Your microbiome
refers to the assemblage of microbes (bacteria) that live in and on our
body. These living bacteria, considered ‘friendly flora’, or commensal for
the most part, outnumber our own human cells 10 to 1. We are more foreign bacteria than we are
‘human’! Up to 5 lbs. of our body weight
is made up of the living, high-functioning bacteria we carry around with us,
mostly residing in our colon or gut.
(Remember most of our bodyweight is actually comprised of water.)
We’ve
come a long way in our understanding of microbes, and what distinguishes a good
bacteria from a disease causing pathogen.
By now, from a holistic perspective you should understand that while
there is a time and place for sanitation, anti-bacterial soaps & cleaners,
and antibiotic drugs, to be optimally healthy we must learn to co-exist with
bacteria and even nurture and feed our own friendly flora that we are host to. Culturally we should not associate the word bacteria
with dirty or unsanitary. When we are
truly healthy in a holistic sense, we naturally coexist with most types of
bacteria, even the disease causing ones – they simply don’t seem to infect us
on a day to day basis. In fact our own
colonies of friendly bacteria help us ‘fight off’ the bad bacteria. It’s an amazing microbial world of checks and
balances taking place within our gut and on every surface of our body, established
initially from birth, and building onward.
Improper initial bacterial
colonization at birth and as infants due to C-section delivery (because vaginal
birth is when and where newborns receive their first implantation of bacteria
from mom), or chronic disruption of
these native flora colonies due to long term use of antibiotic drugs can skew
our health so far of course that many systemic inflammatory, and auto-immune
diseases can be set in motion, often blamed on other allergic reactions, or
lifestyle factors such as poor diet or lack of exercise. This is because, our native gut flora, also serve to regulate and balance our immune system
and prevent it from over-reacting. Over
time, our immune system gets conditioned to the friendly microbes and bacteria
living in our gut and learns not to react to them or attack them. The immune T-cells become regulated. But when a course of antibiotics disrupts our
good bacteria colonies, it can leave a void for bad pathogenic, disease causing
bacteria to take up residence or multiply.
In fact many systemic inflammatory and autoimmune
diseases are now being re-thought to be caused or linked to missing or
dysfunctional gut flora, such as type-2 diabetes, Crohn’s disease, Celiac’s
disease, colitis, even obesity and autism.
Is it possible that the recent surge in folks who claim to have a
‘gluten-sensitivity or allergy’ may actually have an imbalance or lack or
healthy bacteria residing in their gut?
This is all based on a relatively new project of research known as The Human Microbiome Project which was
commissioned in 2007 and is still ongoing now.
Not only is the research directed at learning more about how we mutually
coexist and rely on bacteria, but researchers are also genetically coding the
DNA of these bacteria, and linking them to specific human traits or diseases. These various colonies of bacteria reside all
over our body and they can only live in their designated spot and are
high-functioning and symbiotic. And
everywhere they exist they are part of a microbiome area of human real estate where
they maintain a system of checks and balances and help regulate our immune
system, and even produce a myriad of enzymes that are necessary for final
digestion and nutrient absorption.
