Gut Health, Part 2
The topic of the last blog post was all about creating a happy diverse microbiome and in this post I want to share with you some reasons why you should care about it. These aren't even all the reasons, I would be here all day if I shared all that!
1. The microbiome helps build our immune system. It is estimated that 70% of our immune system is located in the gut. Those little guys living in our gut act as a kind of special agent operating system and they send messages to our cells within the intestinal walls when they encounter an intruder so our body can learn about them and build up defenses (antibodies), if need be. This is after, of course...
2. The gut bacteria try to dismantle the intruder themselves. A diverse and well-populated bacteria party means that they are more likely to destroy an unwanted visitor before our immune system even needs to do anything about it.
3. Bacteria, of course, break down our food for us. They help us to be able to digest more of our food that we eat, leading to more nutrient absorption. This is particularly true if you eat a diet heavily composed of beans and lentils as they contain compounds called oligosaccharides that we cannot break down but our gut bacteria can if you grow them to be able to do that. That wonderful anthem of our childhood "beans, beans, the magical fruit..." is referring to the fact that you may have flatulence after eating beans and it could be because your gut isn't used to digesting such a complex carbohydrate and the gas you emit is carbon dioxide from them getting worked into a frenzy trying to digest this compound. If you experience this, try introducing beans only a little bit at a time into your diet as well as increasing the amount of gut bacteria by adding in fermented foods and fiber as I discussed in the last post. If you're a bean lover (and your gut friends are, too), you should check out the recipe for my favourite bean salad.
4. Lastly, our microbiome also makes nutrients for us as a by-product of their digestion of our food. They make a whole range of B vitamins for us (including the elusive B12 that plant based individuals are at risk of being deficient of) as well as short-chain fatty acids which are absorbed right into the intestine, reducing inflammation if there is any in the intestinal walls to keep absorption happening without a hitch.