What Is My Gut Telling Me?
I recently read an article with a statement that basically said, your diet may determine your microbiome, but it’s your microbiome that determines your fate.” What a true statement, especially regarding the relationship of your gut health to longevity.
Since 19th century mathematician Lambert Quetelet developed the formula we now call Body Mass Index (BMI) to provide a quick measure of the degree of obesity, scientist and physicians have been using this measure of obesity across the general population to allocate resources and develop policy. In recent years, the same scientific community has begun to reevaluate this primary measure of health-by-weight.
It is now stated by many in the community that the BMI is not effective in determining whole body health. One of the biggest reasons for this change in philosophy is that many now believe we should be studying the impact of bone density on the index, the way that we store fat in the body, and the presence of muscle mass compared to fat.
When it comes to how the body stores fat, there is most likely a connection to the bacterial composition of our gut microbiome. Many scientist and physicians now understand that the presence, ratio, and strength of that bacteria in the gut has a determining impact on all aspects of our health.
There are other key factors involved in our gut health, such as the health of the intestinal lining, which plays a role in regulating the population of an estimated 500–1,000 different species of gut flora.
How much fat gets built up and stored is highly dependent on how good or bad the bacteria in our gut is. This bad versus good bacteria ratio is influenced greatly by how much energy is extracted from our food. It’s also important to make the connection to nutrient rich foods versus those that are highly processed and deficient. The more deficient the food, the less energy extracted, and the greater amount of fat stored.
Lean Vs. Obese Gut
Various studies of microbiome with lean and obese guts, show a striking difference in the makeup of the microbiome. Microbe studies within obese humans show and increase in fat creation while those of lean humans show efficient weight maintenance. The obese studies showed that there were fewer species of bacteria within the microbiome as opposed to that of lean studies. The lean human studies also showed a greater presence of microbes belonging to the family of Bacteroidetes. These bacteria are highly effective at breaking down plant fibers and starches. It’s important to mention here that our bodies crave what feeds us, which continues the cycle. In this case, more plant matter fed drives a craving for more plants.
In obese people, these bacteria are less present. The result, the body does not crave plant matter, and instead craves more of the processed food that are driven by the higher levels of bad bacteria. Again, we crave what we are fed.
We Are What We Eat
Yes, we are what we eat and the cravings produced are part of a vicious cycle. There are many throughout the world who don’t have access to proper nutrition or the associated education. However, in western cultures, this is not the generally the case.
If you feed yourself foods of empty nutritional value, combined with many of the toxic processes of the day, these bad gut bacteria multiply. They then tell the brain the body needs sodium, sugars, and fats simply because that’s the normal survival instinct generated. So even if you fill your plate with a healthy dense green salad and other healthy vegetables and protein in order to do the right thing for your gut, your brain is doing its best to override your actions by driving you to the fries, sweets, and soda.
For many people, this becomes a moral dilemma. They become divided by what they know to be the right thing but desiring to consume the wrong thing. There’s nothing wrong with a fry or sweet treat now and again. The problem becomes when the gut microbiome is predominantly filled with unhealthy bacteria and driving you to consume empty, unhealthy calories.
For those of us who have kicked a bad eating habit in the past, it’s never pleasant in the beginning. However, as the oral and gut flora begin to get healthy and cravings are shifted to more healthy options, we often find that if we do try that former fried, greasy or sweet food, it’s not as pleasant as it once was.
The good news is we have the power to change the health of our gut!
