Limit Processed And Inflammatory Foods
Making changes to the way you eat can make a drastic difference in the appearance of your skin! Minimizing or eliminating refined sugar, alcohol, and processed foods will allow your gut to heal and your healthy bacteria to be restored. Choosing a diet of whole foods, or foods in their natural state, is your best bet for overall healthAND these antioxidant-rich foods will nourish your skin, too! Organic, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and starches should make up the majority of your diet.
How Does Your Gut Impact Your Health
Believe it or not, the bacteria and organisms living in your gut affect your health more than you may think.
The microbiome has as much influence on health and disease as our genomes and other environmental exposures, said Dr. Lynn Bry, Director of the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center in the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Womens Hospital.
Microbes in the gut, for example, produce important nutrients. These include Vitamin K, which provides appropriate clotting of the blood, and B vitamins that are essential for a healthy brain and production of blood cells. They are also essential in maturing the immune system, gut, and other tissues.
Microorganisms in the gut produce important nutrients that are essential for your health.
Diet has major effects upon microbial communities. Changes in diet, including sudden changes in carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake, can rapidly alter the composition of the microbes in the gut and also impact what they do. Eating a healthy diet that is full of leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, and beans does the most to diversify your communities of healthy gut microbes and ensure theyre working maximally to your benefit. Other factors that affect microbiota include antibiotic exposures and even factors such as exercise and sleep.
We remain at the forefront of microbiome research, pushing our basic understanding of these complex ecosystems and learning how to use the microbiome clinically, said Dr. Bry.
Keep Up With Your Oral Hygiene
Did you know that gut health begins in your mouth? With your mouth being the beginning of your digestive system, what goes through your mouth will inevitably end up at the other end of the pipe. Dental decay has the potential to leak an overgrowth of harmful bacteria into your gut via your saliva. Yuck! Now you have one more good reason to brush and floss at least twice a day, and also limit decay-promoting sugar consumption!
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Brain Health And Your Gut Microbiome
The collection of bacteria in the body or a particular system in the body is referred to as your microbiome. Researchers believe that your gut microbiome may play a role in how your brain processes things like sights, sound, textures, and flavors. Your gut bacteria may even affect your emotions and play a role in conditions like anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and autism spectrum disorder.
Move Your Body Regularly
Getting regular exercise is also an important step in getting your gut into a balanced state.
According to one research review on the effects of exercise on the gut microbiome, aerobic exercise can increase the amount of bacteria in your digestive tract and contribute to overall bacterial diversity.
While any movement can help, it appears that the more physically fit you are, the more diverse your microbiome is.
If youre sedentary, start small by exercising a couple days a week, then work your way up to including exercise as part of your regular, everyday routine.
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How Does Stress Affect The Digestive System Quizlet
When youre stressed, your body goes into fight or flight mode. This triggers a release of hormones that can speed up your heart rate and breathing, as well as constrict the blood vessels in your digestive system. This can lead to indigestion, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or constipation.If you have an already-sensitive digestive system, stress can make your symptoms worse. Thats because stress can exacerbate conditions like irritable bowel syndrome , inflammatory bowel disease , and gastroesophageal reflux disease .If youre struggling with stress-related digestive issues, there are things you can do to help ease your symptoms. First, its important to identify and avoid any triggers that may be making your symptoms worse. You should also try to eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise. If these self-care measures arent enough, talk to your doctor about other treatment options.
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Why The Gut Microbiome Is Crucial For Your Health
Your body is full of trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi. They are collectively known as the microbiome.
While some bacteria are associated with disease, others are actually extremely important for your immune system, heart, weight and many other aspects of health.
This article serves as a guide to the gut microbiome and explains why its so important for your health.
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Gut Microbes And Immunity
Scientists are starting to make links between the health of our immune systems and specific gut microbes.
In one study, researchers tracked the progress of 2,000 people whose gut bacteria and immune cell levels had been lowered due to chemotherapy and antibiotics.
The team discovered three good bugs that were associated with higher levels of immune cells in the participants blood and two bad bugs associated with lower levels.
Using computer simulations, the researchers were able to predict that the three good bugs would help speed up the recovery of patients immune systems.
ZOEs PREDICT1 study which has collected nutritional data from over 1,000 people found similar associations involving one of the bad gut microbes identified by ZOE.
ZOE scientists studied the relationships between peoples diets, their levels of white blood cells which the researchers measured to assess chronic inflammation and the make-up of their gut microbiomes.
The team discovered that lower levels of pro-inflammatory white blood cells were linked to regularly eating lots of vegetables. They also calculated that 20% of this link was associated with a group of bacteria called Collinsella, which thrive on a diet of processed food.
Gut Bacteria And Liver Diseases
The gut and liver have a close interplay based on the evidence that the gut absorbs beneficial substances produced by the liver. The liver receives approximately 70% of its blood supply from the intestinal venous outflow, which represents the first line of defense against gut-derived antigens and is equipped with a broad array of immune cells, including macrophages, lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells, to accomplish this function . Gut bacteria play a key role in the maintenance of gut-liver axis health. Ethanol, ammonia, and acetaldehyde produced by the intestinal microflora are generally metabolized by the liver and control Kupffer cell activity and cytokine production.
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Dietary Influence On Gut Bacteria
Several factors influence the density, diversity, and activity of the gut bacteria.
However, some dietary factors may be harmful, such as dietary iron. Dietary iron mostly from red meat and fortified cereals can also change the gut bacteria composition. Other luminal iron is from cigarette smoking. Increased iron availability may increase the proliferation and virulence of gut bacteria and increase the permeability of the gut barrier. A study showed that increased iron exposure contributed to the colonization of certain bacterial pathogens including Salmonella . It may be a risk factor for colorectal cancer. The composition of intestinal bacteria could also be regulated by traditional Chinese herbs. The five hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives from Rheum palmatum had inhibitive effects on Bifidobacterium adolescentis growth . The most effective component in R. palmatum to restrain the growth of B. adolescentis was rhein.
Maintain A Healthy Gut Microbiome
Maintaining a healthy gut involves three steps:
The best way you can accomplish the first step is through a healthy diet. The food and drinks you consume are the primary sources of microorganisms in your body. The more healthy fibers, probiotics , and prebiotics that you consume, the better for your gut. That means eating lots of fruits and vegetables, fermented foods , and high-fiber foods.
To populate the gut with more friendly bacteria, you may consider taking probiotic supplements , but its usually better to focus on food. Good sources include the following.
Probiotics
Finally, avoid those habits that will destroy the friendly microbes in your gut, such as smoking, eating an unhealthy diet, and failing to exercise.
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How Does Gut Health Affect Skin Health
According to a recent study, The microbiome plays an important role in a wide variety of skin disorders. The scientists go on to say that many skin diseaseslike acne, psoriasis, dandruff, skin cancer, eczema, and rosaceaare accompanied by an altered gut microbiome.
Lets say you get sick and have to take a round of antibiotics. These drugs kill off the bad bacteria making you sick, but they also kill off the good bacteria in your gut.
That throws off the balance in your gut microbiota. Any alteration like this can, according to scientists, alter the immune response, potentially increasing your risk of skin problems.
Other things such as those listed aboveprolonged stress, poor diet, smokingcan also negatively affect the balance of the microbes in your gut, which in turn, can affect your skin.
In a 2020 review, for example, scientists found that alterations in the gut microbiome could increase the risk for psoriasis. The skin and intestinal microbes of patients with psoriasis were significantly different from those of healthy subjects, they wrote.
In another 2020 study, researchers noted: Recent studies also showed that the gut microbiome is involved in acne, through interactions with the skin microbiome. They explain that as the balance between certain types of bacteria is disrupted, this alters the skin microbiome in such a way that acne is more likely to occur.
- A lack of bacterial diversity
- Lower levels of beneficial species
- Higher levels of harmful species
How Do I Know If I Have A Healthy Gut
The health of your gut can affect your digestion and other parts of the body. If you generally feel good, chances are your gut is in good shape, too.
Signs of gut problems may start with digestive issues. Your microbiome may be out of balance if you often have symptoms of an unhealthy gut. These may include:
- Acid reflux or heartburn
Talk with your doctor if you think you have a problem with your gut. You can share your symptoms and find a way to manage the problem.
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Gut Microbes Regulate Happy Hormones
So, you know that your gut microbes are pretty cool and transform food into short-chain fatty acids? Well, these SCFAs communicate with cells which produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates your mood, as well as levels of anxiety and happiness. Basically, your gut microbes can help your body produce more serotonin.
Fundamentally, your diet can help your bacteria protect your mental wellbeing because eating the right foods feeds happy bacteria. And when you have lots of different healthy bacteria, your microbiome is more diverse and produces substances which increase mood-lifting chemicals, like serotonin and GABA.
How Does Stress Affect Our Digestive System
Stress is a normal reaction of our body to a change. Stress is common nowadays due to our busy lifestyle. It is very common among women as they have to manage everything on their own. Small amount of stress is normal because its the way the body responds to danger or challenge. But if this stress stays for a longer period then its not good for the body. It has many ill effects on our body. In short stress is a state of emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.
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Why Fiber Impacts Gut Health
As we said, there are numerous bacteria species in the human gut. And of those, some feed on fiber. Thats why you need a lot of it. This bacteria helps with the digestion of carbohydrates that produce short-chain fatty acids, which are good for your gut health and prevent conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Fiber is also believed to be a great nutrient for weight loss and the reduction of cancer.
Gut Bacteria And Chronic Heart Diseases
Gut bacteria have a direct link with the risk of cardiovascular diseases. They form trimethylamine from dietary choline after its conversion into TMA N-oxide in the liver . TMA could act as a pro-atherogenic compound. Intestinal concentration of mostly adherent bacteria in chronic heart failure patients increased, and adherent invasive Escherichia coli were identified . Disturbed intestinal microcirculation and barrier function in chronic heart disease likely trigger cytokine generation, contributing to further impairment in cardiac function. Myocardial dysfunction can lead to microcirculatory injuries reducing a disruption in the intestinal barrier which amplifies the inflammatory response . Colonization with Lactobacillus brevis decreased bowel permeability, whereas colonization with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Streptococcus viridians showed the opposite effect. It was suggested that a bowel wall with high permeability may lead to bacteria and/or endotoxin translocation, which may be an important stimulus for inflammatory cytokine to be activated in chronic heart failure .
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How Does Gut Microbiome Affect Our Body
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The gut microbiome starts affecting the body the moment an individual is born. The first exposure to microbes happens when an infant passes through the mother’s birth canal. Even in the womb, the fetus may have some exposure to microbes.
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As the child grows, the gut microbiome starts diversification. High microbial diversity is very good for an individual’s health.
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Digestion of Breast Milk: The bacteria that first begin to grow inside a baby’s intestine are known as bifidobacteria. They help digest the healthy sugars in breast milk, which are important for the child’s growth.
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Control Immune System: The gut microbes also regulate the immune system by communicating with the body’s immune cells. They control the reaction of immune cells towards any infection or inflammation in the body.
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Digesting Fibers: Some bacteria help to digest fibers by producing short-chain fatty acids, which play an important role in gut health. These fibers may help to prevent diabetes, heart diseases, and weight loss.
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Control Brain Health: Some of the research suggests that the gut microbiome also has an impact on brain functioning.
Can Gut Healthy Foods Affect Your Mood As Well As Your Body
Yes, your diet affects your mood. A Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, legumes and seafood as well as nutrient-dense leafy vegetables that are high in the fiber, promotes a diverse population of helpful bacteria in the gut. Research suggests that a healthy gut microbiome may be important in the processing of neurotransmitters like serotonin that regulate mood.
Our imaging studies show that the brains of people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet typically look younger, have larger volumes and are more metabolically active than people who eat a more typical Western diet, said Dr. Lisa Mosconi, the director of the Womens Brain Initiative at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. Such brain benefits may be protective against the onset of dementia, she said.
Some research has suggested that the gut microbiome produces chemicals that may help develop your brain function. This could also help with your cognitive functions and memory loss.
Now that you know how important gut health is, keep an eye on your own and get the balance you need.
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Can You Change Your Gut Microbiome
You have bacteria in your gut when youre born. But your gut microbiome is affected by what you eat. Thats good news, as it means you have a degree of control over your gut bacteria and the influence it has on your overall health.
So, theres more to the old saying, You are what you eat, than many people realize! Research into how probiotics, prebiotics, and other foods affect gut health, which then affects overall health, is ongoing but very promising.
There are other ways to affect gut bacteria, as well. For example, fecal transplants can improve gut health and help with conditions like ulcerative colitis.
Theres also a process called deep transcranial magnetic stimulation that causes the brain to change a persons gut bacteria. Its showing potential as a possible treatment for obesity.
The Vagus Nerve Connects Your Gut And Your Brain
Your gut and brain are connected by the vagus nerve, a major component of the autonomic nervous system which enables you to breathe, digest food, and swallow automatically. This nerve is able to send messages to your brain for your colon, and vice versa.
The connection between the two organs means that the gut-brain axis is becoming a vital player in mental health, illnesses that affect the brain, and even irritable bowel syndrome . It explains why stress can take a toll on your digestion, but also why digestive problems can make you unhappy.
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Future Areas Of Research
The microbiome is a living dynamic environment where the relative abundance of species may fluctuate daily, weekly, and monthly depending on diet, medication, exercise, and a host of other environmental exposures. However, scientists are still in the early stages of understanding the microbiomes broad role in health and the extent of problems that can occur from an interruption in the normal interactions between the microbiome and its host.
Some current research topics:
- How the microbiome and their metabolites influence human health and disease.
- What factors influence the framework and balance of ones microbiome.
- The development of probiotics as a functional food and addressing regulatory issues.
Specific areas of interest:
- Factors that affect the microbiome of pregnant women, infants, and the pediatric population.
- Manipulating microbes to resist disease and respond better to treatments.
- Differences in the microbiome between healthy individuals and those with chronic disease such as diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, obesity, cancers, and cardiovascular disease.
- Developing diagnostic biomarkers from the microbiome to identify diseases before they develop.
- Alteration of the microbiome through transplantation of microbes between individuals .
