Secrets of your inner world
Six ways to nurture a healthy gut microbiome
The depths of the worlds oceans are are among the least explored frontiers on Earth, yet they harbour an immense ecosystem, teeming with life. This underwater world plays a crucial role in in the planet’s health, such as regulating the climate, supporting biodiversity and resource provision - just like your gut microbiome does for you.
The microbiome refers to the community of trillions of microbiota, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, that live inside and on humans. This includes our gut, skin, respiratory tract and even our internal organs. Plants, animals, soil and other areas of the environment also have their own microbiomes.
As Rodney Dietert explores in his book, we’re not individual entities - we’re more like "superorganisms", composed of both human cells and a vast array of microbial life.
Yes, they outnumber your own cells. Yes, they have an influence over your behaviour. Which makes the question WHO ARE YOU REALLY even more mind-blowing.
A few things for sure: You’re not sterile and you’re not functioning in isolation.
These microbiota have numerous health-supporting functions, allowing our guts to function optimally, yet factors such as stress, modern farming practices, toxins, excess antibiotics and sanitisers, are damaging our inner world.
Until recent years, the microbiome has also been a largely uncharted realm. In 2020 only a handful of research papers were published on the topic; that number is now estimated to be over 20,000 annually. This has been driven by advancements in DNA sequencing technologies, increased funding and the recognition of the microbiome's critical role in health.
Yet this is no longer abstract research.
At Tru Health we deliver the very latest testing in microbiome and gut analysis to your doorstep, allowing you to discovery your unique microbiome pattern and discover how best to support your body.
Below is a snippet from a sample test report, showing the abundance of the 7 major categories (phyla) of natural bacteria in this person relative to a healthy sample (cohort) group. Here we can see they have a relatively high amount of ‘firmicutes’, which produce ‘butyrate’ - a product of fermentation which protects the gut and reduces inflammation. They also have lower levels of potentially inflammatory actinobacteria and proteobacteria. Looking good!
Why is this important to know?
One of the key features of a healthy microbiome is diversity. This helps the ecosystem maintain it’s resilience in the face of disturbances, such as infections and toxins.
It also helps the overall function of the microbiome - immunity, digestion, absorption of nutrients, and the prevention of harmful species overgrowing.
When a test shows areas of imbalance, such as low diversity, inflammatory species, a lack of butyrate production or poor digestion, we can then develop targeted strategies to address this. However, although i’m a huge proponent of using a personalised approach, here’s a few tips that are generally helpful for everyone:
Ideas to support your gut microbiome
Diversify your diet
Different plant fibres support different bacterial species; seek a rich mix of fruit, veg, spices and herbs to nourish your microbiome. This diversification naturally leads to a reduction in the excess gluten, diary, sugar and starches, which otherwise typically form the bulk of our modern diets.
Increase prebiotic foods
Prebiotic foods are those which are rich in dietary fibers, like inulin and fructooligosaccharides, which serve as nourishing ‘food’ for beneficial gut bacteria, promoting their growth and activity. This incudes foods such as onion, garlic, leeks, asparagus, flaxseed, plantains, bananas and leeks.
Regulate your nervous system
Unregulated stress can have devastating effects on the microbiome: wiping out healthy species, promoting unwanted yeasts or infections, driving us to consume junk, suppressing immunity and damaging the gut lining. Carve out time each week to release nervous tension and watch your health thrive.
Lower your toxin exposure
Toxins, such as pesticides and heavy metals, are also up there are the most common disruptors of the microbiome. Buy organic where you can, especially when it comes to the ‘dirty dozen’; use natural cleaning products; filter your water; avoid plastic containers or cooking with plastic; and ventilate your home.
Test your gut health
The most common imbalance of the microbiome I see is overgrowth - either in general (like a crowded city), in the wrong places (i.e. SIBO), or of unwanted species (ie.e. candida, parasites or harmful bacteria). Testing is the best way to identify exactly what’s going on and how to address it, but things such as garlic and berberine can help to keep things in check.