Category Archives: Gut

Habits for a healthy gut

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“The gut is swarming with about 100 trillion bacteria, or flora, which outnumber human cells in our body 10 to 1. Bacteria are often considered “good” or “bad…Essentially, the gut is your body’s gatekeeper, letting in helpful compounds and evicting harmful ones. It’s home to 70 to 80% of our immune cells. When the gut is in good shape, our systems run efficiently, but when it’s not, we may experience upset stomach, be at risk for weight gain or digestive problems like heartburn and constipation, or just feel vaguely out of sorts.”

This is from a recent article on cnn.com.

This article is a good summary of why good bacteria is so important and what to do. I agree with everything, except the prebiotics. Prebiotics are food for the good bacteria. This is extremely important so that the good bacteria thrive. However, some of the foods that contain prebiotics (onions, chicory root, etc) can make IBS symptoms worse because they contain fodmaps (fermentable cabohydrates).

 

Exercise affects gut bacteria

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We all know exercise is good for you. We all know at least a couple reasons why:

  • helps facilitate weight loss and maintenance by:
  • burning calories and:
  • building muscle and increasing metabolism
  • reduces risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer
  • improves mood

The list could go on. But a new study has shown that gut bacteria diversity improves with exercise. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract – the stomach and intestines – is home to a complex community of bacteria referred to as the gut microbiota. Gut bacteria is important for our digestion and our immune system. And we are always looking for ways to increase the good bacteria and minimize the growth of bad. We know about probiotics, various foods but it looks like exercise is also one of the ways to increase the variety (which means more good bacteria). The diet of the study participants was different as well and certainly influenced the study’s results. I would even say that the diet might have been such a confounding variable that this study just shows that exercise might play a positive roll, when combined with the proper diet.

 

Does gluten sensitivity exist?

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Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley and rye. It has received a lot of attention lately, as more and more people are cutting gluten out of their diets.

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease where a person is allergic to gluten and eating it causes their immune system to attack the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. This causes an array of unpleasant symptoms including pain and diarrhea. It affects 1% of the population.

Gluten sensitivity describes the remaining number of people who can not tolerate gluten (the stats are 6% or a lot more depending on where you look). There is no allergy, no immune response, and no damage to the lining of GI tract but still symptoms. Gluten is hard to digest and can cause diarrhea, cramping, gas, bloating, headaches, brain fog, or skin rashes. Cutting out gluten removes these symptoms.

Another portion of the population is giving up gluten because they are trying to be more healthy (jumping on the dump gluten bandwagon). I think this is fine. Given that gluten is found in wheat and wheat is highly processed and processed foods are at best useless (and at worst, very bad for you. stay tuned for a future post). But some people think this is just a silly fad.

A study came out recently where gluten sensitivity was actually tested. One group was fed gluten, and other groups were not, but all groups were blind to what they were being fed. Thus preventing bias. And the gluten group did NOT have more symptoms than the control groups. Pretty solid evidence against the existence of gluten sensitivity, huh?

No study is definitive and there were still confounding variables (such as FODMAPs) Here is an article that totally refutes the study point by point and brings the possibility of gluten sensitivity back to life. Or perhaps just wheat sensitivity. Since this research study was giving participants isolated gluten, it doesn’t tell us much about the real world (who sits around eating isolated gluten apart from food?). Perhaps it is wheat that gives people those symptoms and not gluten or a combination of all the components in wheat, including gluten. But you know your own body, and if cutting out gluten solves your problems, that’s compelling research for you.