I hope you are ready for some fun and applicable microbiology facts. A deeply intriguing first sentence, I know just try to contain your excitement for a moment. Personally, I never used to be some crazy bacteria fan, but the more I learn about human physiology and nutrition the more my fandom grows. I am team bacteria all the way, shout out to the quirky microbiology professor who really lit the flame (if you love your projector, yes, I am speaking to you and thank you). Anyways, let’s get into it before I explode onto some nerdy micro-organism rant… but also let me know if you are ever interested in that… seriously, please reach out for a request. Okay, onward to the article!
The human body is made up of roughly 137 trillion micro-organisms. The combined efforts of all these tiny critters create the recipe for our existence. Remarkably enough, out of these 137 trillion tiny co-inhabitants, only 37 trillion are human cells. The remaining 100 trillion are bacteria, fungi, amoebae and worms. These micro-organisms are a natural part of our internal ecosystem just as they are a natural component of our external world in general. Unfortunately, there is fear and a general lack of understanding surrounding these microscopic creatures. But the truth is, only 0.1% of all microbial species are capable of causing infection in humans. Additionally, in order to produce an infection, a large number of them, typically over 100,000 need to finesse their way past our immune system. That provides us with some pretty good chances against these rare pathogenic (infection causing) micro-organisms. All these 100 trillion microbes can be classified into three simple categories: friendly, neutral and pathogenic. Friendly bacteria actively produce or interact with our human cells in a mutually beneficial way. In a balanced body, majority of the microbe populations are neutral bacteria with a splash of friendly bacteria. Bacteria tend to be quite territorial so when these neutral and friendly bacteria stumble upon a hungry, more aggressive pathogenic bacteria they too want them dead and gone. Our microbial buddies will eagerly try to kill off these not so nice intruders with antimicrobial peptides, sometimes destroying all the invaders before our immune system even gets involved. This is just one of the many ways that having a balanced bacterial population keeps us healthy. Majority of our immune system (70-80%) and majority of our microbes live in within the digestive tract. Collectively, the trillions of micro-organisms found in our gut are called the microbiome. Apart from fighting off pathogenic microbes, the microbiome also produces beneficial nutrients/compounds as natural byproducts of their metabolism. Examples of these healthy byproducts include: vitamin k, B vitamins, serotonin, butyric acid, lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids. Ultimately, a balanced microbiome supports the immune system, boosts nutrient absorption and availability, increases efficiency of digestion, and supports the integrity of the digestive tract as a whole. Thank you bacteria! The kicker is, these benefits won’t occur if the bacteria are not enticed to stick around and without them our immune system and digestive system have to work A LOT harder. That means less time focusing their energy and efforts on keeping us happy and healthy. Considering that most bacteria live in our gut, our diet is the simplest way to keep these helpful creatures our allies and I am going to share how…
How our diet can be used to promote a healthy microbiome:
1. Avoid pathogenic bacteria promoting foods:
Potentially harmful bacteria tend to enjoy different foods than neutral and friendly bacteria. Ironically enough, their go-to foods tend to include ingredients which are harmful to our body’s physiology, i.e. refined carbohydrates and sugar. These naughty bacteria also tend to thrive in environments with high fat availability. Avoiding these disruptive refined carbs and sugar containing foods is a great way to support our general health and a balanced microbiome.
2. Increase vegetable, grain, legume and fruit intake:
Neutral and friendly bacteria are huge fans of high fiber food sources. Nothing makes them happier than some fruits, legumes, grains and veggies. Luckily for us, these foods are also full of health promoting nutrients. Good for our health and good for our microscopic allies.
3. Avoid microbiome disrupting products and additives:
Chlorine, food/beauty product preservatives, antimicrobial soaps, hand sanitizers, pesticides, herbicides, processed carbohydrates and antibiotic use all disrupt the microbiome. They should be avoided or minimized to maximize microbial diversity and balance. A lot of the chemical additives which confuse and negatively affect our health also disrupt microbiota. Interestingly enough, certain food compounds are toxic to pathogenic bacteria and nourishing to neutral/friendly bacteria. Polyunsaturated fatty acids and xylitol (an artificial sugar derived from xylose) are two examples. Incorporating them into the diet is a natural way to actively promote a balanced microbiome.
Where can you get polyunsaturated fatty acids? Walnuts, almonds, flaxseeds (or flaxseed oil), sardines, salmon, Brussel sprouts, chia seeds, cauliflower, raspberries, hemp seeds, cod liver oil, eggs, sunflower oil, sesame oil, pumpkin seeds and many vegetables such as kale, spinach, green beans, turnip greens and squash are all good sources. There is just one important thing to mention… polyunsaturated fatty acids are very sensitive to heat so they should not be cooked at high temperatures. Instead, try drizzling the oils mentioned above over your food after you are done cooking. If we subject these fats to high heat, they are destroyed (aka denatured) and become inflammatory and unhealthy to our systems.
4. Incorporate probiotic and prebiotics into the diet:
Probiotics can be defined as living micro-organisms which produce health benefits when consumed in adequate quantities. They are the friendly bacteria we discussed previously. Probiotics have become a hot topic in the world of health and as a result a huge quantity of products are available to consumers. Not all of these products are produced properly and thus will not result in these potentially lovely health benefits. Here are some important factors to consider when selecting probiotic products... a probiotic must contain at least 10 billion bacteria per serving to lead to health benefits. A quality product will make this type of information easily accessible either on the label or on the website.
Not all bacterial species are health promoting. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus are the most common varieties. Bacillus, Enterococcus and Streptococcus have also proven to be helpful. As a general rule of thumb, if you do not see specific Latin names on the labels or on the products website then the product probably won’t provide the health benefits you are seeking. If you see sugar listed on the ingredient label before anything microbial it may be best to select a different product.
Bacteria seek environments with a consistent food supply. Although eating at regular intervals may help entice them to stick around, even that isn’t always enough. Health promoting probiotics will typically stick around for about 3 days. So, it is important to be consistent with your probiotic consumption. To further entice a diverse and balanced microbiome we want to incorporate foods which benefit our health and feed neutral/friendly bacteria – cue prebiotics.
Prebiotics are essentially bacteria food. As discussed earlier, fiber-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes feed beneficial and neutral bacterial populations.
Another important dietary addition are fermented food products. Food is fermented by adding bacteria which chow down on the sugars and other components of the food and essential partially digest it. When we eat this bacteria-filled, partially digested fermented food or beverage, we are directly ingesting healthy probiotics, simplifying the work for our own digestive tract and ingesting helpful nutrients and beneficial byproducts (such as butyric and lactic acid). Fermented foods are thus health promoting and encourage microbiome diversity.
References
1. Tetro, J. (2016). The Germ Files: The surprising ways microbes can improve your health. Doubleday Canada.
2. The brain of Maria Bellavia, founder of The Health Habit LLC