A recent study published in the European Society of Cardiology has even linked certain gut bacteria that break down the nutrients in eggs, dairy and red meat to cardiovascular disease. So what else can harm your gut bacteria?
Well, there are several things that can knock your gut bacteria out of sync and you really need to think about helping them back to health or spoiling them to keep them healthy. Dangers to gut bacteria are:
- Antibiotics
- Everyday products such as; mouthwash, aspirin, antacids, painkillers and laxatives
- Chlorinated drinking water
- Pesticides and herbicides
- Antidepressants and sleeping pills
- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
- Altered fats in food products
- Increased consumption of carbohydrates
- Anti-cholesterol drugs
To name a few causes.
There are however, a whole load of products you can buy at the supermarket that claim to replenish or nurture your gut bacteria, most can be found in the cold section by the yogurts, and we all know that plain yogurt is meant to be good for you if you have an upset stomach, so it's a pretty sensible place to put them.
But are they really worth it?
The Team at the BBC "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor", have done a little experiment to see if mass produced, shop-bought probiotics really work.
In order to do this they assembled 3 groups of volunteers (10 in each group) from Inverness and NHS Highland, Scotland, with no previous existing health problems.
Over a period of 4 weeks, Group 1 was given a daily probiotic drink found in any supermarket. These probiotic drinks contain a particular strain of bacteria that can survive the acid conditions of the stomach. It is usually lactobacillus and/or Bifidobacterium.
Group 2 were given Kefir, a fermented milk drink from the Northern Caucasus mountains near the Black Sea between eastern Europe and western Asia. Kefir is a fermented drink usually made from goat or cow milk and kefir grains. Kefir is known to contain a variety of bacteria and yeasts, as do other fermented foods such as soy sauce, kimchi and sauerkraut.
Group 3 was given a diet rich in prebiotic fiber - prebiotics are essentially oligosaccharides or carbohydrate fibers that feed our gut bacteria and help create a friendly environment for them to flourish in.
This group's diet contained the equivalent of 7g of inulin, a specific prebiotic fiber, every day, in the form of leeks, chicory, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic and onion.
Before starting the study, all the volunteers had their statistics taken down, weight, height, body composition, etc..
After four weeks, all the volunteers were re-measured and had their stools and urine tested too. The findings were as follows:
Group 1 and their probiotic drinks from the supermarket, did not show any significant changes in their gut microbiome. A small change did occur in one family of bacteria, lachnospiraceae, identified as being beneficial to weight control, but the change was not significant.
Group 3 on the inulin diet did see a significant change in bacterium, faecalibacterium, which is known to help with maintaining general good gut health.
These bacteria produce butyrate, a metabolite that feeds the cells of the colon. It is also known that they are helpful in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's.
Group 3 didn't see any changes in physical statistics, no one lost weight, for example.
This bacterial group is especially helpful to lactose intolerant people and other suffering from traveller's diarrhea. So always good to have on hand.
So, there you have it. Go for the Kefir and the veggies. Probiotic drinks certainly won't do you any harm but you'll get more from the others.
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
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