Gut
bugs

March 1, 2024 --

I have blogged about how the kidneys run the show. But I've changed my mind. Now I think it's the gut. And its all-important microbiome:

Over the last 20 years, research has linked problems in the gut microbiome to a wide variety of conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic ones like diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, asthma, and even autism. [Medscape]
What's a microbiome? Wikipedia calls it a "community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat." In this case, the habitat is your gut. There are, technically speaking, zillions of bacteria living in there, each demanding its own type of nutrients and thriving or starving depending on what you eat. They then poop out body-regulating chemicals. So you want to feed the good ones.

Wikipedia goes on, "The mammalian gut microbiome has emerged as a key regulator of host physiology." In other words, eating bad stuff grows bad bugs that poop out chemicals that regulate your body toward disease states, especially chronic conditions: "...dysregulation of the gut flora has been correlated with a host of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions."

So it's not quite accurate to say that the gut regulates our bodies; it's the bugs that live in it that do this. Eat right -- mainly plant-based foods and lots of fiber -- and you'll feed the beneficial bugs and stay healthy.

Go nutrition-savvy clinicians! Go forces for change in the American diet!

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