Nourish Your Microflora

We have all heard the saying “ trust your gut” which usually refers to our instinct but also highlights how our gut is the essential to overall health.  Did you know that around 40% of people have at least one digestive symptom at any one time in their life. Most digestive issues are to do with lifestyle and nutrition factors, her at Kijani Living we care for our readers especially as so many are affected by digestive disturbances.  Read on and our expert nutritionist will discuss gut health and supplements which may help relieve certain symptoms. 

Your digestive system holds trillions of bacteria that reside in your gut and help process food, produce nutrients and fight off disease, did you know that 60-70% of our immune cells live in our gut. Crazy right!! Another fun fact that there are ten times more bacteria in your gut than any of part of your body so this highlights how important these bacteria are to health. Usually when we think of bacteria we always associated this with negativity due to many factors but bacteria is actually crucial to our health and wellbeing. As nutrition plays a very important role in digestive health, as anything you drink or eat will affect your gut.  There are so many ‘epigenetic’ factors which basically mean the environment, lifestyle, medication and diet can affect our digestion and cause long term problems. 

Our gut flora provides a natural barrier against invaders, unhealthy bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses that we ingest daily. Currently we know that many factors can contribute to an imbalance in the gut flora, while antibiotics are necessary to fight off certain infections, they can have a devastating affect on beneficial bacteria in the gut, organs and tissues. Hostile bacteria can establish themselves in the gut wall as it can take weeks for beneficial bacteria to replenish the gut. When the ratio of good to hostile bacteria is decreased, many health symptoms can occur including bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, excessive gas and poor absorption of nutrients. 

Symptoms most associated with gut disturbances are abdominal pain, changes in bowel movement, indigestion, bloating and heartburn which are usually short term harmless symptoms. Usually these symptoms should settle down by themselves but please remember to seek help if they don’t go away. There are 5 key symptoms which should be seen by a doctor straight away, please book a GP appointment if you notice a sudden change in your bowel movements, bleeding from the bottom, weight loss, difficulty swallowing and worsening heartburn or stomach pain. 

What can we do to help our gut bacteria? 

Firstly it’s essential to eat a diverse range of food as there are hundreds of species of bacteria in the gut and each plays a different role in human health and requires different nutrients to grow. A dietary intake of different types of food can lead to a diverse microbiota as unfortunately current statistics show that the Western diet is not very diverse. A few studies have shown that the gut microbiota diversity is much greater in people from rural regions of South America and Africa compared to westernised countries. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of nutrients for a healthy gut flora as they are high in fibre which cannot be digested in the body. Although fibre can be digested by certain bacteria in the gut and can stimulate their growth. Good sources of fibre include beans, legumes, chickpeas, lentils, broccoli, artichokes, green peas and wholegrains. Studies have shown apples, artichokes to increase Bifidobacteria in humans include plenty of fermented foods such as yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha and tempeh. Studies have shown that individuals who consume yoghurt have more lactobacilli in their intestines and fewer enterobaceriacea which is associated with inflammation.

Untill the last 20 years; many people did not know about probiotics and how this supplement can be beneficial to the gut bacteria. Studies have shown that many of us can benefit from a probiotic supplement especially a good quality probiotic which has been scientifically validated. Why not pick our amazing Garden of life microbiome formulas which are unique products formulated with clinically studied live bacteria developed in collaboration with leading neurologist and expert in human microbiome Dr David Perlmutter, M.D., F.A.C.N. a clinically validated self stable probiotic with a wide variety of strains.  

Remember it’s essential to always seek doctors help if you are suffering from prolonged digestive symptoms to rule out any other condition before taking probiotic supplements. Please consult with your health care professional if you are on any other forms of medication.