Lifestyle Choices

Did you know that up to four pounds of your body weight comes from bacteria that lives in your digestive tract? The average person has around 100 trillion bacteria, mostly living in the colon. These are a mix of good and bad bacteria — for healthy digestion, the balance needs to be mostly good. The good (or friendly) bacteria perform a number of roles such as:

• Make vitamins, including A, K and B, and also improve the absorption of minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
• Inhibit ‘bad’ bacteria, fungi and viruses that can cause infections and food poisoning.
• Boost your immunity by increasing the number of immune cells.
• Repair and promote the health of the digestive tract by fermenting fibre into fuel for cells in the intestinal lining, helping it to regenerate.
• Reduce allergic reactions by helping to keep the digestive tract healthy, so it’s less likely the immune system will react to a food.

However, the balance of bacteria can easily be upset — for example, after taking antibiotics, which wipe them out, or having too many sugary and refined foods or alcohol. If bad bacteria then proliferate, you can experience a wide range of symptoms including constipation or diarrhoea, bloating, flatulence, foul-smelling stools, food intolerances, increased infections and skin problems. It is possible to test for different types and levels of gut bacteria via a simple home test.

If you suspect you have an imbalance in gut bacteria, you can repopulate your digestive tract with good bacteria by taking a ‘probiotic’ supplement. There are an increasing number of yoghurt probiotic drinks available now, but many of these contain what are called ‘transitory’ strains of bacteria — this means they may have a beneficial effect as they pass through you, but they are not the resident strains that actually live inside you. They often contain a lot of sugar as well. If you want to increase levels of good bacteria, then you need to supplement the resident strains — the principal families are called Lactobacillus and Bifidus bacteria.

Studies have shown that supplementing probiotics can ease a range of digestive disorders including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome. Research suggests that about half of all those diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome have an abnormal bacteria balance and therefore are likely to benefit from probiotics. Diarrhoea also responds well — probiotics can halve recovery time.

You can also boost your level of beneficial bacteria by eating fermented foods such as live natural yoghurt, miso (the Japanese soya paste used in miso soup) and sauerkraut.

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