August 26, 2021 • 29 mins
16. In this episode I dive deep into the topic of gut health and the gut microbiome. This is a fascinating overview of the interaction of gut bacteria and the development of disease. I cover how the balance of gut bacteria can impact the immune system and ways to keep your gut healthy.
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https://brigittefactor.com/gut-microbiome-dysbiosis-and-the-gut-immune-connection/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brigitte Factor (00:13):
Hello, and welcome to the hungry for truth
podcast. I'm your host, BrigitteFactor with truth seeker,
researcher, scientists,nutritionist, teacher in truth
teller, and awakening is coming.
Get ready for it.
(00:47):
Welcome back to another greatepisode of the hungry for truth
podcast. Last episode, we talkedall about digestion, and how
when digestion starts to gowrong, what can happen with in
the case of GERD and reflux, Ishared a story of one of my
children dealing with infantreflux. And then I also shared
(01:10):
about different factors that cancontribute to that, and how you
can go about healing andrecovering from poor digestion.
Now, in today's episode, I'mgoing to talk more about gut
health. So we're going to godown the tube a little more, and
talk about gut health and howthat is connected to immune
(01:34):
health. So we're going to talkabout gut immune connection. And
gut health is my absolutefavorite topic to talk about,
because it is a central focusfor a functional nutrition
approach to healing. Becausewhat goes on in the gut affects
all other areas of the body. Sowe're going to dive into that
(01:57):
today. First, I'm going tointroduce you to this concept of
the gut microbiome. And maybeyou've heard that word before.
And, and kind of have an idea ofwhat that means. I'm going to
pull this definition from theBritish Medical Journal, and
I'll post a link to thisreference. And the article is
called The Role of The GutMicrobiota in Nutrition and
(02:20):
Health. So microbiome microbiotaget used interchangeably. But
what the microbiome refers to isthis collection of genomes of
the microorganisms in the gut.
So the microbiota is actuallythe collection of organisms in
the gut. So inside of ourdigestive tract, there are over
(02:43):
100 trillion microorganisms,most of them are bacteria, but
there's also viruses, fungi, andprotozoa. And think about that,
how we actually have morebacteria and viruses inside of
our GI tract than we do humancells in our body. Now, there's
(03:08):
some debate, some researchersnow estimating that it's more
like one to one, in terms ofnumber of cells to the amount of
microorganisms, and otherresearch points to an estimate
of three to one. But really tothink about, we have as much or
more microorganisms in our bodythan we do human cells. And when
(03:34):
you look at the genes of thesemicroorganisms, and compare that
to the human genome, the humangenome has about 23,000 genes,
whereas our microbiome encodesover 3 million genes, producing
1000s of metabolites. And thesemetabolites provide a variety of
(03:57):
different functions to the humanhost, which is us. And these
microorganisms, and theirmetabolites have influence over
our own genome, and theyinfluence our phenotype. Now,
I've talked about this wordbefore in one of our my very
first episodes when we'retalking about epigenetics. And
(04:20):
what this means is, phenotype isthe expression of our genes. So
these bacteria and viruses andfungus living in our system, are
interacting with our own genesand how we express disease or
health. In fact, these bugs thatlive in our gut have a direct
(04:43):
impact on our health, our immunehealth, our metabolic health,
our metabolism, how we processedfood, how our body responds to
that food. For instance, we haveresearch that was published in
Nature, talking about how peopleeating the exact same food, but
(05:05):
with different types of gutbacteria will have different
blood sugar responses to thatsame food, just because they
have different gut bacteria intheir system and the way it
interacts with how our bodymetabolizes food. And to me
that's really crazy, that theycan have that kind of impact in
(05:27):
creating a completely differentblood sugar response in people
because of how they interactwith our system.
And they can also affect ourbrain health, there's this gut
brain connection. And again,this is that's another area I
really love to talk about. Butreally, today, I want to focus
(05:52):
on the gut immune connection.
But before I talk about that, Ireally want to explain a little
bit more about the environmentof our intestinal tract, and why
it's so important, and also whyit's really delicate as well. So
the lining of our GI tract isthe same tissue as our skin,
(06:13):
it's made of epithelial tissue.
And it's actually only one layerthick, where our skin is several
layers thick. But in our GItract, that one layer gets
folded upon itself many, manytimes. And that creates a
thickness to it, because of allof these folds, and these folds
(06:37):
are called villi and microvilli.
And these folds, especially inour small intestine, are where
nutrients are being absorbed.
And the bacteria live in thisinterface between the inside of
(06:57):
our GI tract and the inside ofour body. So when we eat
something and we chew it and itgoes into down our esophagus
into our stomach, and then makesits way into the small
intestine, that is stilltechnically outside of our body,
even though we've swallowed it,it's got to be broken down. And
those nutrients have to beabsorbed into the bloodstream so
(07:21):
that they can be sent to wherethey need to be used by the
body. And so at this verycritical interface between the
outside world and what weswallow, and inside our body in
the bloodstream, we have thislining of our GI tract. And on
top of this lining, we have alayer of our gut microbiota. And
(07:45):
in this gut microbiota isinteracting with the layer of
epithelial cells or our GI tractand interacting with this web
that we have there. So not onlydo we have our gut lining the
cells of our gut lining, but wealso have cells from our immune
system. They're monitoring whatis coming through. And these
(08:10):
immune cells act like securityguard, so they can determine
whether what's passing throughas a nutrient or vitamin and
mineral, or protein arenutrients that our body needs,
or whether what's passingthrough is something that our
body doesn't need, like a pieceof bacteria, or a virus, or some
partially digested food maybe.
And when that immune cell sensesthat something is passing
(08:38):
through, that's not supposed tobe there, an alarm is sounded,
the immune system responds. Andhow does the immune system to
respond to an invader in thebody? It does so by producing
inflammation. That is the signalthat says we have an invader,
and that's signal, thatinflammation or signal that is
(08:59):
produced is to alert the gutimmune army, or the other immune
cells to come in and take careof this invader that is not
supposed to be there. And sothat is how that initial gut
immune connection comes intoplay is that at this interface,
(09:19):
where we're breaking down ourfood and absorbing the nutrients
from our food, we have thebacteria that are playing a role
in that. And we also have theseimmune cells that are weaved or
woven into the lining of thegastrointestinal tract,
(09:40):
monitoring what's going on.
Also, at this very criticalinterface, we have nerve cells,
we have cells from our nervoussystem, that are also monitoring
what's going on because this ishow our gut communicate. With
the brain, because ultimatelyour brain is what controlling
(10:05):
the functions of our body. Andthe way it does that is it has
to send signals back and forthbetween these different areas to
receive information and sendinformation back. And it does
that through our nerves. And sowe have nerves, that innervate,
this whole complex web oftissue. And there is a direct
(10:27):
connection between the gut andthe brain as well.
Now, let's go back to the gutimmune connection, because
that's where I want to, again,talk more about today. I'm going
to share with you from anotherarticle, titled Interaction
Between Microbiota and Immunityin Health and Disease. And this
(10:49):
was published in Cell Research.
And I'll post a link in the shownotes for those that really want
to get nerdy and look at this.
But in the introduction here, itsays the microbiome plays
critical roles in the trainingand development of major
components of the hosts innateand adaptive immune system. So
(11:10):
the bugs in our gut have adirect impact in how our immune
system responds to the invadersof the body, you know, we can
think about this in context ofif we swallow something we're
not supposed to, or if wedevelop leaky gut, that's where
we start to get leaks betweenthe cells of the intestinal
(11:32):
lining and things start to comethrough that aren't supposed to
like pieces of bacteria. Themicrobiome has a direct impact
on how our immune systemresponds to that and how much
inflammation is produced. Themicrobiome also play a role and
how well our gut is woventogether. So it plays a role in
(11:56):
the integrity of that lining,how well do our cells or
epithelial cells in the gutstick together and not become
leaky is another way to thinkabout that, and the bacteria are
influencing that level ofleakiness. Our gut microbiome
(12:18):
also has an impact in how ourimmune system responds over all
as well. So there's thiscommunication happening between
the immune system and the gutmicrobiome. And whenever the
there are disturbances orimbalances in the gut
microbiome, we can start to haveimmune dysregulation, so that
(12:44):
means we start or our immunesystem doesn't respond as well
as it should, or maybe even overreacts to what is there. And
this overreaction of the immunesystem can as that it starts to
develop and get out of control,that is ultimately what can lead
(13:04):
to auto immunity or anautoimmune response. But then we
can also have general systemicinflammation develop from that.
So as the immune cells in thegut are becoming inflamed, or
signaling that inflammation tohappen, that's happening, right,
(13:25):
as those nutrients are beingabsorbed into the bloodstream.
Well, that inflammation is nowbeing circulated through the
bloodstream. So we have, as wehave this inflammation happening
inside of the gut because of thedisturbances in the microbiome,
or because leaky gut isdeveloping, that inflammation is
now circulating throughout thebody. And we have this low level
(13:49):
of chronic systemicinflammation, and that chronic
systemic inflammation is one ofthe major drivers of chronic
disease. So a chronic diseasethat we can think about in
context of this happening isinflammatory bowel disease. And
(14:09):
that makes sense in point, youknow, when we are inflaming the
lining of the gut, we'reinflaming the bowels, and that
can lead to inflammatory boweldisease. But this gut
inflammation due to disturbancesin the gut microbiome or
dysbiosis, has also beenassociated with, like I
mentioned before autoimmunedisease development. An example
(14:32):
of that is rheumatoid arthritis.
It's also been associated withcardiometabolic disease or heart
disease, and liver disease, aswell. And it's also been
associated with cancerdevelopment. So there's a
variety of interactions orinfluences that the gut
(14:52):
microbiome can have on ourdevelopment of different
diseases and also how healthy weare, overall. This interaction
can extend to other areas of thebody there, this this thing
called the guts skin connection.
So this inflammation can show upin skin issues, there's
(15:14):
something called the gut lungconnection. So this interaction
can show up in susceptibility torespiratory viruses. This
interaction can show up in ourmetabolism and what also what is
called our weight setpoint. Sothere's a direct link between
(15:35):
our gut microbiome and ourweight and the development of
obesity. The other thing thatcan happen as this gut
inflammation comes into play, isthat it can reach the brain. And
when this inflammation reachesthe brain, the brain's immune
system responds and createsbrain inflammation. And so
(16:00):
dysbiosis, and these differenttypes of gut microbiome
disturbances have been linked tothe development of different
neurological conditions, andeven mental health conditions.
So how do these bacteria get into our gut? How do these
disturbances or imbalanceshappen? Or what is called
(16:24):
dysbiosis, which just is animbalance of the bacteria in our
gut that lead to all of this?
Well, we think that humans gettheir first dose of bacteria,
their first inoculation as theypass through the birth canal,
and you get your first dose ofthat gut bacteria from your
(16:47):
mother. So that is a keyquestion that I often ask my
clients is, how were you born?
And then did you breastfeed?
Because breastfeeding hasnurtures that gut microbiome. It
has the right kind of fibers andnutrients in the breast milk
(17:08):
that help nurture that. So weget this first dose of our gut
bacteria from mom, if we're bornvaginally. If we're born via
c-section, we get the first doseof bacteria from whatever we
come into contact and thathospital room, whether it's the
nurse or the doctor, the bathingtable, or whatever it is that
(17:31):
you're touching and getting intoyour mouth. And eventually you
make your way to mom. But thatsets the stage for the balance
of bacteria in our gut. And wehave different types of
bacteria, some that are supposedto be there some that are
actually providing a benefit tous. And then some that are just
(17:53):
hanging out in the background.
And if they're allowed to getout of control, they can cause
problems. And so we call theseopportunistic bacteria once that
are there, they're usually not abig deal until things start to
go awry. And they start to causeproblems. And when you know poor
(18:15):
digestion or inflammation startsto happen, it creates this
environment, like I talked aboutlast time, that allows them to
overgrow. And so when they startto overgrow, they start to
overtake some of the morebeneficial bacteria in the gut.
And that leads to this dysbiosiswhere we have more of the ones
(18:37):
causing problems and less of theones that are providing benefit.
And I'm trying to stay away fromthe word good and bad, because
it's not a moral thing here isjust what happens. So one of the
biggest drivers to thisdysbiosis is the use of
antibiotics, because antibioticswipe out all bacteria. But when
(18:57):
you wipe out all the bacteria,you've created space for things
to come in that maybe shouldn'tbe there. And so how often do
you take antibiotics or have youhad to take antibiotics now it's
not that you shouldn't havetaken them because if you have
enough infection, you need tohave that addressed. But also,
(19:18):
being mindful that there youhave to come in and restore that
balance again, so that you canhave that healthy relationship
with your gut microbiome.
Another big driver of gutdysbiosis is a poor diet or a
Standard American Diet or dietfull of processed foods. Because
the not so good for us bacteria,love to eat processed food, they
(19:45):
love to feed off sugar andstarches. But our healthy and
beneficial bacteria love to eatfiber. That's what they thrive
on. That's what they metabolizeand that's what produces these
other nutrients that nourish ourintestinal lining. And so having
a diet high in fiber and low inprocessed foods is going to be
(20:06):
very critical in the balance ofbacteria in your gut, as well as
its impact on your immunesystem. And so there are studies
showing that a low fiber dietcan cause permanent changes to
your gut microbiome in such away that it's not reversible.
And that's pretty worrisome,because most of Americans are
(20:28):
eating a very low fiber standardAmerican diet, I think the
estimate is 60% of the standardAmerican diet is ultra-processed
food. And most of us aren'tgetting enough of that fiber,
those fruits and vegetables, andsources of fiber that our gut
bacteria really like to thriveon. Another contributor to this
(20:49):
imbalance or dysbiosis, isgetting an infection, you know,
getting a stomach flu, which isa virus that can happen or
getting some type of parasite,or other type of bacterial
infection that takes hold in thegut that shouldn't be there,
those types of infections canlead to more inflammation, which
(21:12):
leads to more dysbiosis andcreates this cycle that can
happen until they're effectivelyaddressed. And another
contributor to dysbiosis isstress. Now, I touched on the
gut-brain connection. Andthere's this bi-directional
(21:32):
communication that happensbetween the gut and the brain.
So the brain is communicatingwith the gut, and the gut is
communicating with the brain.
And whenever we're under stress,our brain produces stress
chemicals or stress signals thatare sensed by the gut, and the
(21:54):
gut bacteria. And that stressalone can cause dysbiosis, and
gut inflammation as well. So wehave all of these factors that
can contribute to this dysbiosisand gut inflammation that can in
turn affect our immune function.
So now that I've mentioned allof this, and you starting to get
(22:17):
a feel of how important thebalance of bacteria, the types
of bacteria in your gut are. AndI've talked about how this
imbalance can start to happen.
You may be wondering, Well, howdo we know if we have dysbiosis?
Well, the first and most obvioussymptom you think of is gut
symptoms like gas and bloating,stomach pain, constipation,
(22:39):
diarrhea, those kinds of changesin our digestion, that can be a
clue that we have some imbalancehappening. But there are also
other symptoms that can show upeven in the absence of those GI
types of symptoms, things likeheadaches, things like joint
(23:01):
pain, inflammation that'sshowing up in other areas of the
body, could be potentiallyrelated to this gut dysbiosis
that may not be showing up asdirect GI symptoms. So when I
have a client that comes to me,that's dealing with some type of
problem, that's usually why theycome to me is they have a health
(23:23):
problem that they're wanting toget help with or get nutritional
therapy for. And the number onetool that I use to help them is
a stool test, a test to seewhat's actually happening inside
the gut. And the test I like touse is called the GI Map. And
(23:47):
this particular test is a DNAbased test, not a culture test,
like where they take samples,and they try to culture the
bacteria and grow it and thenlook at it through a microscope
and see what's there. This is aDNA based test, where they're
testing for the DNA of thedifferent types of bacteria that
(24:09):
are in present in the gut. And Ireally like this test because it
is so comprehensive and lookingat all of the different strains
of bacteria, or most of whatwe're aware of. I won't say all
because there's still a lotwe're learning. And we can see
what levels these bacteria arepresent in our gut. Do we have
(24:32):
pathogenic bacteria in our gutthings like Clostridia and E.
coli that aren't supposed to bethere that are causing problems?
Or do we have not enough of thegood bacteria? in our gut? Do we
have what we call low phyla,bacteria, these firmicutes and
bacteroidetes types of strains.
(24:56):
Do we have a good balance ofthose or do we have some
opportunistic bacteria that'sstarting to overgrow, and that's
indicating some dysbiosis?
The other thing that thisparticular test will look at is
also your digestive function,how well are you producing your
digestive enzymes. How well areyou digesting and absorbing your
(25:17):
fat. It will also look atdifferent inflammation markers,
so we can see how muchinflammation is being produced.
And this gives me a really goodpicture of what's going on
inside the gut. So that we candesign a plan to bring things
back into balance, for thepurpose of supporting your body
(25:38):
and restoring health. So ifyou're curious about your gut
health, or this particular test,you can reach out to me through
my website at Brigitte Factordot com and we can set up a
conversation to discuss that.
But really getting back to thefundamentals of eating a
nutrient dense whole foods dietwith lots of fiber, supporting
(25:58):
our gut bacteria with eatingprobiotic based foods, maybe
taking a probiotic that's rightfor us. And managing our stress.
Getting good exercise, exercisealso influences the balance of
bacteria in our gut. And doingthose lifestyle things can also
(26:18):
go a long way, as well.
So I hope that you've enjoyedthis information, I know I've
shared a lot of information. AndI have a community if you would
like to discuss this more orinteract more, I have an online
community called The AuthenticTable. And you are welcome to
(26:40):
join that community. I amactually hosting a workshop,
what I call it a virtual lunchand learn, next month in
September, that you're welcometo attend it, this particular
event is going to be onnutrition for better focus and
(27:00):
attention. So this is going tobe virtual lunch and learn on
the gut brain connection and howwe can structure a diet and
nutrition to help improve ourfocus and attention and our
brain function. So if thatinterests you, and you would
like to join that event and be apart of the community, you can
(27:21):
do that by going toauthentictable.mn.co and sign up
or request to join thecommunity. And I will post that
link in the show notes. If youare listening to this on your
phone, you can join by text,just text the word AUTHENTIC to
(27:45):
this number 1-833-638-8082. Andyou'll receive some prompts to
help you get started to sign upto join the community. And
again, I'll repeat that justtext the word AUTHENTIC to the
number 1-833-638-8082. I willsay that number one more time
(28:14):
1-833-638-8082 and your textingthe word authentic and it will
take you through the setup, orgetting your account set up
inside my online community whichis free to join. I'm also
thinking about creating a littlesmall group called get nerdy
(28:35):
with me inside my community forthose of you that love to talk
about this at this level and tolook at the research and discuss
it. So I'll create that littlearea for those of you that like
to do that. And I thank you somuch for listening. I really
truly hope that you've enjoyedthis information. I love talking
(28:57):
about it and sharing about itbecause it can make a profound
difference in your health. Anduntil next time, grace and peace
to you.
Hello, and welcome to the hungry for truth
podcast. I'm your host, BrigitteFactor with truth seeker,
researcher, scientists,nutritionist, teacher in truth
teller, and awakening is coming.
Get ready for it.
(00:47):
Welcome back to another greatepisode of the hungry for truth
podcast. Last episode, we talkedall about digestion, and how
when digestion starts to gowrong, what can happen with in
the case of GERD and reflux, Ishared a story of one of my
children dealing with infantreflux. And then I also shared
(01:10):
about different factors that cancontribute to that, and how you
can go about healing andrecovering from poor digestion.
Now, in today's episode, I'mgoing to talk more about gut
health. So we're going to godown the tube a little more, and
talk about gut health and howthat is connected to immune
(01:34):
health. So we're going to talkabout gut immune connection. And
gut health is my absolutefavorite topic to talk about,
because it is a central focusfor a functional nutrition
approach to healing. Becausewhat goes on in the gut affects
all other areas of the body. Sowe're going to dive into that
(01:57):
today. First, I'm going tointroduce you to this concept of
the gut microbiome. And maybeyou've heard that word before.
And, and kind of have an idea ofwhat that means. I'm going to
pull this definition from theBritish Medical Journal, and
I'll post a link to thisreference. And the article is
called The Role of The GutMicrobiota in Nutrition and
(02:20):
Health. So microbiome microbiotaget used interchangeably. But
what the microbiome refers to isthis collection of genomes of
the microorganisms in the gut.
So the microbiota is actuallythe collection of organisms in
the gut. So inside of ourdigestive tract, there are over
(02:43):
100 trillion microorganisms,most of them are bacteria, but
there's also viruses, fungi, andprotozoa. And think about that,
how we actually have morebacteria and viruses inside of
our GI tract than we do humancells in our body. Now, there's
(03:08):
some debate, some researchersnow estimating that it's more
like one to one, in terms ofnumber of cells to the amount of
microorganisms, and otherresearch points to an estimate
of three to one. But really tothink about, we have as much or
more microorganisms in our bodythan we do human cells. And when
(03:34):
you look at the genes of thesemicroorganisms, and compare that
to the human genome, the humangenome has about 23,000 genes,
whereas our microbiome encodesover 3 million genes, producing
1000s of metabolites. And thesemetabolites provide a variety of
(03:57):
different functions to the humanhost, which is us. And these
microorganisms, and theirmetabolites have influence over
our own genome, and theyinfluence our phenotype. Now,
I've talked about this wordbefore in one of our my very
first episodes when we'retalking about epigenetics. And
(04:20):
what this means is, phenotype isthe expression of our genes. So
these bacteria and viruses andfungus living in our system, are
interacting with our own genesand how we express disease or
health. In fact, these bugs thatlive in our gut have a direct
(04:43):
impact on our health, our immunehealth, our metabolic health,
our metabolism, how we processedfood, how our body responds to
that food. For instance, we haveresearch that was published in
Nature, talking about how peopleeating the exact same food, but
(05:05):
with different types of gutbacteria will have different
blood sugar responses to thatsame food, just because they
have different gut bacteria intheir system and the way it
interacts with how our bodymetabolizes food. And to me
that's really crazy, that theycan have that kind of impact in
(05:27):
creating a completely differentblood sugar response in people
because of how they interactwith our system.
And they can also affect ourbrain health, there's this gut
brain connection. And again,this is that's another area I
really love to talk about. Butreally, today, I want to focus
(05:52):
on the gut immune connection.
But before I talk about that, Ireally want to explain a little
bit more about the environmentof our intestinal tract, and why
it's so important, and also whyit's really delicate as well. So
the lining of our GI tract isthe same tissue as our skin,
(06:13):
it's made of epithelial tissue.
And it's actually only one layerthick, where our skin is several
layers thick. But in our GItract, that one layer gets
folded upon itself many, manytimes. And that creates a
thickness to it, because of allof these folds, and these folds
(06:37):
are called villi and microvilli.
And these folds, especially inour small intestine, are where
nutrients are being absorbed.
And the bacteria live in thisinterface between the inside of
(06:57):
our GI tract and the inside ofour body. So when we eat
something and we chew it and itgoes into down our esophagus
into our stomach, and then makesits way into the small
intestine, that is stilltechnically outside of our body,
even though we've swallowed it,it's got to be broken down. And
those nutrients have to beabsorbed into the bloodstream so
(07:21):
that they can be sent to wherethey need to be used by the
body. And so at this verycritical interface between the
outside world and what weswallow, and inside our body in
the bloodstream, we have thislining of our GI tract. And on
top of this lining, we have alayer of our gut microbiota. And
(07:45):
in this gut microbiota isinteracting with the layer of
epithelial cells or our GI tractand interacting with this web
that we have there. So not onlydo we have our gut lining the
cells of our gut lining, but wealso have cells from our immune
system. They're monitoring whatis coming through. And these
(08:10):
immune cells act like securityguard, so they can determine
whether what's passing throughas a nutrient or vitamin and
mineral, or protein arenutrients that our body needs,
or whether what's passingthrough is something that our
body doesn't need, like a pieceof bacteria, or a virus, or some
partially digested food maybe.
And when that immune cell sensesthat something is passing
(08:38):
through, that's not supposed tobe there, an alarm is sounded,
the immune system responds. Andhow does the immune system to
respond to an invader in thebody? It does so by producing
inflammation. That is the signalthat says we have an invader,
and that's signal, thatinflammation or signal that is
(08:59):
produced is to alert the gutimmune army, or the other immune
cells to come in and take careof this invader that is not
supposed to be there. And sothat is how that initial gut
immune connection comes intoplay is that at this interface,
(09:19):
where we're breaking down ourfood and absorbing the nutrients
from our food, we have thebacteria that are playing a role
in that. And we also have theseimmune cells that are weaved or
woven into the lining of thegastrointestinal tract,
(09:40):
monitoring what's going on.
Also, at this very criticalinterface, we have nerve cells,
we have cells from our nervoussystem, that are also monitoring
what's going on because this ishow our gut communicate. With
the brain, because ultimatelyour brain is what controlling
(10:05):
the functions of our body. Andthe way it does that is it has
to send signals back and forthbetween these different areas to
receive information and sendinformation back. And it does
that through our nerves. And sowe have nerves, that innervate,
this whole complex web oftissue. And there is a direct
(10:27):
connection between the gut andthe brain as well.
Now, let's go back to the gutimmune connection, because
that's where I want to, again,talk more about today. I'm going
to share with you from anotherarticle, titled Interaction
Between Microbiota and Immunityin Health and Disease. And this
(10:49):
was published in Cell Research.
And I'll post a link in the shownotes for those that really want
to get nerdy and look at this.
But in the introduction here, itsays the microbiome plays
critical roles in the trainingand development of major
components of the hosts innateand adaptive immune system. So
(11:10):
the bugs in our gut have adirect impact in how our immune
system responds to the invadersof the body, you know, we can
think about this in context ofif we swallow something we're
not supposed to, or if wedevelop leaky gut, that's where
we start to get leaks betweenthe cells of the intestinal
(11:32):
lining and things start to comethrough that aren't supposed to
like pieces of bacteria. Themicrobiome has a direct impact
on how our immune systemresponds to that and how much
inflammation is produced. Themicrobiome also play a role and
how well our gut is woventogether. So it plays a role in
(11:56):
the integrity of that lining,how well do our cells or
epithelial cells in the gutstick together and not become
leaky is another way to thinkabout that, and the bacteria are
influencing that level ofleakiness. Our gut microbiome
(12:18):
also has an impact in how ourimmune system responds over all
as well. So there's thiscommunication happening between
the immune system and the gutmicrobiome. And whenever the
there are disturbances orimbalances in the gut
microbiome, we can start to haveimmune dysregulation, so that
(12:44):
means we start or our immunesystem doesn't respond as well
as it should, or maybe even overreacts to what is there. And
this overreaction of the immunesystem can as that it starts to
develop and get out of control,that is ultimately what can lead
(13:04):
to auto immunity or anautoimmune response. But then we
can also have general systemicinflammation develop from that.
So as the immune cells in thegut are becoming inflamed, or
signaling that inflammation tohappen, that's happening, right,
(13:25):
as those nutrients are beingabsorbed into the bloodstream.
Well, that inflammation is nowbeing circulated through the
bloodstream. So we have, as wehave this inflammation happening
inside of the gut because of thedisturbances in the microbiome,
or because leaky gut isdeveloping, that inflammation is
now circulating throughout thebody. And we have this low level
(13:49):
of chronic systemicinflammation, and that chronic
systemic inflammation is one ofthe major drivers of chronic
disease. So a chronic diseasethat we can think about in
context of this happening isinflammatory bowel disease. And
(14:09):
that makes sense in point, youknow, when we are inflaming the
lining of the gut, we'reinflaming the bowels, and that
can lead to inflammatory boweldisease. But this gut
inflammation due to disturbancesin the gut microbiome or
dysbiosis, has also beenassociated with, like I
mentioned before autoimmunedisease development. An example
(14:32):
of that is rheumatoid arthritis.
It's also been associated withcardiometabolic disease or heart
disease, and liver disease, aswell. And it's also been
associated with cancerdevelopment. So there's a
variety of interactions orinfluences that the gut
(14:52):
microbiome can have on ourdevelopment of different
diseases and also how healthy weare, overall. This interaction
can extend to other areas of thebody there, this this thing
called the guts skin connection.
So this inflammation can show upin skin issues, there's
(15:14):
something called the gut lungconnection. So this interaction
can show up in susceptibility torespiratory viruses. This
interaction can show up in ourmetabolism and what also what is
called our weight setpoint. Sothere's a direct link between
(15:35):
our gut microbiome and ourweight and the development of
obesity. The other thing thatcan happen as this gut
inflammation comes into play, isthat it can reach the brain. And
when this inflammation reachesthe brain, the brain's immune
system responds and createsbrain inflammation. And so
(16:00):
dysbiosis, and these differenttypes of gut microbiome
disturbances have been linked tothe development of different
neurological conditions, andeven mental health conditions.
So how do these bacteria get into our gut? How do these
disturbances or imbalanceshappen? Or what is called
(16:24):
dysbiosis, which just is animbalance of the bacteria in our
gut that lead to all of this?
Well, we think that humans gettheir first dose of bacteria,
their first inoculation as theypass through the birth canal,
and you get your first dose ofthat gut bacteria from your
(16:47):
mother. So that is a keyquestion that I often ask my
clients is, how were you born?
And then did you breastfeed?
Because breastfeeding hasnurtures that gut microbiome. It
has the right kind of fibers andnutrients in the breast milk
(17:08):
that help nurture that. So weget this first dose of our gut
bacteria from mom, if we're bornvaginally. If we're born via
c-section, we get the first doseof bacteria from whatever we
come into contact and thathospital room, whether it's the
nurse or the doctor, the bathingtable, or whatever it is that
(17:31):
you're touching and getting intoyour mouth. And eventually you
make your way to mom. But thatsets the stage for the balance
of bacteria in our gut. And wehave different types of
bacteria, some that are supposedto be there some that are
actually providing a benefit tous. And then some that are just
(17:53):
hanging out in the background.
And if they're allowed to getout of control, they can cause
problems. And so we call theseopportunistic bacteria once that
are there, they're usually not abig deal until things start to
go awry. And they start to causeproblems. And when you know poor
(18:15):
digestion or inflammation startsto happen, it creates this
environment, like I talked aboutlast time, that allows them to
overgrow. And so when they startto overgrow, they start to
overtake some of the morebeneficial bacteria in the gut.
And that leads to this dysbiosiswhere we have more of the ones
(18:37):
causing problems and less of theones that are providing benefit.
And I'm trying to stay away fromthe word good and bad, because
it's not a moral thing here isjust what happens. So one of the
biggest drivers to thisdysbiosis is the use of
antibiotics, because antibioticswipe out all bacteria. But when
(18:57):
you wipe out all the bacteria,you've created space for things
to come in that maybe shouldn'tbe there. And so how often do
you take antibiotics or have youhad to take antibiotics now it's
not that you shouldn't havetaken them because if you have
enough infection, you need tohave that addressed. But also,
(19:18):
being mindful that there youhave to come in and restore that
balance again, so that you canhave that healthy relationship
with your gut microbiome.
Another big driver of gutdysbiosis is a poor diet or a
Standard American Diet or dietfull of processed foods. Because
the not so good for us bacteria,love to eat processed food, they
(19:45):
love to feed off sugar andstarches. But our healthy and
beneficial bacteria love to eatfiber. That's what they thrive
on. That's what they metabolizeand that's what produces these
other nutrients that nourish ourintestinal lining. And so having
a diet high in fiber and low inprocessed foods is going to be
(20:06):
very critical in the balance ofbacteria in your gut, as well as
its impact on your immunesystem. And so there are studies
showing that a low fiber dietcan cause permanent changes to
your gut microbiome in such away that it's not reversible.
And that's pretty worrisome,because most of Americans are
(20:28):
eating a very low fiber standardAmerican diet, I think the
estimate is 60% of the standardAmerican diet is ultra-processed
food. And most of us aren'tgetting enough of that fiber,
those fruits and vegetables, andsources of fiber that our gut
bacteria really like to thriveon. Another contributor to this
(20:49):
imbalance or dysbiosis, isgetting an infection, you know,
getting a stomach flu, which isa virus that can happen or
getting some type of parasite,or other type of bacterial
infection that takes hold in thegut that shouldn't be there,
those types of infections canlead to more inflammation, which
(21:12):
leads to more dysbiosis andcreates this cycle that can
happen until they're effectivelyaddressed. And another
contributor to dysbiosis isstress. Now, I touched on the
gut-brain connection. Andthere's this bi-directional
(21:32):
communication that happensbetween the gut and the brain.
So the brain is communicatingwith the gut, and the gut is
communicating with the brain.
And whenever we're under stress,our brain produces stress
chemicals or stress signals thatare sensed by the gut, and the
(21:54):
gut bacteria. And that stressalone can cause dysbiosis, and
gut inflammation as well. So wehave all of these factors that
can contribute to this dysbiosisand gut inflammation that can in
turn affect our immune function.
So now that I've mentioned allof this, and you starting to get
(22:17):
a feel of how important thebalance of bacteria, the types
of bacteria in your gut are. AndI've talked about how this
imbalance can start to happen.
You may be wondering, Well, howdo we know if we have dysbiosis?
Well, the first and most obvioussymptom you think of is gut
symptoms like gas and bloating,stomach pain, constipation,
(22:39):
diarrhea, those kinds of changesin our digestion, that can be a
clue that we have some imbalancehappening. But there are also
other symptoms that can show upeven in the absence of those GI
types of symptoms, things likeheadaches, things like joint
(23:01):
pain, inflammation that'sshowing up in other areas of the
body, could be potentiallyrelated to this gut dysbiosis
that may not be showing up asdirect GI symptoms. So when I
have a client that comes to me,that's dealing with some type of
problem, that's usually why theycome to me is they have a health
(23:23):
problem that they're wanting toget help with or get nutritional
therapy for. And the number onetool that I use to help them is
a stool test, a test to seewhat's actually happening inside
the gut. And the test I like touse is called the GI Map. And
(23:47):
this particular test is a DNAbased test, not a culture test,
like where they take samples,and they try to culture the
bacteria and grow it and thenlook at it through a microscope
and see what's there. This is aDNA based test, where they're
testing for the DNA of thedifferent types of bacteria that
(24:09):
are in present in the gut. And Ireally like this test because it
is so comprehensive and lookingat all of the different strains
of bacteria, or most of whatwe're aware of. I won't say all
because there's still a lotwe're learning. And we can see
what levels these bacteria arepresent in our gut. Do we have
(24:32):
pathogenic bacteria in our gutthings like Clostridia and E.
coli that aren't supposed to bethere that are causing problems?
Or do we have not enough of thegood bacteria? in our gut? Do we
have what we call low phyla,bacteria, these firmicutes and
bacteroidetes types of strains.
(24:56):
Do we have a good balance ofthose or do we have some
opportunistic bacteria that'sstarting to overgrow, and that's
indicating some dysbiosis?
The other thing that thisparticular test will look at is
also your digestive function,how well are you producing your
digestive enzymes. How well areyou digesting and absorbing your
(25:17):
fat. It will also look atdifferent inflammation markers,
so we can see how muchinflammation is being produced.
And this gives me a really goodpicture of what's going on
inside the gut. So that we candesign a plan to bring things
back into balance, for thepurpose of supporting your body
(25:38):
and restoring health. So ifyou're curious about your gut
health, or this particular test,you can reach out to me through
my website at Brigitte Factordot com and we can set up a
conversation to discuss that.
But really getting back to thefundamentals of eating a
nutrient dense whole foods dietwith lots of fiber, supporting
(25:58):
our gut bacteria with eatingprobiotic based foods, maybe
taking a probiotic that's rightfor us. And managing our stress.
Getting good exercise, exercisealso influences the balance of
bacteria in our gut. And doingthose lifestyle things can also
(26:18):
go a long way, as well.
So I hope that you've enjoyedthis information, I know I've
shared a lot of information. AndI have a community if you would
like to discuss this more orinteract more, I have an online
community called The AuthenticTable. And you are welcome to
(26:40):
join that community. I amactually hosting a workshop,
what I call it a virtual lunchand learn, next month in
September, that you're welcometo attend it, this particular
event is going to be onnutrition for better focus and
(27:00):
attention. So this is going tobe virtual lunch and learn on
the gut brain connection and howwe can structure a diet and
nutrition to help improve ourfocus and attention and our
brain function. So if thatinterests you, and you would
like to join that event and be apart of the community, you can
(27:21):
do that by going toauthentictable.mn.co and sign up
or request to join thecommunity. And I will post that
link in the show notes. If youare listening to this on your
phone, you can join by text,just text the word AUTHENTIC to
(27:45):
this number 1-833-638-8082. Andyou'll receive some prompts to
help you get started to sign upto join the community. And
again, I'll repeat that justtext the word AUTHENTIC to the
number 1-833-638-8082. I willsay that number one more time
(28:14):
1-833-638-8082 and your textingthe word authentic and it will
take you through the setup, orgetting your account set up
inside my online community whichis free to join. I'm also
thinking about creating a littlesmall group called get nerdy
(28:35):
with me inside my community forthose of you that love to talk
about this at this level and tolook at the research and discuss
it. So I'll create that littlearea for those of you that like
to do that. And I thank you somuch for listening. I really
truly hope that you've enjoyedthis information. I love talking
(28:57):
about it and sharing about itbecause it can make a profound
difference in your health. Anduntil next time, grace and peace
to you.
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