The potential to benefit countless aspects of both physical and mental health by examining the gut microbiome – the collection of bacteria that lives in our large intestine – has led UK researchers to propose the medical community should consider it ‘almost like an organ in its own right’.
This potential ‘generates excitement about the prospect of improving our health – and possibly stemming the obesity epidemic – by improving our gut bacteria’, noted medicalnewstoday.com. ‘As with other organs, the gut microbiome has the capacity to make us unwell if we do not properly nurture it; conversely, it holds the power to promote health and wellbeing if we take care of it correctly.’
Researcher Dr Petra Hanson at Warwick Medical School commented: ‘We know the human microbiome is crucial in healthy physiological processes. Our research shows it plays many and varied roles – for example, in the normal development of the immune system, in the mediation of inflammatory pathways an metabolic processes, and in the regulation of appetite.’
A recent study in Nature Medicine documented ‘new, significant connections between health and gut biomes, linking certain microbes to healthy and unhealthy outcomes’; some bacterial species ‘appear to be linked to lower appetite, lower body weight and reduced overall inflammatory status’
Recent research from Warwick Medical School has shown other bacterial species ‘are associated with an unfavourable metabolic status’, but Dr Hanson noted: ‘To date, we have identified only about 1,00 of what we believe are likely to be millions of micro-organisms in the human body.’
Fellow researcher Dr Thomas Barber added: ‘By age 3 years the gut microbiota is established, but we know various factors can change its diversity and development; these include host genetics, diet, age, mode of birth and antibiotics, as well as probiotics, fecal microbiota transplants and prebiotics.
‘So far, data from human-based studies are mainly observational in nature… Amid greater scientifi inquiry and growing public interest, marketers sell a lot of products on the back on unproven promises… We need to distinguish between fads and facts.’
The Warwick team noted:
- Probiotics: act by preserving the balance of normal intestinal microbiota and improving the immune system; certain types may benefit specific disease state but ‘despite popularity in recent years, there is insufficient eviden about the benefits and their safet , including possible side effects’
- Fecal transplants: fecal bacteria from healthy donors into people with intestinal diseases (ie, inflammatory bowel disease irritable bowel syndrome, metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases, allergic disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome) to restore the function of healthy gut microbiota; ‘far more effective tha probiotics, with effects lasting fo 24 weeks compared to 14 days for probiotics’.
- Prebiotics: stimulate growth of gut bacteria and sourced from plant- based foods; 3 key features – they resist absorption in the digestive tract, the microbiome can ferment them and they can have positive health effects th ough direct or indirect action of the microbiome; while dietary fib e is main source, Warwick research suggests ‘most of us should increase our dietary fib e intake by about 50%’.
The researchers summed up: ‘While the interaction between gut microbiota and the brain is still unclear, it is likely to be complex and multi-directional… Insights about the wider role of the microbiome in overall human physical and mental health are on the horizon.’ AMP
