We’re here to talk all things gut microbiome, including what it is, why it’s important & how you can help keep your gut feeling good
Did you know around 70% of our immune cells live in the gut? In fact, the gut has over 100 trillion microbial cells (known as microbes) all working together to help keep us healthy. Read on to find out how you can help keep your gut microbiome healthy, happy and varied.
What is the gut microbiome?
Put simply, the microbiome is a collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microscopic things (also known as microbes) that live in our bodies. Everybody has their own unique combination of these, and it’s constantly changing and responding to our lifestyle and environment.
These microbes mainly live in the intestines. The gut microbiome (also known as gut flora) is made up of at least 1,000 species of bacteria that all have important roles to play when it comes to supporting our short and long term health.
How does the gut microbiome affect the body?
The gut microbiome can support things like digestion, making vitamins, hormones and chemical messengers and regulating our immune system. It also communicates with organs including the brain, heart and liver.
As well as helping you digest food and supporting your immune system, there’s also evidence to suggest gut microbiome can help support your brain health too.
How does the microbiome affect the gut?
The gut microbiome is a combination of beneficial and potentially harmful (or ‘good’ and ‘bad’) bacteria. When these are balanced they can live together without a problem. However, too many ‘bad’ bacteria (often referred to as dysbiosis) can lead to ill health and may even indirectly contribute to weight gain, although more research is needed.
An imbalance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ microbes may also be a factor in diseases like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), causing bloating, cramps and abdominal discomfort.
On the flip side of this, certain ‘good’ bacteria can help support gut health, but overall it’s a good idea to help make sure there’s a balance and variety of different types of bacteria in your gut.
We’ll talk you through why this is so important, along with the best ways to help look after the bacteria in your gut, later on (spoiler alert: eating a varied, balanced diet is key!).
Gut microbiome & mental health
It’s known that the gut has direct links to the brain as there’s a two-way connection between your gut and brain via a large nerve called the vagus nerve. Research on the role of this so-called “gut-brain axis”, particularly how the microbiome is involved in our mental health, is a relatively new and hot topic.
The gut and brain communicate in several other ways, including via chemical messengers, our gut hormones and neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry messages in the brain). Many of these are made in the gut, including serotonin, which helps regulate sleep and mood.
When we eat fibre, our gut microbiome breaks it down and makes something called short-chain fatty acids. These are also believed to play a role in mental health because they can travel from the stomach to the brain.
How to support gut microbiome
Our microbiome is constantly changing and reacting to our environment and diet. This means that healthy diet and lifestyle choices are key if you want to support your gut microbiome and good health.
Research suggests that diet is an important way to boost the diversity of our gut microbiome and this is the goal for good health. So how do you make sure your gut is playing host to a diverse range of microbes.
You can help support gut microbiome diversity by:
• Eating a high-fibre diet from a wide range of plant-based foods
• Including fermented foods like yoghurt and kefir in your diet
• Avoiding heavily processed foods and focusing on whole and natural foods instead
• Enjoying prebiotic foods including certain fruits like apricots and dried figs, vegetables such as artichokes and fennel, legumes like chickpeas, wholegrains and nuts to provide food to feed beneficial gut microbes
• Taking a daily probiotic supplement to help balance the gut with selected live, healthy microbes
Interestingly, there’s also evidence to suggest that breastfeeding for at least six months can have a positive impact on the development of the gut microbiome in babies.
Eating your way to a better microbiome
As well as the tips above, there’s also evidence that including more plant-based foods in your diet (experts recomment 30 or more a week) is great for the diversity of your gut microbiome. ‘Plant-based’ means anything that’s been grown, and foods typically fall into the following categories:
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Wholegrains
• Legumes (beans and pulses)
• Nuts and seeds
• Herbs and spices
Can gut microbiome be restored?
Lifestyle, diet and things like taking antibiotics can all affect your gut microbiome. The good news is, there are things you can do to help restore your microbiome. These include:
• Eating a varied, balanced diet as described above
• Making positive lifestyle choices such as keeping as healthy and active as possible
• Getting enough sleep – take a look at our top tips for drifting off
Looking for more ways to help maintain a healthy gut? Make sure your gut feeling’s a good one with these top lifestyle tips on keeping your gut healthy, and take a look at our range of gut health products.
