As you've probably noticed, I've been researching quite a bit lately
about all of the various functions of our gut flora (good bugs and bad
bugs in our guts), and all of the dramatic effects to our health,
including our weight, skin conditions, brain health, asthma, allergies,
digestion issues, and frequent sickness.
Last week, I talked about some of the fascinating research showing differences in gut flora populations between obese and slender people.
Today,
I found a few more nuggets that I wanted to share with you that are
really interesting... It's a couple more excerpts from the
super-interesting new book I've been reading by Michael Pollan called Cooked, and it tells a lot about the importance of our "microbiome" in our guts:
First,
Pollan talks about how the diversity and health of our gut flora starts
all the way back to birth... He talks about how natural child birth
exposes the baby to it's first blast of beneficial bacteria that
immediately begin to colonize the baby's body (an important part of
building their immune system from day 1) ...
He continues, "Children born by Cesarian Section, a far more
hygienic process, take much longer to populate their intestinal tract,
and never acquire quite the same assortment of bugs. Some researchers
believe this could help explain the higher rates of allergies, asthma,
and obesity observed in children born by Cesarian".
He then goes on to explain the results of a study of 15,000 children
in 5 European countries, which basically concluded that children who
grew up on farms and were exposed to more microorganisms from dirt,
livestock, etc had more robust immune systems and had lower rates of
allergic diseases. The study also mentioned that children in Waldorf
schools who ate more fermented vegetables and received fewer antibiotics
and fever-reducing drugs also had better immune systems and lower rates
of disease.
And it gets even MORE interesting, as Pollan continues:
"The
average child in the developed world has also received between ten and
twenty courses of antiobiotics before his or her 18th birthday, an
assault on the microflora the implications of which researchers are just
beginning to reckon.
Consider the saga of the once-common
stomach bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Long considered the pathogen
responsible for causing peptic ulcers, the bacterium was routinely
attacked with antibiotics, and as a result has become rare -- today,
less than 10% of American children test positive for H. pylori. Only
recently have researchers discovered it also plays a positive role in
our health: H. pylori helps regulate both stomach acid and ghrelin, one
of the key hormones involved in appetite. People who have been treated
with antibiotics to eradicate the bacterium gain weight, possibly because the H. pylori is not acting to regulate their appetite."
Once
again, this is yet more evidence that our health is being harmed by our
overly sanitized modern world with hand sanitizers every where you
look, a constant "war on bacteria" and a sterilized food supply that
lacks the natural microbes food was meant to contain, and
over-prescription of antibiotics by just about every single doctor for
common colds and many other minor sicknesses that don't need
antibiotics.
And as you can see, the dramatic reduction or
eradication of H pylori in the guts of most people in the developed
world these days is now being shown to be disrupting the hormones that
regulate our appetite!
Check out this video below for some more
shocking info on whether YOUR gut microbes are out of balance and making
you gain weight, as well as digestion and immune problems:
Is YOUR gut overloaded with toxic gut microbes crowding out the good probiotics? (important stuff)
PS -- if you liked today's article, please fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer