Gut Bacteria and Health

Link to Study Overview

During the assessment process I perform with clients one of the most important and revealing components is the medical history work-up. Part of this history is a very direct and specific section on gastro-intestinal health. One of the questions is whether the client has ever taken a course of antibiotics. If the answer is yes, an immediate red flag is lifted.

I’ll just give you a quick précis of the link between gut health and overall health as it’s a fairly complicated cascade. Please bear in mind that this is only one way it can be impactful.

An imbalance in gut microflora (bacteria), usually after (but not limited to) taking a course of antibiotics, allows certain populations (of bacteria) to become dominant. One good example is Candida, which in people with depressed immunity grows out of control and causes ill health. The Candida bacteria/ fungi have microscopic projections (roots) much like grappling hooks that allow them to cling onto the intestinal wall. To perform this, the projections known as Rhizoids pierce through the intestine which sets up a condition known as a ‘leaky gut’. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition where toxins, bacteria and other particles can move thorough the intestinal wall into the systemic circulation. To counter this threat the body mounts an immune response to remove or destroy the invasive item.

Both the damage to the intestinal wall, and the foreign entry into the circulation (as we’ve looked at in previous pieces on Immunity), lead to the creation of an inflammatory environment in the intestines and also the entire body.

Because of the direct involvement of the Digestive System and the Liver, a leaky gut will also cause a massive burden on the Liver due to the increased level of toxins introduced to the body which it attempts to detoxify and remove. The liver, in addition to being overworked becomes inflamed and if you look back to the piece posted on April 8th 2012 concerning circadian rhythms, you’ll see the eventual consequence of this situation, that being (initially) Non-Alcoholic Liver Steatohepatitis (NASH) and (eventually) by association the CHAOS complex of Diseases.

One of the initial steps is to rebalance the gut microflora, however this is not as simple as drinking a little probiotic drink each day, that’s fine to maintain an already balanced environment, but for cases where the environment has already been disturbed (the majority of people) you need a bit more of a targeted approach. First of all you need to know whether you have an unbalanced environment.

It would take to much space to list all of the associated symptoms, however if you would like to begin to determine whether you have an unbalanced microflora population I have a quick and easy questionnaire that will give you a nod in the right direction. Just send me a message and I’ll drop the file into your inbox.