The microbiome is defined as all the bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, and eukaryotes that inhabit the human body. Collectively referred to as the “second human genome”, the gut microbiome in particular is now being considered a separate “organ” with distinct metabolic and immune activity.
There are 10x the number of microbial cells in the human gut than in the whole human body, totaling roughly 100 trillion microbes representing as many as 5,000 different species and weighing approximately 2 kilograms.
There are other human microbiome sites as well, including skin, oral, and vagina, but the gut is the most popular and diverse neighborhood!
Antibiotic therapy alters the patterns of gut microbiota and when given early in life (infancy and childhood) may shift the bacterial profile towards one that promotes obesity, metabolic abnormalities and/or autoimmune diseases. So try and avoid antibiotics usage at all cost and use only if critically necessary .
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70-80% of the human immune system lies in the gut, known as GALT – Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue
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40-60% of patients with Gastro Intestinal issues have psychiatric issues, while 50% of psychiatric patients invariably have IBS, such is importance of Gut Health
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Poor sleep and inability to follow the circadian rhythm disrupts your gut health leading to systemic diseases including auto-immune diseases
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Poor posture can compress your GI tract, resulting in poor digestion hence maintain a good, power posture all the time
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Prebiotics are just as important as probiotics for maintaining good gut health
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Regularity of bowel movements is the #1 indicator for how healthy your gut is
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50% of dopamine is produced/stored in the gut, such is the importance of gut microbiota / gut microbiome
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Newer research shows that your skin issues largely are a result of poor gut health, leading to concepts like – Inside Out Beauty
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Most people focus on JUST food when they should be focusing on their circadian rhythm, quality and quantity of food is important but equally and potentially more important is the timing of food intake, When in doubt follow the Sun. Eat after Sunrise and before Sunset for Good Gut Health
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Leaky gut can be the key reason for your brain foge
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If you have gut issues, you’re not absorbing all the nutrients from your food
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Processed, packaged foods destroy the gut
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Bone broth on an empty stomach is your guts best friend
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Most autoimmune disorders start in the gut and a good number of allergies can also be a result of poor gut health
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You need to eat more slowly and chew your food more, drink your food for optimal gut health
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Antibiotics can destroy the gut, but also may be necessary if you have a pathogenic overgrowth, known as SIBO – Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth
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Eating slower and walking after meals are some of the easiest things you can do to improve digestion
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Fecal microbiota transplant, a treatment that dates back over 1,000 years to Chinese practitioners and was first published as a modern therapeutic intervention in 1958, is the process by which a fecal sample from a “healthy” individual is transplanted into the gut via enema, nasogastric tube or colonoscopy of a diseased patient. It has been the most successful treatment for patients with antibiotic resistant C. difficile thus far.
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In fact, in 2012 a team of microbiologists, clinicians and public health professionals from M.I.T. established a nonprofit organization called OpenBiome (http://www.openbiome.org/) to collect and store fecal samples for fecal microbiota transplant for C. difficile patients. This is a new era of “organ” transplant!