Why getting your hands dirty is good for your gut I was made to feel like a paranoid parent when my child was ill
Treating the digestive system like a precious garden and feeding it the right mixture of fertilisers will keep you slim and protect you from illness, says Professor TIM SPECTOR
HAVING the right mix of soil in your garden is key to growing healthy plants and flowers. Gardeners will know which is the best mix of soils and how to keep the balance right but few of us realise the same is true of our bodies. Plants need the right kinds of microbes, bacteria and fungi in the right proportions to help them extract all the right nutrients from the soil. A handful of soil contains more microbes (any small beings that you need a microscope to see) than there are stars in the galaxy.
The microbes in the soil interact with the roots of the plants which feed them with natural fertiliser chemicals called polyphenols.
In return the soil microbes break down the soil and give the plants the nutrients they need to flourish. If the mix of fungi or microbes changes then the balance is altered and the plants may suffer.
What is true for our gardens is true for the community of microbes deep inside our own human intestines which have much more of an influence on our lives than we realise. We have an average of 100 trillion microbes inside us, easily outnumbering the cells in our body.
About 99 per cent of these are in our colon, they can weigh up to 4lb and we can’t live without this microbiome. Babies can’t digest food efficiently without one or develop a normal brain or healthy immune system. However this microbiome is the only organ we acquire after birth that can be manipulated and transplanted without surgery.
Because of this it can be easily damaged, causing serious consequences for our health, so we need to take care of it.
The latest research shows we have been neglecting our microbiomes badly. Comparing the range of microbe species in our modern guts to hunter-gatherer tribes in Africa show westernised humans have lost about 40 per cent of our species, many extinct for ever.
Yet does this really matter? Most people think of microbes as synonymous with nasty infections such as salmonella but in fact the vast majority of our microbes are likely to be beneficial to us and even the potentially nasty ones live inside most of us quite happily.
It turns out from research studies such as the British Gut Project that the greater the number of different species we have the more we are protected against common diseases and infections.
Virtually every study comparing sick and healthy people shows a difference in gut diversity. Yet over the past 30 to 40 years our microbe diversity has been dropping as we are experiencing an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and allergies that can’t be explained by calories and exercise.
Why have our microbes been decimated? There are myriad reasons. Antibiotic abuse is a major factor. Fewer than one in 200 of us have managed to avoid being given antibiotics. The average 18-year-old has had more than 16 courses and babies get about one per year.
Most antibiotics are unnecessary and have been given out like sweets as they were not thought to have side effects. Some GPs give them to nine out of 10 patients with colds.
Each course is like a nuclear bomb distorting the microbial balance and overuse of antibiotics has now been shown to increase risk of obesity and allergies as well because of this disruption to our microbes.
The other big factor is the modern
food we eat. Unlike our ancestors, despite greater choice and supermarkets, we eat a far narrower range of foods. We also don’t get enough fibre in our diets so cannot sustain the many different species we should provide for.
Processed or junk foods usually contain less than six food ingredients and many added chemicals. We are told these are safe but it turns out that emulsifiers and even artificial sweeteners mess up our gut microbes, making them produce unhealthy chemicals which in turn promote obesity and diabetes.
This all sounds pretty bleak but as any gardener knows you can always improve any garden if you are motivated and are armed with the right tools.
If you treat your own gut like a precious garden you can’t go far wrong. Use the best natural fertilisers, high-fibre foods that microbes love (called prebiotics) such as Jerusalem and globe artichokes, leeks, garlic and onions as well as beans and lentils. Use a diverse range of foods that contain high levels of the natural chemicals that microbes use for energy. These include nuts and seeds, olive oil (extra virgin), fruits and berries, dark chocolate, coffee, green tea and even red wine. You should also sprinkle fresh “seeds” by regularly eating live microbes (probiotics) such as yogurt, cheese and fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi (pictured left). Some of these high-fat foods were once considered unhealthy but this was misguided advice as they in fact have positive effects on our microbiome and our wider health.
Finally, avoid pesticides and antibiotics and don’t over-wash your food, as eating the soil microbes could turn out to be healthy. Gardeners seem to be strangely protected from many diseases such as depression and getting our own gut gardens in order could be a big start in improving our health. So go and get your hands dirty.
The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat by Tim Spector published by W&N (£14.99). To order, please call The Express Bookshop on 01872 562310, send a cheque/PO payable to Express Bookshop to Express Bookshop, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ or order online at expressbookshop.com. UK delivery is free. For more information visit tim-spector.co.uk