"True healthcare reform starts in your kitchen, not in Washington."-Anonymous
Gut Check Time !!
In my blog I would like to address popular, useful and important topics . The first blog was about reaching your goals, building life long habits that allow for changes and bringing the fun back into your goals . What I want to speak to in the second blog is our guts and its connection to our immune system. Have you been sick? On antibiotics or maybe have you had the dreaded flu? Many us have not been lucky and needed to be on antibiotics . What makes me cringe is the most folks use the antibiotics without knowing the damage it does nor how to fix the damage once its done. Luckily we can work to minimize the damage and thats my goal, help minimize the damage.
This may get a little scientific, but I will keep it to a minimum, I promise . The immune system is not some mystical thing ,like “Core” muscles. Approximately 70% of your immune system is in your gut in the intestinal flora. The immune system is a three tier system the first level is the anatomical barriers the skin and mucus membranes, as well as other responses such as sweat tears and salivation. The second tier is the innate system this is the broad generic responses to bacteria that have made it past the first tier. The third tier is the adaptive/specific immune system which can learn and improve its responses to specific microbes over time and with repeated exposure.
Our large intestines are inhabited by trillions of bacteria often called probiotics . They are introduced at the time of birth . If we did not have probiotics in our system, we would have issues with food borne infections, lacking vitamins and minerals as well as a weakened immune system. The guts network is maintained by gut associated lymph tissue. Our probiotics are in constant contact with the network to keep the system ready for contact with bacteria . This allows for the system to learn how to deal with bacteria without constantly getting an infection. This is important once we go to school or start to meet many different people .
Now that I have you saying “huh?”, lets get to why we are here maintaining gut health. In 2010 there was a study (1) that showed the adverse effect that antibiotics have on our guts . Concerning mainly the microbes or intestinal flora, it alters the composition of the microbial populations allowing for further infections. This was initially thought to be a short term issue, but the effects have been seen over 7 days later . The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control conducted a review noting "The long-term presence of resistance genes in human gut bacteria dramatically increases the probability of them being transferred to and exploited by harmful bacteria that pass through the gut. This could reduce the success of future antibiotic treatments and potentially lead to new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
A 2008 study(2) by the Duke University Medical Center Department of Pharmacology of Sucralose and the filters Maltodextrins effect on intestinal flora showed some interesting results . Evidence indicates that a 12 week administration of Splenda exerted numerous adverse effects including : a reduction in beneficial feca microflora, an increase in fecal PH, and enhanced expression levels of proteins which are known to limit the bioavailability of orally administered drugs and nutrients .
Our gut health is important to us on many levels, so we need to minimize the damage that has been done and limit any damage going forward. We should not be using sucralose any further, opting for stevia . When you are prescribed an antibiotic, you need to take a probiotic unless your on one already. A probiotic with acidopholus and active bacteria with parts per billion . In conjunction, supplement with glutamine this allows for the stomach lining to be repaired as the antibiotics will strip it away as well. You can help yourself as well with a daily dose of yogurt, keifer , or even some kinds of sauerkraut have probiotic effects.
2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291
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