Gut Health and the MicroBiome

Healthy Digestion is the Foundation of Health

The health of your body is not just up to you… it is supported by trillions of microorganisms that help you fight off germs, process mucus, and digest your food. This ecological community of microbes is spread out all over your entire body, supporting its daily functions and allowing your system to function, heal, grow, and thrive- called the “microbiome.”

We are finding that a strong and diverse microbiome is essential for health. The largest concentration of your microbiome is found within the large and small intestines, but it is spread out over the entire body as well.

Harvard Medical states that “The microbiome is even labeled a supporting organ because it plays so many key roles in promoting the smooth daily operations of the human body.”

The human microbiome is a “collection of all the microorganisms living in association with the human body. These communities consist of a variety of microorganisms that include eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria, and viruses.” Many of these microorganisms have a symbiotic relationship with our body and are essential to our health. They help to aid digestion, assimilate vitamins, regulate our immune system, and help produce anti-inflammatory compounds.

The microbiome consists of not only beneficial organisms that help to create a symbiotic relationship, but there are also ones, pathogenic bacteria, that can wreak havoc and cause issues. The main focus is to keep the balance in your favor. Research shows that imbalances within your microbiome can lead to a variety of diseases, also the possibility that understanding these microbes can help to figure out and treat disease as well.

Recently much focus has been on learning about the microbiome that resides abundantly within areas such as the skin, nose, mouth, urinary tract, and gut. The Human Microbiome project, developed in 2008 is a research project funded by the NIH to gather data and analyze the function of the microbiome in regards to health and disease. The data collection has taken many years because “Bacteria in an average human body number ten times more than human cells, for a total of about 1000 more genes than are present in the human genome.”

These organisms are so small, but still take up 1-3% of our body mass, weighing 2 to 6 pounds! Meaning we are more than just human beings, we are complete ecosystems that survive and thrive due to the help of trillions of bacteria found within our hair, scalp, mouth, nose, and digestive system.

Harvard Medical states that “In a healthy body, pathogenic and symbiotic microbiota coexist without problems. But if there is a disturbance in that balance—brought on by infectious illnesses, certain diets, or the prolonged use of antibiotics or other bacteria-destroying medications—dysbiosis occurs, stopping these normal interactions. As a result, the body may become more susceptible to disease.”

The digestive system is such a complex area of study and a healthy digestive system is crucial to our overall health. With around 70% of our immune system within our gut, I would say that healthy digestion is the foundation of our health. An unhealthy digestive system can contribute to a wide range of imbalances and diseases such as metabolic disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, chronic fatigue, heart disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and various autoimmune conditions. We also know that about 90% of our serotonin, or happiness neurotransmitter is produced in the gut, so a happy gut happy self!