Balancing your gut bacteria
A checklist of common risk factors
Bacteria are our friends, not our foe, says American gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan in her 2016 book The Microbiome Solution.
“In medical school, I was taught how to eradicate people’s germs. A quartercentury later, I’m teaching my patients how to restore theirs.”
When gut bacteria get out of balance – a state known as “dysbiosis” – a number of conditions can ensue, she writes, among them acne, allergies, bad breath and gum disease, bloating, yeast infections, fatigue, poor digestion and unexplained diarrhoea.
She says answering yes to even one of the questions from this checklist can indicate you’re at risk of dysbiosis:
Have you taken antibiotics more than four times per year or for longer than two weeks at a time?
Have you been on contraceptive pills or hormone replacement therapy in the past five years?
Have you taken corticosteroids such as prednisone or cortisone for longer than two weeks at a time?
Have you been on acid-suppressive therapy with proton pump inhibitors or histamine blockers for more than a month at a time?
Do you regularly take ibuprofen, aspirin or other NSAIDS?
When you were growing up, were you a picky eater who rarely ate green vegetables?
Have you consumed large amounts of sugar and starchy foods?
Do you drink more than 10 alcoholic drinks a week? Do you drink one or more soft drinks or diet
soft drinks daily?