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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – The human digestive tract is home to a collection of trillions of microbes, called your gut microbiome. These intestinal hitchhikers who have been with you since birth may be very important to your overall health and ability to fight inflammation, disease and infections. As research progresses, we learn more and more about the symbiotic relationship between you, what you eat, and your microbial population.
Though some of the newer research is provisional, a number of studies are showing some very interesting connections between your gut and your health.
Exercise – Some preliminary evidence is showing that variation in exercise can influence the diversity of your gut microbes. The number of different species of microbes and the evenness of their population is a direct indicator of better health. Exercise improves your cardiovascular fitness by increasing the blood pumped by the heart at each beat which increases the transport of oxygen in the blood to muscles but it may also favorably alter the presence, activity and clustering of gut microbes. Another reason that regular exercise is a recipe for good health is that it helps to support your gut microbiome.
Anxiety – As many as one third of adults will suffer anxiety symptoms at some point in their lifetime. Increasingly research is showing that the trillions of microorganisms in the gut can help regulate brain function through something called the gut-brain axis. A recent review of studies found that over half of the studies showed a reduction of anxiety symptoms when probiotic foods or supplements were introduced. Probiotic foods – kefir, yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, miso, tempeh and natto – appeared to be more effective in reducing anxiety than probiotic supplements. The researchers speculated that supplements may offer specific probiotic types whereas probiotic-rich foods provide a more diverse source of microbes. In addition to using psychiatric drugs to treat anxiety, regulating the intestinal flora may help to alleviate anxiety symptoms.
Constipation and inflammation – A study from Texas A&M University found that eating 1 mango a day helped to relieve constipation and enhance gut health. Mangos are not only a rich food source of fiber but they are abundant in polyphenols which help to reduce inflammation. Fiber not only helps to bulk up stools, making them easier to pass, but it is the food needed to sustain the bacteria and microbes living in your digestive tract.
Colorectal cancer – We know that diets rich in nuts play a role in heart health but a study published in The Journal of Nutrition showed that a diet rich in walnuts, eating one-third cup a day, can reduce the risk for colon cancer. Eating walnuts causes a reduction of secondary bile acids which are higher in people with an increased risk for colorectal cancer. Secondary bile acids can damage cells in the GI tract, increasing the risk for cancer, and certain microbes make those bile acids. When you eat walnuts, you only use about 80% of the energy (calories) that the label on the package reports. That means 20% is leftover. Some of the microbes in your gut use the undigested walnut components to provide you with positive health outcomes one of which may be to reduce damaging secondary bile acids.
Heart disease – A study presented in May 2019 at the European Society of Cardiology provided evidence that patients with heart failure had less biodiversity of the microbes in their gut. In contrast, heart failure patients who regularly ate a diet higher in fiber tended to have healthier gut bacteria because the fiber intake kept the microbes well nourished. And, those patients who ate more fiber were less likely to need a heart transplant and had a reduced risk of dying from heart failure.
And, the bad news – If there are foods that can enhance the health of your gut microbial activity there are some that can also affect your microbiome negatively. Artificial sweeteners are used in countless foods, soft drinks and tabletop sugar substitutes. In a study published in the journal Molecules researchers determined that artificial sweeteners negatively affect the gut microbiome. How each artificial sweetener affects which microbes in the gut is yet to be determined but many studies point to a negative association.
Your gut and the variations that occur in its occupants due to food changes, exercise and stress, is an emerging area of research. What we do know, if your microbes are healthy, diverse and well fed, you are more likely to be healthy. Take good care of your hitchhikers.
© NH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books. Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter – the most up-to-date information on managing diabetes
Calorie Counter – a weight loss guide that won’t let you down
Protein Counter – put the latest protein recommendations to work for you
Healthy Wholefoods Counter – planet-friendly eating made easy
Complete Food Counter – food counts and nutrition information at your fingertips
Fat and Cholesterol Counter – newest approach to heart-healthy eating
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.