From a young age, we were all taught that same line: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. You attract and receive the same energy that you put out into the world, and so it is not only in your power, but it is also your responsibility to make an effort to create positive bonds with others. It’s obvious that if you treat someone with care and respect, they will want to do the same for you. So, why don’t we apply that to the ones that are closer to us than anyone could possibly be? The microscopic organisms living within us that make up our microbiome deserve and expect the same kind of principle.
How to Treat Your Microbiome Well
Our Microbiota sure play their role in this mutualistic symbiotic relationship. As mentioned before, according to “Defining the Human Microbiome”, there are several microbiota within our intestinal tract that aid in multiple ways, including assisting in digestion and producing beneficial substances, such as vitamin K, for the body. Thus, VeryWellFit emphasizes that a “healthy gut is critical to overall health”, and one way for us to play our part in this mutualistic relationship is by eating foods that nurture our gut bacteria. The Microbiome Diet, developed by Dr. Raphael Kellman of the Kellman Center for Integrative and Functional Medicine, targets this idea by using a whole-food three-phase program that focuses on “microbiome-friendly foods” such as fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and a large amount of prebiotic and probiotic foods. It first starts out with an elimination diet to restore gut health, as those who have been eating non-microbiome-friendly foods for a long time are seen to have imbalanced microbiomes, which actually causes people to crave sugar and unhealthy fatty foods. This phase is called The Four R’s, which are remove (all foods, chemicals, and toxins that may contribute to an unbalanced microbiome), repair (by eating large portions of plant foods and supplements to heal the gut), replace (stomach acid and digestive enzymes with higher-quality substances such as herbs and supplements), and reinoculate (the gut with beneficial bacteria by eating foods with high probiotic and prebiotic content). Phase two of the program is called the The Metabolic Boost, and it is a 28-day phase that builds off the assumption that the first 21st days of phase one helped your gut grow stronger, so dairy, free-range eggs, legumes, and gluten-free gains can be added back to your daily diet now. Starchy fruits and vegetables are also okay. There are still dietary restrictions, but it is only for 90% of the time. Finally, you go into phase three, which is called The Lifetime Tune-Up. At this stage, it is expected that your gut is fully healed, and thus more foods can be added back into your diet. However, it is encouraged that dieters maintain this way of eating for life in order to promote long term gut health.
How to Make Your Microbiome Call it Quits
The Microbiome Diet is a good example of how we can fulfill our role as encouraging a mutualistic relationship with our gut bacteria. However, on top of being proactive, we also have to take a step back and reflect on things that we aren’t as aware of, that might be hurting the relationship. In this case, antibiotics are an example of how the close connection we have with our microbiome can also harm it. Antibiotics are exactly as they sound, they “oppose life”, and were made to attack bad bacteria that invade our immune systems. However, antibiotics have been known to not only act on bacteria that cause infections, but also the resident, good microbiota. A common example actually, is how taking antibiotics for a UTI often leads to a yeast infection right after (literally the worst combination). Although the antibiotics kill off the bacteria causing the UTI, it also kills a lot of the good bacteria that maintain the pH balance within the vagina. As a result, this leads to yeast overgrowth. Although the UTI/yeast infection combo situation does not sound pleasant, it is at least a typically manageable discomfort (different medication is given to cure the yeast infection). In some cases though, it may not be as simple. In fact, according to Nature Research, studies have observed that the gut microbiome can be “permanently perturbed even by short-term or low-dose antibiotic treatment”, a change that could even lead to long-term effects on health, such as the development of inflammatory bowel disease. There have also been observations that “children that are exposed to antibiotics in their first year of life have a slightly increased risk of developing asthma”, and that risk increases if the number of antibiotic courses is higher.
Reflection
For such small beings, our microbiota really have a huge impact on our overall health. Personally, I’ve never been the type to shy away from modern medicine, and have always been reliant and trustworthy towards anything my doctor suggested. However, I did eventually grow to be wary of antibiotics. Not in the sense of “they’re actually harmful”, but rather after being educated on the topic, I’ve been careful not to promote antibiotic resistance. Now on top of that, I can add “protecting my microbiome” as a reason to take it easy on reaching for medicine so frequently. The other way to protect our microbiomes that was addressed in this blog does not seem like something I could personally complete 100%. I’ve always had the mentality of eating whatever I wanted (why waste your life taking away amazing food experiences) but just working out even harder to compensate. However realistically speaking, to reach the healthiest potential the fastest, diet is crucial. Also realistically speaking, it’s easier said than done to “work out 10x harder”, consistently too, when our lives are getting busier and busier each year. It’s only recently that I’ve been reconsidering the idea of completely not watching my diet. I’m still sure that I would never be able to commit 100% to the limitations to any diet (including the microbiome diet), making an effort to add or increase the healthier options isn’t as bad as having to completely change the way I was eating before. Maybe I’m destined to have just as many unhealthy microbiota as I do healthy ones, and we’ll just have to see which side wins in the end.
