Health – Gut Wellness
If gut intelligence was supposed to be the buzz phrase in 2020, then being on lockdown and cooking more may have helped bring awareness to our digestion as well as what our stomachs can handle. A healthy gut wall ensures that a large part of your immune system functions optimally; and, this starts with what you eat. The gut or digestive system (the gastrointestinal system) is the largest organ in the body, housing 70% of the cells that make up the immune system. We have a lot more bacterial cells than human cells. These trillions of bacteria are collectively called the microbiome, and mostly found in the gut. Microbiota is the actual bacteria, and microbiome is the bacteria and their genes.
Registered dietitian and co-author of Eat-Ting: Lose Weight, Gain Health, Find Yourself Mpho Tshukudu explains the role of the microbiome in the link between our digestive and immune systems as a symbiotic relationship. “The microbiome helps us with metabolic processes such as enzyme and vitamin synthesis, fermentation of carbohydrates and acts as a gut barrier protection. As the host, in turn, we provide a fuel source for the microbiome such as dietary fibres that ferment to produce short chain fatty acids,” she says.
Associate Professor at University of Pretoria’s department of biochemistry, genetics and microbiology Dr Thulani Makhalanyane says the microbiome also has healing functions.
“Some evidence shows that specific microbiota may treat inflammatory bowel disease. In fact, there are entire ‘clinics’ based on stool transplants as therapy for a range of ailments including chronic constipation, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These studies have also shown the importance of the microbiome in controlling our immune system,” he says. Tshukudu adds that the immune system depends on proper nutrient digestion, assimilation and absorption in the gut so that these can be used by metabolic processes. “The gut can kill off pathogenic (disease
causing) bacteria that enter through water and food, flushing out unwanted bacteria.”
Dysbiosis is the imbalance of the microbiome content that could disrupt the symbiotic relationship, leading to disease. Registered dietitian Dr Florence Malongane says while a healthy, balanced gut microbiota is linked to a strong immune system and lower levels of chronic inflammation, dysbiosis is linked to obesity, cancers, Type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. serotonin, that is responsible for your mood as well as the states of arousal, appetite and sexual behaviour. At least 95% of your serotonin receptors are found in the gut. So, if your stomach is not happy, your mind is also not happy.
British nutritional expert and therapist Patrick Holford says “you are what you can digest and absorb”. And, the gut is often described as a war zone where nutrients battle it out. The competition is justified, says Dr Malongane.
“Microbes tend to work with or against each other. The number of beneficial microbes depends on what you feed them, and other environmental factors like your lifestyle. The key to good health lies in a richly diverse microbiome that has a high number of good bacteria.”