Weekly Health Tip: You Are Home to Millions of Microbes!

Brought to you by Deepak Chopra, MD, Alexander Tsiaras, and TheVisualMD.com

If you are in the habit of scrubbing your hands, your home and your children with bacteria-fighting gels and soaps, consider this: The average adult intestine has already been colonized by more than 500 species of microbes. Our bodies contain more bacterial cells than human cells, although bacteria take up much less space by comparison. Occasionally, the invaders turn harmful, as when the population of Streptococcus or Staphylococcus germs gets out of control. But overall, the armies of microbes in our intestines--called gut flora--seem to be on a mission to keep our immune and digestive systems in good health. Research shows that beneficial bugs called probiotic bacteria produce chemicals that help us glean nutrients and energy from our food. They also help build up the population of intestinal immune cells. Scientists continue to investigate the connection between gut flora and the body's response to stress and anxiety.

All of this good news about probiotic bacteria in our bodies has heightened interest in consuming more probiotics. Probiotic foods can help in treatment of diarrhea, vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections. There is evidence that probiotics help reduce the severity of colds and flu, speed recovery from some intestinal infections and improve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. Fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut are high in Lactobacillus acidophilus (in purple above) and Bifidobacterium longum (in green above), two common probiotic bacteria.

Other healthful probiotic foods are miso soup, naturally fermented pickles, small amounts of probiotic dark chocolate (hooray!) and blue-green algae. Since your natural population of probiotic bacteria is sizable, eating such foods should be seen as a maintenance plan, to help you keep your body in balance. With that in mind, be prudent about the use of antibiotics. If your doctor prescribes an antibiotic to fight a serious infection, ask if you should also consume more probiotics, to replace those wiped out by the antibiotic drug.

Learn more about how beneficial bacteria colonize your intestines during infancy:
TheVisualMD.com: Gut & Immune Development

 

 

 

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Comments

[beauley]

07:40 PM on 04/29/2011

Today, when we see the doctor for a suspected infection its an oral or needle injection of some antibiotic that are usually ineffective which is becoming more and more common.
How to Replace The Increasingly Ineffective Antibiotics With Probiotics
http://www.ehow.com/how_5816480_replace-increasingly-ineffective-antibiotics-probiotics.html

[farmilyman]

05:43 AM on 04/29/2011

This is why is so important to stay away from genetically modified food. Genetic material is transferred to microbes in the gut and have the potential to cause all sorts of health problems.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/horizontalGeneTransfer.php

[smilinggreenmom]

07:55 AM on 04/27/2011

We have learned so much about the beneficial bacteria that we all need when our son's eczema was helped so dramatically just from taking his Belly Boost chewable probiotic! It's been amazing and I ams o thankful we found out how important they are! Thanks for sharing.

[MzLimitless]

01:04 PM on 04/25/2011

Interestingly enough, I have found that the days I eat Chobani first thing in the morning are the days my digestive issues bother me the least. Coupled with figuring out which foods decrease acid production, I'm naturally getting a handle on my digestive disorders. I'm all about finding my medicinal cures through food.

[hanlonpatrick]

09:48 AM on 04/25/2011

Good reminder that our bodies are biospheres, too. With their own ecosystems.

[Becca Chopra]

11:49 PM on 04/24/2011

If you do take antibiotics (which kill all microflora, even probiotics), I've found taking Saccharomyces bilardii, a beneficial bacteria, can keep your gut in equilibrium. Then, when you're done, take probiotics to rebuild your intestinal flora. Always consider natural immune boosters like garlic, echinacea and goldenseal before resorting to antibiotics, but if your doctor says they're necessary, keep probiotics on hand. Birth control pills can also cause candidiasis, a lack of good intestinal bacteria and an overgrowth of Candida Albicans - treat the same way. Many researchers tie candidiasis to chronic fatigue and other immune problems.
Becca Chopra, Holistic Counselor, www.TheChakras.org

[OrionofCrete]

12:27 AM on 04/26/2011

Saccharomyces is actually a genus of yeast (in Kingdom Fungi), which is a eukaryotic organism, but it, along with several different genera of bacteria (prokaryotes in the Bacteria Domain) can also be beneficial gut flora.

[Jason Ryz]

10:25 PM on 04/24/2011

Just like there are dangers in taking antibiotics, not all probiotics are equal. Many companies like to market various probiotics such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. However, you should choose your probiotic by strain. Lactobacillus acidophlius is generic. Look into the strain of probiotic you are taking...such as Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1. The DDS-1 is strain specific. Otherwise, you might as well donate your money to charity because the probiotic will have no health benefit. A company that supports the evidence based backing of probiotics is ProbioticsMD. Do the research and you'll find out that it is not just "taking probiotics" that will help you, but taking the right probiotic strain.

[RMankovitz]

10:01 PM on 04/24/2011

Good article. One of the few potentially useful government funded medical research projects is the Human Microbiome Project. Its objective is to characterize the microbial communities found at several different sites on the human body, including nasal passages, oral cavities, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and urogenital tract, and to analyze the role of these microbes in human health and disease.

The interest in gut bacteria is finally taking off, with results that are not surprising to those of us that have researched in the field. Here is just a smattering for those having an interest:

http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/september/relman.html

“…recurring antibiotic use may produce a cumulative effect on our internal microbial ecosystems with potentially debilitating, if as yet unpredictable, consequences.”

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01620.x/abstract

“We conclude that the presence or absence of conventional intestinal microbiota influences the development of behavior, and is accompanied by neurochemical changes in the brain.”

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6012/1768.full

“..because we harbor 10 times as many bacterial cells as human cells, explorations into how the microbiota may have influenced the evolution of adaptive immunity might redefine how we view our “microbial selves.”

A fascinating book on the gut is “The Second Brain,” by Dr. Gershon.

For a discussion and references on the use of probiotics, see “The Wellness Project.”

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
A research organization

[Ucles Maria]

09:26 PM on 04/24/2011

Another great reason to eat dark chocolate : ) Great information.

[No death panels]

08:52 PM on 04/24/2011

Gut flora are there to help digest food. Probiotics are unregulated and unproven (just ask Dannon).

[Dana Ullman]

06:55 PM on 04/24/2011

Obviously, it is worthwhile (and healthy) to be well-cultured.

Biologists have taught us that there is more strength to the web of life when it is more complex. The very serious problems that antibiotics create is that they over-simplify the web of life inside us.

It is not surprising that growing numbers of people will realize how truly dangerous antibiotics are, despite the short-term benefits that they provide.