The Gut

Our bodies are home to trillions of bacteria. Those that live in our gut are known as our gut micro biome. There is good and bad bacteria in our gut. If there’s more good than bad, we’re likely healthy and feeling good, but if there’s more bad than good it is referred to as dysbiosis, and we are in store for a host of possible complications.

How do we get good gut bacteria?

Good gut bacteria are present in probiotics. This can be taken as a supplement or as a food (like yogurt). Of course the supplement will always have more, but no matter what product you use, you want the probiotics to be live and active (ex: the label reads, “live, active cultures”). In order to keep these good bacteria healthy, we need to feed them. You can do that with a supplement called a prebiotic, or you can feed them the foods they like most:  vegetables and resistant starch.

If you’re worried your gut bacteria isn’t well fed, try eating a high vegetable diet, and at night, mix one tablespoon of cold potato starch into a shot of water and drink it (quick, it tastes awful!).

What is harmful to good gut bacteria?

There are many products that have been shown to kill good bacteria. Antibiotics are one of the most commonly used prescriptions, and of course they are prescribed in order to kill an invading bad bacteria, but they also kill the good bacteria. It’s important to only take antibiotics if you are sure they are needed for the problem you’re having. If you do have to take antibiotics, it’s essential that you replace that lost bacteria with more (taking a probiotic supplement), and feed any good bacteria you have left the right kind of foods (vegetables and resistant starch).

Other common losses of good gut bacteria come from Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), pesticides/herbicides, chlorine, sleeping pills/anti-depressants, statin drugs, alcohol, artificial colouring.

How do we stop bad gut bacteria from taking over?

We get bad gut bacteria by feeding it and therefore allowing it to grow and thrive. Bad gut bacteria like to eat sugar, fruit and starch (different from resistant starch; most starches also contain some resistant starch, at varying degrees based on the food choice).  We know from the article “Why Insulin Is Making You Fat” that these three food types are not helping us lose weight or control our insulin levels. Now we know that they are also not helping us keep our gut micro biome happy.

Are we starting to notice a theme?