are autoimmune diseases and have been linked to disruption of gut microbiome
- Don’t overreact here (link DOES NOT EQUAL cause), this is likely part of the story in addition to patients who have gene polymorphisms that predispose them to these diseases
- Similarly, cancers, heart disease, metabolic disorders, other autoimmune diseases are all linked to inflammation
- All of these are largely western diseases where we lack good fiber intake
- Inflammation is also a cause of aging…
- Short chain fatty acids are also fuel for gut epithelial cells that produce mucin (goblet cells) – double whammy as bacteria feeds on mucin and cells that make mucin are starved (study needed to test)
- The microbiota also create many other chemicals that go around our body
- We still don’t know all of them and what they do, but they are different by person and even through the day
- When starved, the good bacteria ends up relying on your mucus lining of intestine for food which breaks down the barrier between them and you immune system
- How Much Fiber Should You Eat:
- The avg. American only eats 10-15g of dietary fiber per Day
- US gov. recommends 30-35g
- Traditional populations eat 100-150g of dietary fiber/day
- = we eat as much as 10x too little
- Diversity of Fiber Matters and How To Eat Them
- Gut Biome should be viewed as a complex ecosystem like a rainforest = resilient
- a monoculture with only 1 type of bacteria which is fragile (e.g. monoculture farming)
- As a result you need many types of fiber like fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc.
- Having a dog at home to expose you to more variety of good bacteria might prove helpful
- Eating seasonally helps you do this by default
- Avoid food in wrappers/packages, even when they have added dietary fiber (doesn’t provide the breadth/variety)
- Not just lack of fiber, but actively doing harm with various additives/chemicals in them
- Processed food, artificial sweeteners
- Studies have linked artificial sweeteners to negative impacts of microbiota and lead to insulin resistance
- Emulsifiers are being studied now as well as they can break down the mucin layer and bring bacteria in contact with the immune system (see above)
- Gut Biome should be viewed as a complex ecosystem like a rainforest = resilient
- Processed western food/simple carbs get absorbed in upper GI tract and don’t reach microbiome in lower/distral GI = starving your friendly microbiota
- Antibiotics
- We used to think nothing bad comes from using antibiotics
- The first cost we found out about was AntioMicrobial Resistance, AKA SuperBugs such as C. Dificile, MRSA, etc.
- Second Cost: Harming our resident good bacteria
- Antibiotics are not designed to avoid hurting gut microbiome, they are mostly “broad spectrum” = go after all types of bacteria
- Essentially, they carpet bomb all bacteria, good and bad
- Your body can usually rebound over time, but not exactly as it was before
- Each additional round of antibiotics hits your system again and reduces its ability to recover (kicking it while it already down)
- Children on multiple rounds tends to develop more diseases
- Tip: Tell your Dr. if you are ok waiting vs. rushing to antibiotics (they might assume you expect to get them otherwise)
- What to do after you finish a round of antibiotics when they are needed?
- Repopulating has not been well studied yet
- Probiotics have a place in recovery via supplements/fermented foods like yogurt (mechanism not well understood)
- Not permanent, but do something of value as they are passing through – as placeholders against bad bacteria while your bacteria is re-growing
- VSL#3 Priobiotic: 450 billion bacteria per sachet (by far the most available), shipped cold (bacteria actually alive)
- Multiple clinical studies support its efficacy
- Rhonda did a personal trial using uBiome before/after and increased not just bacteria in VSL#3, but also new strains of bacteria
- Supplement market is a mess, often not alive, not actual species or have contaminants
- USP independent verification of the contents (not efficacy)
- We don’t know which ones you need, so be systematic on testing what happens to you and what does/doesn’t work (e.g. fermented foods, yogurt, supplements, etc.)
- Origin of Microbiome
- We believe we are born with gut mostly sterile
- C-Section babies (more likely to have skin-like bacteria which isn’t good) vs. Vaginal (more like mom as they are exposed to mom’s bacteria during birth)
- US children on average get 1 round of antibiotics which is concerning
- Our microbiome is mostly set by age 5 and have them with us for our lives
- Breast vs. formulas has a huge impact as diet is a major level
- Breast milk includes oligosaccharides (not digestible), but gut microbes are digesting them to help them grown – not yet able to replicate in formula
- Breast Feed if you can
- Breast feeding is challenging, especially when working
- Requires high caloric load to create the milk
- Broader societal issue in making this easier as it’s so important to children
- If you are breast feeding and have extra, you can donate your milk to The National Milk Bank and help premature babies in hospitals
- We used to think nothing bad comes from using antibiotics
