For a healthy gut microbiota

The good bacteria in our gut not only help us digest food but also enhance the immunity of an individual, combat obesity and alleviate the symptoms of depression, writes Dr Narendra Shetty

If there’s one thing to know about the human body, it’s this: the human body has a ringmaster. This ringmaster controls your digestion, your immunity, your brain, your weight, your health, and even your happiness. This ringmaster is the gut.” In an average lifetime, around 60 tonnes of food passes through the human GI tract, along with an abundance of microorganisms, both good and bad. These microorganisms colonise the GI tract and form the flora and fauna of our gut, or in simple terms called the gut microbiota which has co-evolved with the host over thousands of years to form an intricate and mutually beneficial relationship.

The number of microorganisms inhabiting the GI tract has been estimated to exceed 10 times more bacterial cells than the number of human cells itself. When the gut is said to have good integrity, the good bacterial colonies help keep a check on the bad bacteria by hardly giving them any room to grow. Hence, the gut is free from maladies. However, in conditions where an individual eats highly processed and fatty food, consumes too many antibiotics, takes too much stress, or consumes excess alcohol and cigarettes, the amount of bad bacteria colonising the gut exceeds the good bacteria and leads to a state called dysbiosis.

Dysbiosis, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a term referring to when there is a disruption in the microbiota of the gut. Dysbiosis may contribute to various afflictions such as weight gain, increased blood sugar, increased lipid levels and many others.

Means & modes to
improve gut integrity

To prevent dysbiosis, our focus should be on ways to improve our gut health. That is only possible by a healthy proliferation of good bacteria in our GI tract.
The good bacteria in our gut not only help us digest food but also enhance the immunity of an individual, help combat obesity and alleviate the symptoms of depression and hence bring in good states of physical and mental health.
According to Healthline, the following are ways in which one can improvise on gut integrity.

Consume prebiotics: Prebiotics are defined as compounds in food that promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. They act like fertilisers that stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria. Fibre-rich food such as beans, legumes, raspberries,
artichokes, garlic, broccoli, banana, and apples act as good prebiotics.

Consume probiotics: Probiotics are substances that contain live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer benefits on the individual’s health. Mechanisms of probiosis include manipulation of intestinal microbial communities, suppression of pathogens, immunomodulation, stimulation of epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation, and fortification of the intestinal barrier which decreases the bad bacteria and replaces them with the good ones. Fermented food such as yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, and fermented pickles act as good probiotics.

Exercise regularly: For at least one hour a day.

Get enough sleep: For at least six to eight hours per day.

Consume less refined sugar: Replace it with natural sugars from fruits such as oranges, watermelons, bananas, apples, etc. Also, avoid smoking and drinking.

Avoid taking NSAIDs: Taking antibiotics unnecessarily kills the normal commensals and gives way to the growth of bad bacteria.

Reduce stress: Yogic practices such as meditation and pranayama are said to keep stress at bay.

A review published in the PubMed journal in 2013 about the health benefits of probiotics reveals that probiotics help in conditions such as lactose intolerance, infectious diarrhoea, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, and allergies. The gut bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp decrease the levels of carcinogenetic enzymes produced by colonic flora and thereby prevent colon cancer, reduce blood pressure, reduce blood lipid levels and possibly contribute to the prevention of coronary artery disease.

(The author is a wellness consultant.)