The Forgotten Friends: The Secret Role of Intestinal Bacteria.

The Forgotten Friends: The Secret Role of Intestinal Bacteria. There are over 7 billion people on the planet yet there are more than 5 nonillion (thats a 5 with 30 zeros after it!) microbes on the planet. Microbes are everywhere and on everything, on the ground, on the walls, the computer, your knife and fork, on your skin and yes, even inside you. You are literally crawling with microbes! A single human being will host around 100 trillion bacteria on and within the body. That amount is roughly 1000 times the population on people on this planet, and in terms of comparison of human cells throughout the body, microbes outnumber them 10:1. As Jeroen Raes PhD professor and pioneer in studying microbial communities says, you are not human, you are a walking bacterial colony! We as humans have several types commensal floras or microbiotas found in different areas within the body such as the skin, the mouth, around the genitals, and within the gut. These bacteria help us to digest food, protect us against pathogens, provide essential nutrients, and train our immune system. And what scientists are beginning to discover is that the disturbance of this intestinal flora is linked to disease. Scientists on the cutting edge, such as Raes, have been studying the gut micro-biome using new techniques such as metagenomics. By taking a sample of flora, extracting the microbes and DNA and putting into their sequencing device they can learn more about bacteria and microbial ecosystems.

Through this work they have found that the micro-biome contains 100 times more genes than humans have and may even form what could be called our second genome. Furthermore, the intestinal flora has been able to be classified into three different types or ecosystems, which have been called Enterotypes. It appears that these Enterotypes or microbial ecosystems are created by the environment of the gut, and the environment of the gut is the food that you eat. It has been shown that those who eat more fat, will have different flora to those who eat a diet high protein, and different to someone who eats a high amount of carbohydrates. Rather than classifying humans by race, Raes suggests we can be classified by our Enterotype. All of these new discoveries are helpful as more and more diseases are being linked to gut flora disturbances. What is fascinating is the fact that babies are sterile in the womb and are inoculated by the flora of the mother at birth. We can see that there are differences in flora between a baby that was birthed naturally and one by c-section. We can also see the difference in flora between a baby that is breast fed and one that has been formula fed. Studies have also shown that even low doses of antibiotics in infancy can make for disturbances in adulthood leading to obesity and other problems. Antibiotics, also known as Anti-Bacterials are agents that inhibit bacterial growth or kill bacteria. The use of antibiotics is now at an all time high, doctors prescribe them at the first sign of infection, and the meat, poultry and dairy industries add them to the feed of livestock to reduce the risk of illness or disease during their production, before

making their way to the dinner plate. Because of this indiscriminate use of antibiotics we find that harmful bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to our current arsenal of antibacterials, and more importantly we are beginning to find that we are simultaneously and unknowingly wiping our our colonies of healthy bacteria from the gut. These disruptions of the species composition of the intestinal flora can result in an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, aggravation of candida or yeast infections, as well as a host of chronic diseases such as Obesity, Crohns disease, Colitis, Atherosclerosis and even Autism. After any course of antibiotics it is important to help recolonize the healthy bacteria and intestinal flora. Scientists have shown that fecal transplants in which a stool from a healthy donor is inserted into an infected patient can re-establish a healthy colony of bacteria. For most of us however, the process of recolonizing the gut with beneficial bacteria can be aided by a good colon cleansing program followed by a course of probiotics, and a diet supplemented with fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha and home made yoghurt . All of which can help rebalance the delicate microbial ecosystems and ensure that the healthy bacteria are doing their important work within the body. You have 100 trillion bacterial friends in and on your body helping you to digest food, protecting you against pathogens, providing essential nutrients and training your immune system for vibrant health.

As Professor Jeroen Raes says, Take care of your friends..