by Daniel Brouse
help@membrane.com
Good Gut Bacteria
“Gut bacteria play several important roles in your health, such as communicating with your immune system and producing certain vitamins. Your gut bacteria can also affect how different foods are digested and produce chemicals….” (Why the Gut Microbiome Is Crucial for Your Health)
Most people start fermenting good gut bacteria from their mother’s breast milk. There are around 40 trillion bacterial cells in your body. They come from a wide variety of sources. One type can only be found in the milk or meat of cud chewing bovine. If your gut bacteria are destroyed, it is very difficult to re-establish. Eating and/or drinking probiotics will not in-and-of-itself re-establish good gut bacteria. COVID (and other conditions) destroys good gut bacteria resulting in a compromised immune system. The best way to re-establish your good gut bacteria is to consume breast milk for at least 6 months. Alternatively, you need to get all the right ingredients for fermentation including the proper 300 to 500 bacterial types, chemicals for the reaction, and lots of fiber.
Your gut bacteria changes throughout the day. The makeup of the bacteria cultures varies depending on what your body is doing. Eating, exercising, and sleeping will alter the good gut bacteria needed for the job. Changing your sleep schedule, or other changes to lifestyle, may result in noticeable changes in your digestion (runny stool to constipation.) Other reasons you may notice changes in your good gut bacteria activity include breaking down toxic food compounds or providing protection from pathogenic organisms (that enter the body through drinking or eating contaminated water or food.)
Vitamins
There is a symbiotic relationship between good gut bacteria and vitamins. “It has been known for decades that intestinal bacteria make important contributions to human metabolism and physiology. Perhaps the example best known to clinicians is the microbial synthesis of the essential nutrient vitamin B12 — the enzymes required for B12 synthesis are possessed by bacteria but not by plants or animals.” (Microbial production of vitamin B12)
Several bacterial genera that are common in the distal intestine (e.g., Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, and Enterococcus) are known to synthesize vitamins. Thiamine, folate, biotin, riboflavin, and panthothenic acid are water-soluble vitamins that are plentiful in the diet, but that are also synthesized by gut bacteria. Likewise, it has been estimated that up to half of the daily Vitamin K requirement is provided by gut bacteria. Interestingly, the molecular structure of bacterially synthesized vitamins is not always identical to the dietary forms of the vitamins. In fact, several specialized epithelial transporters have been recognized to participate specifically in the absorption of vitamins derived from gut bacteria. (Contributions of Intestinal Bacteria to Nutrition and Metabolism in the Critically Ill)
Vitamin D and its nuclear receptor (VDR) regulate intestinal barrier integrity, and control innate and adaptive immunity in the gut. (Vitamin D and the Host-Gut Microbiome)
Sunlight and the photosynthesis of vitamin D also play an important and symbiotic role in maintaining good gut health.
Fiber
Soluble fiber benefits your digestion, gut bacteria, and blood sugar levels.
New knowledge about the gut microbiota and its interaction with the host’s metabolic regulation has emerged during the last few decades. Several factors may affect the composition of the gut microbiota, including dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is not hydrolyzed by human digestive enzymes, but it is acted upon by gut microbes, and metabolites like short-chain fatty acids are produced. The short-chain fatty acids may be absorbed into the circulation and affect metabolic regulation in the host or be a substrate for other microbes. (Dietary Fiber, Gut Microbiota, and Metabolic Regulation)
The best sources of dietary fiber are: beans, whole grains, brown rice, popcorn, nuts, baked potato with skin, berries, and bran cereal. Juicing and/or blending destroys most of the fiber.
A study “Cancer Prevention with Resistant Starch” (conducted over the last 30 years) shows that resistant starch reduces your risk of cancer. Good sources of resistant starch include rice or potatoes that have been cooked and cooled, as well as, whole grains such as barley and oats.
The resistant starches produce good bacteria that reduces a type of acid that promotes changes to your DNA. The changes to your DNA increase the risk of many types of cancer. The discovery may also explain in part why COVID increases your risk of cancer. COVID is known to destroy good gut bacteria.