Image from Harvard Health
In the previous post we discussed our microbiome, what it is and why it's important to your health and wellbeing. In this post we will explore the factors that influence this internal ecosystem including nutrition, environmental, and lifestyle factors.
Nutrition
The food we eat is what helps to populate and feed the bacteria in our gut microbiome. In general there are two classes of food that have a major influence on the bacteria in our gut: pro- and prebiotics.
Probiotics
Probiotics are foods with living organisms in them that help to populate our microbiome. Some examples of probiotic foods include fermented foods like kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut, and yogurt. There are also many probiotic supplements on the market.
Prebiotics
Prebiotic foods are foods that promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, you can think of prebiotics as fertilizer for the microbiota of the gut. Prebiotics mainly come in the form of fiber or complex carbs that our human cells cannot digest. Bacteria take this food and break them down in our gut using them as fuel. Some examples of foods that are great sources of prebiotics include asparagus, apples, bananas, and onions.
Lifestyle Factors
Our lifestyle impacts our microbiome. This includes things like stress levels and activity level/movement. These factors play a role in modulating our internal ecosystem.
Stress and the gut
Observational studies have shown that psychological and chronic physiological are associated with changes and alterations in the microbiome. The exact cause of this effect has not yet been established but there a few possible mechanisms put forth by researchers as to why this may disrupte the microbiome. Some of these mechanisms include stress eating, reduced gut motility due to stress response, and elevated cortisol levels. This isn't a one way street however. There has been emerging research that suggest that the microbiota in our gut influences our responsiveness to stress. For example, in a study done in 2004 researchers were able to reverse symptoms of aggrevated and stressed germ-free mice through implanting them with specific bifdobacterium bacteria. They also implanted germ-free mice with faeces from depressed patients and found that this increased depressive and anxiety-like behaviour in the mice. This suggests that the stress response is bi-directional communication.
Activity/Movement and the Gut
Movement and exercise also has its role in developing a healthy and flurishing gut. Movement has been shown and known to regulate bowl movements and improve gut motility. Recent research also suggests that exercise, used appropriately, can also improve the number of beneficial bacterial species, enhance the microflora diversity, and further boost the development of commensal bacteria. This points to the fact that movement is important for microbiome and gut health which in turn influences the overall health of your mental and physical well-being
Environmental Factors
Our environment also plays a role in the population and maintence of our microbiome. A study was conducted with 75 Finnish children between 3 and 5 years old. The children, who previously played in a gravel-covered urban day care center yards were then exposed to a renovated play yard with natural forest flooring. After just 28 days of playing on the forest floor all the children developed more diverse gut and skin microbiomes as well as signs of better regulated and improved immune systems. This study was conducted by Aki Sinkkonen, an evolutionary ecologist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, and publisished in Science Advances. This study is so cool to me because it suggests that our external and internal environment are deeply interconnected and in constant interplay with one another. It also paints the picture that the environment we reside within influences our biology and health, and nature has the ability to boost or provide benefits to the two. This is just one example of how our environment impacts our microbiome there are also many other aspects that play a role such as: medications, mode of birth, plastics and microplastics, cosmetic products, etc. All of these communicate to and have a real impact on our internal ecosystem.
Our gut and microbiome are immensly important to our overall health and wellbeing at a physical and psychological level. It is important to know that we have control and say over our internal ecosystem through the factors discussed in this post, as well as more.
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