The Gut Microbiota Is The Key!

We have gone from obsessively fighting microorganisms to rediscovering them as key agents for health. The intestinal microbiota contains an ancestral wisdom that arouses interest in its possibilities to treat and prevent the diseases of civilization.

The body houses bacteria, fungi and viruses essential for our defenses and to preserve health. For every cell in our body we have ten bacteria and a thousand viruses. Some of these microorganisms live in our skin, mouth and nose, others in the vagina or prostate, and most are concentrated in the intestine.

Contrary to what was believed until recently, the colonization of our intestine does not begin during childbirth – when we come into contact with the microbiota of the maternal vagina through the mouth or the skin – but rather begins earlier, in the uterus, and continues after delivery during lactation, according to recent research.

Each scientific finding proves that our relationship with the microbiota is more intimate, deeper.

The gut microbiota, a win-win relationship

Humans maintain a symbiotic relationship with our microbiota or intestinal flora . We provide it with habitat and food, and it performs essential biological functions for our survival and well-being.

Taking care of the relationship with our microorganisms is the way to prevent or cure problems as alarming as resistance to antibiotics. If we take care of it, we can live longer and better.

The key to our body’s immunity

The microbiota is part of our defensive barrier. It lives in the intestinal mucosa with immune cells – 80% of the total are found there – and prevents invading microorganisms from sneaking in: it competes with them for food, hinders their survival and at the same time stimulates our defensive system.

The microbiota produces metabolites that we need to be healthy. For example, thanks to it, part of the energy we ingest is recovered when we eat indigestible carbohydrates and dietary fibers, which constitute their food.

Colon bacteria transform them into compounds such as short chain fatty acids, which once absorbed act as metabolic regulators. Some microorganisms synthesize vitamins, such as K (essential for coagulation) and some of group B. They also break down drugs and toxins.

Take care of the microbiota to enjoy more health

Lack of knowledge about the importance of the microbiota leads to mistreating it.

The prolonged consumption of products such as alcohol, pesticides, medicines, processed foods and their additives (artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers E-400 to E499) or stress alter the intestinal mucosa.

And they cause a permeability that can activate chronic inflammatory processes, allergies, food intolerances, eczema, joint pain, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer or multiple sclerosis.

A recent study, published in the journal Nature Communications and led by researchers at Brigham Hospital for Women in Boston, proves that there is a connection between gut bacteria and multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease.

The researchers found that Methanobrevibacter and Akkermansia bacteria were abundant in MS patients. In contrast, Butyricimonas levels were lower than those of healthy people. The study suggests that treatments that modify bacterial composition could be useful in treating MS and other autoimmune diseases.

The influence of diet and exercise

The diets rich in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates increase the proportion of harmful intestinal microorganisms that generate inflammation, according to the latest information from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI).

This is explained because, depending on the type of bacteria that act on the remains of food that reach the colon, fermentation reactions, favorable to the organism, or putrefactive reactions, negative for the microbiota and for the person , may predominate .

Fermentation is basically produced by bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, so it is important that these species predominate.

Through food we can promote the proliferation of a more fermentative and therefore healthier bacterial enterotype. In this sense, a diet rich in fiber and probiotics (sauerkraut, kefir, etc.) is recommended.

Just as important as feeding the microbiota well is getting out of a sedentary lifestyle and ending stress and chronically established negative emotions. Regular, medium-intensity physical exercise — cycling, running, or walking briskly — increases the diversity of digestive bacteria, specifically those that help metabolize fat.

But substantially modifying the bayal or resident microbiota is difficult. It is tried with fecal transplants in the treatment of obesity, ulcerative colitis and recurrent infections, among other disorders.

The worst enemy is stress

Gastroenterologist Emeran Mayer, professor of Medicine at the University of Los Angeles (California), states in his book The Mind-Gut Connection that messages between the digestive system and the brain circulate from top to bottom and from bottom to top through the vagus nerve. and of certain molecules.

In this way, emotions and mental stress influence the behavior of the microbiota, and it produces metabolites that alter emotions, pain perception or eating behavior (bacteria are able to choose what they want to eat!).

The microbiota could even participate in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, autism and certain types of depression, according to Francisco Guarner, director of the Digestive System Research Unit at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona.

Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are currently known to have a positive effect on stress and anxiety. And specifically, the usefulness of Bacteroides fragilis in the treatment of autism is being investigated .

Its role in obesity and diabetes

Numerous studies have linked the typical microbiota of obese people with an increase in intestinal permeability, which together with a high calorie diet, sedentary lifestyle and other factors lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver and cardiovascular disorders.

Ricardo Gómez Huelgas, vice president of the SEMI and former coordinator of the Diabetes and Obesity Group, explains that various clinical trials are being carried out around the world to improve diabetes control with probiotics.

The function of each bacterium will probably be known and will act on each one to achieve the desired effect, as suggested by Gail Hecht, president of the scientific committee of the last World Summit on Gut Microbiota for Health.

But diet, physical activity and stress management are excellent means of bringing balance to the microbiota and benefiting from its collaboration with our cells.