My Gut Tells Me...
“We actually have 10 times as many cells of microbes on us as we have human cells...We are literally a teeming ecosystem of microorganisms.”
We all want to be happy and healthy for as long as we possibly can. There are many, many factors that go into the creation and maintenance of these positive states, of course, but this week I want to draw your attention to one that has gone from relative obscurity to international stardom in a relatively short period of time—the health of your gut. I know, this doesn't seem like a glamorous or particularly rewarding subject, or even one you would expect to find me writing about; yet what we're learning through research is that gut function is one of the main building blocks of robust health, and one of the areas of greatest vulnerability for people alive today because of the state of our modern food production systems and our diets. I decided to link to an article that can expound on this subject for you, since this is not an area of expertise for me, but it is incredibly important. For example, did you know that "gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, all of which play a key role in determining your mood"? Read on for more information about how to foster vitality by caring for this key part of your body.
For a more technical article from the National Institutes of Health, if that's your interest, try this. There are plenty more links at the bottom of the page if you really want to go down the rabbit hole.
One fascinating takeaway from this article, which is more target to the lay person than the previous one, is that when the guts of germ-free mice were colonized with microbes from other mice, not only did they end up with similar physical symptoms, they also took on certain personality characteristics of the host mouse. Wait, what?? Did you do a double-take there, or was that just me? I found that to be a real eye opener! But this is what we're learning, that our microbiome is influential in all kinds of ways that we have not previously been taught to consider. The article also mentions that both anxiety and autism may be influenced by our microbiome. We obviously have a lot to learn about all that can be affected by our microbial balance, but since it's obviously of pivotal importance, it seems it's never a bad time to learn to love foods that pack a healthy punch of beneficial microbes (see article in the first paragraph for more ideas): Pickled and fermented foods, yogurt (minus the refined sugar) or even just a daily dose of a probiotic supplement while you experiment with new delicacies.
Based on my reading, I think it's likely that we will only learn of more and more areas of health that can be affected by our biota. Since it's not difficult to make small additions of healthy, probiotic foods on a daily or even weekly basis, pick a few small actions you can take this week. You will have paid into a healthier future without a great deal of effort. That's what I look for and get excited about—easy, leveraged actions that can make our lives better in noticeable ways. I hope this information brings you new insight into easy change in a super-important area.