Microbiome

Is your good and bad bacteria living alongside each other amicably or has the bad bacteria taken over causing digestive problems?

At least 70% of our immune fighting cells reside in the gut, so it is vitally important to support the growth of our good bacteria. This will help our digestion and absorption of our nutrients from our food and supplements. It stabilises our weight, repairs our gut lining, and regulates our blood glucose levels.

How do we support our micobiome? 

• Avoid overuse of antibiotics
• Resolve the cause of indigestion, rather than take antacids
• Avoid packet foods and artificial sweeteners
• Avoid constant NSAID’s (anti – inflammatory drugs)
• Support stress triggers
• Increase fibre to feed our good bacteria – oats, vegetables, seeds, lentils, fruit
• Swap a typical western diet (high refined sugar and fat rich) closer to a Mediterranean diet

Now, the science bit! 

Basically, our gut microbiota (the house where bacteria lives) operates the daily tasks of immunity, by deciding which bacteria is infectious and which is beneficial. Many other functions include the modulation of our genes (groups of DNA). There are between 20,000 and 25,000 genes in our complete set of DNA. This is necessary for the production and transport of proteins. 

Proteins are the building blocks of basically everything! 

• Builds structures – muscle, skin, bones etc
• Makes the hormones – insulin, thyroxine, serotonin and noradrenalin
• Creates collagen, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin 
• Transports our blood, as haemoglobin
• Stores our iron as ferritin

What are the benefits of restoring our good microbes?

• Reduces our visceral fat (waist area)
• Lowers inflammation
• Increases our sleep quality
• Reduces wrinkles 
• Improves our bone density
• Increases muscle strength