THOUGHTS ON THE MICROBIOME

For our purposes in this article, the MICROBIOME is the population of organisms living in our digestive tract.  It is composed of many species of bacteria, yeast, and maybe some protozoa.  These organisms generally match the population of organisms living in our soil.  Most often a child’s microbiome is well established by age 3.  The child’s first ingestion of organisms is during the birthing process.  This ingestion carries a lot of importance because children born via C-section are found to experience significantly increased gut-related health problems as compared to children born via normal vaginal delivery; especially if the mother’s microbiome is optimum.  Right along with gut flora (another name for microbiome) introduction, the child’s immune system gets an “education” and these two systems mature at about the same age of 3. Those children who had the opportunity to play outside and eat mud-pies have healthier immune systems.  After age 3, the microbiome is considered to be “set for life”.  It is estimated that any healthy person’s gut flora includes about 1,000 species of bacteria and yeast.  There is much overlap of species between people and much diversity as well.  However, there is what is called the   “core species”  of 57 varieties found in every healthy person. www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/microbiome/

Dietary changes normally induce rapid changes in the gut flora. However, antibiotic use, major stress, major illness, advancing age, trauma, and major surgeries will adversely affect a person’s microbiome.  Sometimes restoration of normal gut flora can be difficult; more on that problem later.

What is the practical significance on a person’s health consequent to changes in gut flora?  There is a cause/effect relationship between an unhealthy microbiome and health challenges such as the following: brain development and behavior, appetite and food cravings, hormonal balance, gene expression, neurotransmitter balance, systemic inflammation, anxiety, obesity, and autism.  Nearly any health challenge a person may suffer is associated with a poor microbiome.  Please refer to a very good and entertaining lecture at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mioR_WrkRaU&t=784s 

Keep reading for some very important and practical considerations which you need to know and implement right now.

A group of about 8 species of gut flora in a healthy gut both produce and eat butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid.  These organisms produce butyrate from dietary fiber.  They produce so much butyrate that 5% to 15% of a person’s total daily caloric intake could come from butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids produced by the gut flora.  The gut also depends on butyrate for regeneration.  The gut lining renews itself every few days.  So, HERE IS A PROBLEM: when the diet has insufficient fiber, these bacteria have insufficient food and decline resulting in insufficient butyrate to maintain a healthy gut.  The gut lining can degenerate and get leaky so that toxic material from the gut gets into our circulation and cause systemic inflammation and the excess toxic load overwhelms the immune capacity.  This may cause or at least contribute to autoimmune diseases.  The SOLUTION is to adhere to a diet with plenty of fiber.  NO dairy product has fiber.  NO flesh food has fiber.  Refined grains have minimal fiber.  Very few Americans consume adequate fibre for maintaining a healthy gut and dietary fibre supplements have failed to help, butyrate supplements have failed to help, and supplementation of “probiotics” has not helped.  The best diet is a plant-based diet; it is the diet for optimum health in every way including providing the best dietary fibre for the microbiome.

Have you heard of TRIMETHYL AMINES?  It has been discovered that trimethylamine oxide causes oxidative damage to the delicate lining of blood vessels along with inflammation of the tissues.  This substance is commonly elevated in those with plaque build up in the blood vessels.  It is impossible to not be developing plaque build up in blood vessels when Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) is present.  So, where does TMAO come from?  Certain bacteria in the gut convert a couple of amino acids commonly in food into trimethylamine (TMA).  TMA irritates/damages the gut lining and can cause a leaky gut.  Not only is the TMA readily absorbed, but the leaky gut lets a flood of toxins into our circulation.  This condition causes diseases just like insufficient butyrate causes disease as noted above.  What about those bacteria in the gut which produce TMA?  Where do they come from?  Well, diet rapidly changes the gut flora.  The bacteria which produce TMA become dominant when a person’s diet contains meats, fish, eggs, or dairy products.  Stop ingestion of these foods, eat plants and the TMA goes away and the butyrate comes back.

Wheat/gluten sensitivity has become very common.  Could this problem be related to changes in the gut flora?  There is an association, but is it the cause or one of the consequences or both?  Whatever, it is known that our gut flora accomplishes a significant part of food digestion.  A more recent discovery is a substance secreted by much normal gut flora needed for good immune function in the gut and maintaining good gut health.  This substance, named terrahydrite, was first discovered in the soil produced by the soil microbiome.  The next discovery was that when given by mouth to people with various gut problems, the problems went away.  For more studies, a group of people with wheat/gluten sensitivity problems were selected.  Endoscopies with biopsies of the gut were completed and the degree of damage if any was documented.  Then the subjects were fed wheat products and follow up endoscopies with biopsies completed again.  Thus, gut lining damage was verified by endoscopy with a biopsy.  Then the study was repeated except along with eating wheat products, terrahydrite was given before the meals.  The follow-up endoscopies with biopsy verified not only prevention of more damage but also significant healing.  Then this same study protocol was repeated with people confirmed to be suffering from celiac disease.  The result – terrahydrite was shown to be healing the damage from celiac disease!  This is the first documented reversal of celiac disease damage.

Glyphosate (RoundUp) is at toxic levels in most of the food grown in the USA.  It kills normal flora both in the soil and in the gut.  It is likely a causative factor in the marked increase in wheat sensitivity.  Following the same study protocol as was done for evaluation of wheat sensitivity and celiac disease, terrahydrite was found to not only protect the gut from Round-UP inflicted injury but to result in healing of the gut lining.

Terrahydrite has markedly improved the treatment of gut dysbiosis and associated health problems.  It has been found helpful for the re-establishment of a healthy microbiome.  It is marketed as ION-BIOME.  Just do a google search on ION BIOME.

CONCLUSION: eating plant-based, eating organic, and using ION BIOME can heal and prevent many gut flora related health problems.

Delford Roth D.O.