A Healthy
Microbiome Keeps You Lean.
Richard H.
Bennett Ph.D., Applied Life Sciences LLC
The title of
this blog may incite some earnest skepticism as the benefits of a healthy
microbiome are aggressively promoted for just about all body systems.
However, rest assured that HATS
(human-adapted targeted synbiotics) microbes do have a considerable role in
whole-body health and wellness. Are
you concerned about health threats today from the long-term consumption of
simple sugars and processed fats? We
should be concerned, as obesity and metabolic syndrome are pandemic. It is here the gut microbiome plays a huge
role, and interventions are within our grasp.
The statistics
on obesity and diabetes blaze
the headlines regularly. Walkthrough a
public place and try to ignore what is happening. We are getting huge by overfeeding the wrong
microbes in our gut. Of course, it is not that simple, yet excessive
calories from sugars and fats have pervasive effects on the body. One of the more dire consequences is
Metabolic Syndrome
and Diabetes. It is a considerable risk
factor for the chronic diseases that ravage people and society. It is one reason that the United States has the
highest per capita medical costs of all developed nations (2).
A 2012
scientific review entitled, Colonic flora, probiotics, obesity and diabetes,
Dr. Paul Marik (1) provides
some powerful insights into the microflora and its role in lean and not so lean
people. From previous blog postings, we note that the gut is populated with ten
trillion microbes. Ninety percent of
these are of the Bacteroides and Firmicutes group or phyla. It is these two groups that our diet and other
factors profoundly influence their populations. Diet affects the type of bacteria in
the gut and their metabolic functions.
Some messengers
or metabolites of these functions, in turn, influence the metabolism toward weight
gain from fat creation. Other messengers
promote leaner body mass through unique metabolic pathways.
We evolved and
have adaptations for periods of food scarcity.
Today we consume an abundance of inexpensive energy-dense foods. These "junk" foods are packed with
sweet, addictive simple
sugars and fats. At the same
time, our diets are
virtually devoid of both soluble and insoluble fiber. As such, the diet promotes the Firmicutes and drive their
metabolism that promotes the caloric energy to fat storage. The third whammy is the microbial promotion
of host cell genes that enhance fatty acid absorption, fat creation
(lipogenesis), and storage. Obese people
have far more Firmicutes and few Bacteroides.
After a long period of fat and carbohydrate-restricted diets, the ratio
resembles
that of lean people. The sugar
fermenting Firmicutes decreased quite significantly.
Whole foods
high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, and soluble fiber, some of which have
prebiotic functions, have the opposite effect on microbes and the utilization
of dietary calories. In particular, the Bifidobacteria were far more numerous in
people with high fiber diets. Recall, the Bifidobacteria inoculate neonates
during standard vaginal delivery. These
bacteria thrive on the prebiotic carbohydrates naturally occurring in colostrum
and milk. Overweight mothers have fewer
Bifidobacteria to provide to the newborn, and just maybe one reason some
infants tend to mature into heavy adolescents.
The gut and
its microbes play a huge role in the creation of inflammatory mediators and
whole-body inflammation syndromes.
Imbalance of the microbiome or dysbiosis promotes gram-negative bacteria
growth. These bacteria produce
endotoxins. It is endotoxins that can
cause sepsis and death during severe infections. People with low-level endotoxemia risk
systemic and liver inflammation. The
metabolites of Bifidobacteria, specific short-chain fatty acids improve the
intestinal barrier and reduce endotoxin absorption. A high fiber diet combined with HATS
Bifidobacteria may be our best ally combating Metabolic Syndrome.
Figure 1. How
high sugar low fiber diet alters microbes and health
The diet
promotes endotoxin producing bacteria and causes leaky gut allowing the toxin
to be absorbed and target all organs in the body.
Synbiotics
such as Preobiotic contain HATS microbes with known and documented
metabolic and anti-inflammatory actions.
When combined with low glycemic carbohydrates (carbohydrates that do not
significantly raise blood sugar) and a lower-fat diet has the distinct
potential to help prevent and reverse the ill effects of the Western Diet.
This
recommendation is useful and of minimal cost, yet the medical community is reticent
to recommend it. Absent an FDA approved
Synbiotic drug, doctors are insecure about this simple regimen, all the while prescribing
expensive “statins” and other drugs approved to treat the signs of metabolic
syndrome. These drugs
come with a myriad of documented adverse side effects (3)
A healthy
microbiome diet costs less than the junk food diet and well researched
synbiotic cost less than a Statin or other
References
(1)
Marik,
P. E., 2012, Colonic flora, probiotics, obesity, and diabetes. Frontiers in
Endocrinology 3: article 87
