Importance Of a Healthy Gut
A Healthy Gut
Recently, there has been an increased focus on gut health. With increased access to information and innovations, important health patterns such as gut health are now in the public. With the hope of reaching millions, I want to uncover this trending topic and the importance of it in promoting good health. Having a healthy gut predicts good health and the opposite predisposes our bodies to a range of diseases, including metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, hepatic and liver diseases, and cancers.
What does a healthy gut look like?
A healthy gut has a diversity of microbiome responsible for an array of benefits and functions. Eubiosis is a term referring to a balance in the microorganisms residing in the human gut whereas dysbiosis refers to an imbalance in the microbiota. Our guts, when healthy, are as diversified as the Amazon rain forest with its natural habitants of living things. The microbiome has different species responsible for functions such as digesting certain foods, synthesis of hormones and vitamins, responding to infections, regulating blood sugar and cholesterol levels, among others. Therefore, a health gut needs to be diversified because the gut microbiota controls almost every process in the human body.
What is the Gut microbiome?
Gut microbiome, gut flora, gut microbiota are terms which can be used interchangeably to mean the same thing. It is a community of micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, virus, protozoa, and archaea) residing in the human gastrointestinal tract after birth. Why did I say after birth? Because at birth our guts are sterile but as we interact with the environment, the gut microbiome population keeps increasing and by the end of two and a half years, the gut microbiome resembles that of an adult1. The microbiome is comprised of both bacterial and non-bacterial species. There are thousands of bacterial species which inhabit the gut, and they can positively or negatively impact health and wellbeing.
Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics
Advancement in analytic techniques in microbiology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics has resulted in increased and quality study of gut ecology. Gut microbiome is an emerging area of interest, and it has been linked with a plethora of health benefits and development of diseases.
The Importance of Gut Microbiome
The gut microbiome when at optimum has several health benefits. A health gut microbiome-well diversified facilitates digestion of food and conversion into essential molecules needed for survival. They digest all food groups, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and oils, vegetables, and others. The other crucial roles of the gut microbiome include:
Synthesis of Metabolites that are Antioxidants
Antagonizing Inflammatory Mediators and Immune Response Regulation
Increasing Insulin Sensitivity
Production of Vitamins
Reducing Body Fat Deposition
Promoting Homeostasis
Energy Production and Regulating Metabolism
Synthesis of Important Short Chain Fatty Acids
Gut microbiome, especially in the large intestines is responsible for digesting and processing undigested dietary and non-dietary materials. These materials include undigested fibre which find their way to the colon. The dietary fibre is then broken down into useful short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The main SCFA are acetate, propionate, and butyrate.
Butyrate
I. Maintaining the integrity of the large and small bowels barrier and mucosal lining. Maintaining this barrier ensures that gut microbes do not move across and proliferate into the blood and other organs leading to inflammation.
II. Providing energy to the colonocytes-the epithelial cells that line the colon.
III. Regulates immune response by ameliorating pro-inflammatory response to immune cells. It promotes a strong immune system to keep bad microbes at bay. In relation to regulating immunity, butyrates are anti-carcinogenic by enhancing apoptosis and gene expression of colon cancer cells.
Propionate
I. Taken up to the brain influencing appetite. Control of appetite ensures we only eat adequately which can help prevent over-weight and obesity.
II. Modulates gluconeogenesis which helps in production of energy needed for cells and for productivity.
Acetate
Some acetate is converted into butyrate and serves the functions mentioned above. The remaining acetate plays an important role in:
I. Lipogenesis in peripheral tissues and adipose tissues, meaning it is used as an energy source.
II. Regulates lipolysis of the adipose tissues
III. Alongside propionate, acetate regulates appetite which can directly influence development or control of overweight and obesity.
The Gut as Our Second Brain: Gut-Brain Axis
Research and scientific evidence show that there is direct communication between the brain and the gut, and this interaction influences health and wellbeing. Have you ever been stressed, and you had that feeling of butterflies in your stomach? Such is one simple explanation for the direct brain and gut interaction. Through neurotransmitters, neurons, nerves, and neurochemicals, the gut and the brain are ever in communication. The gastrointestinal tract consists of more than 500 million neurons which are connected to the brain through nerves. The Vagus nerve is one of the main nerve which connects the gut directly with the brain. Multiple research and scientific evidence suggest that the gut microbiota plays a significant role in the gut-brain axis.
The Gut Microbiome synthesizes Neurotransmitters.
As mentioned above, neurotransmitters facilitate communication between the brain and the gut. An example of such a neurotransmitter is serotonin which is majorly produced by gut cells and the gut microbiota. Serotonin is referred to as the happy hormone as it influences our mood and controls our human clock. Many neurotransmitters are produced by the gut microbiota, and directly act on nerve centres in the brain to control many body functions. Another notable neurotransmitter produced in the gut by the microbiome is gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA controls feelings of fear and anxiety. There are now several research studies which have noted how disruption of the gut microbiome results in mood disorders and mental health disorders.
The gut microbiome also produces other important neurotransmitters which are involved in the gut-brain axis, influencing essential biological processes such as sleep and response to stress (fear and flight). Your gut microbiome facilitates synthesis of melatonin which regulates sleep. Wondering why you are having trouble sleeping or having adequate night rest, your gut microbiome may not be at its optimal functioning. Histamine and acetylcholine are chemicals that are also produced from our gut microbiome. Histamine modulates allergic response. It is through histamine that an allergic reaction occurs; a way the brain communicates to alert us of harmful chemicals or environmental triggers.
Development of neurodegenerative disorders
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are examples of neurodegenerative disorders which have been attributed to disruption of gut microbiome. In the central nervous system (CNS), there are cells known as microglia. These cells are primary immune cells of the CNS. What does this have to do with the gut microbiome? Well, the gut microbiome influences maturation and activation of microglia. There is strong evidence that links altered gut microbiome to the development of AD, PD, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, the microbiome modulates synthesis of important neuro-protective metabolites which ensure optimal functioning of the immune cells of the CNS hence lowering the likelihood of neurodegenerative diseases. These metabolites include butyrate and propionate produced from fermentation activity of the microbiome.
Association Between Gut Microbiome and other Diseases
Many research studies have been conducted showing an increasingly association between the human gut microbiota and several diseases. Gastroenterology diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been linked with a disrupted gut microbiome (dysbiosis). Other diseases where such a correlation has been made are metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes and obesity. The aforementioned is attributed to the role of gut microbiome in energy homeostasis.
Research shows that dysbiosis results in a leaky gut meaning the gut barrier is permeable allowing infiltration of microorganism from the gut into the blood and thereafter all around the body. Many diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease can be traced back to a leaky gut where these microorganism escape into the liver causing inflammation.
Dysbiosis causes gastrointestinal diseases such as clostridium difficile. C. difficile is part of the normal gut flora, and its expression and growth is suppressed by other gut anaerobes. However, when the balance is disrupted, C.difficile growth increases resulting in the microorganism producing toxins which cause inflammation and other gut related symptoms which if not well controlled results in detrimental outcomes.
We are What we Eat!
We all need to start appreciating the gut microbiome because 90% of our body is basically made of microbes. Appreciating our microbiome means taking care of ourselves. Over the years, we have continuously waged a war against the microbiome, especially in the gut, and this has seen a drastic rise in diseases and ill-health and autoimmune conditions. We need to work together to restore the dwindling relationship we have with our microbes. We should love, take care, and nurture our gut microbiome by modifying our lifestyles.
