What is “gut health”?
This buzzword can be so general that it gets overwhelming, or can become just a vague catch-all for many issues. Better understanding of gut health and your microbiome can help you wade through the many false-promises and diet gimmicks and truly advocate for your health.
A healthy gut can be identified in five parts:
effective digestion and absorption of food
absence of gastro-intestinal (GI) illness
normal and stable intestinal microbiota
effective immune system
a state of well-being
Those five things cover a multitude of conditions and issues, so it’s understandable why “gut health” as a general term can be used in such broad ways. If one component is off, true gut health is absent, and more than likely it will have an effect on one or more other components. For example, if you are not effectively digesting and absorbing your nutrients, your immune system is unlikely to be as effective since it is missing some fuel.
Better understanding of gut health and your microbiome can help you wade through the many false-promises from products and diet gimmicks, and truly advocate for your health.
Health implications
The symbiosis (or partnership) between microbiota and our gut is increasingly recognized as a major player in health and well-being. The health of our gut and the makeup of our microbiome determines a vast array of outcomes for us. The words of Thomas Edison, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will have interest in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”, are relevant today where we all desire to live longer in a healthy manner.
There is now ample evidence that two functional entities are key to achieving and maintaining gut health. These entities are the GI microbiome and the GI barrier, or tissues. For example, if akkermansia muciniphila is low or absent, the lining of our gut wall can be thin or even have gaps. Through those gaps, bacteria might enter our body and bloodstream that are not meant to be there. A coating on some bacteria, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the bloodstream can lead to inflammation when our immune system detects and attacks it. Helpful bacteria, healthy tissues, and a stable partnership between the two is key to maintaining gut health.
Much of that depends on the choices we make with our meals and medicines. We negatively impact our gut health when we improperly use antibiotics, over consume sugar and processed foods, live under chronic stress, and more; and we can positively affect our gut health by consuming effective pre- and probiotics, maintaining overall wellness and fitness, and eating a diet high in fiber, specifically fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods.
The importance of the gut microbiota in human health and well-being is a major breakthrough in both medical and nutrition research. This field of science and research is growing and learning in REAL time, as we speak! For that reason, we are becoming our own experiments, so it’s highly recommended that you journal and pay close attention to your body if you slowly introduce any changes.
TLDR: Gut health is a complex topic that covers the wellbeing of our digestive organs, the microbiome that it contains, and how the health and functions of those parts affect overall health.
Sources and other helpful info:
Yücel, G., Zhao, Z., El-Battrawy, I. et al. (2017, June 7). Lipopolysaccharides induced inflammatory responses and electrophysiological dysfunctions in human-induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. Sci Rep 7.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03147-4.pdf
Ursell, L. K., Metcalf, J. L., Parfrey, L. W., & Knight, R. (2012). Defining the human microbiome. Nutrition reviews, 70 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S38–S44. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426293/pdf/nihms369735.pdf
