Every day, the body's largest organ is exposed to bacteria and germs. Within the gut, in what is known as the gut flora—also called the microbiome or bacterial ecosystem—we find these microorganisms. They regulate digestion, strengthen the immune system, produce vitamins and hormones, and impact our brain functions.
Approximately 100 trillion tiny bacteria live in the gut. So far, up to 1,000 different species have been identified. Therefore, if this bacterial community is in disarray, it leads to health problems. These microorganisms not only maintain gut balance and digest and process ingested food, but they also have far-reaching responsibilities, such as hormone production.
Hormones in the Gut
The gut thus plays an important role in regulating the body's hormonal balance. This is because the tiny gut bacteria produce large amounts of messenger substances such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine—happiness hormones that, among other things, influence our mood and emotions. On the other hand, these messenger substances, such as serotonin, are also needed for the immune system and digestive activity.
Bacteria: Vitamin Factories
Bacteria in a healthy gut flora even produce vital nutrients such as vitamins, for example, Vitamin K2 (menaquinone), or it is supplied via fermented dairy products. If the bacteria are in balance, enough Vitamin D can also be absorbed and processed in the gut. Vitamin D is formed in the skin with the help of sunlight and performs important tasks in bone metabolism. In short: essential processes for other bodily functions first run through digestion and gut bacteria.
If the composition of gut bacteria is not in balance, putrefactive and fermentative processes occur. This can also lead to food and the vital substances it contains passing through the gastrointestinal tract without being sufficiently utilized and absorbed. This can then lead to vitamin deficiencies. Good enough reason for you to nurture and care for your intestinal cosmos with a healthy diet.
The Gut-Brain Axis
Within this intestinal cosmos of 100 trillion gut bacteria, the transport vehicles for the messenger substances for the gut-brain axis are also produced: the fatty acids mentioned above. Here, too, the rule applies: if the gut flora becomes imbalanced, the quality of the fatty acids suffers. Because if there are more "bad" bacteria, more short-chain, saturated fatty acids are produced. These trigger inflammation in the brain. Depending on their type and duration, they can impair the hormonal balance. As a result, less dopamine is produced.
What does this decrease in dopamine cause? In this context, science is investigating the relationship between the brain and the enteric nervous system. Various neurological diseases such as depression, ADD, ADHD, schizophrenia, and dementias like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's therefore do not begin in the head, but in the gut. Research results from Finland regarding Parkinson's disease point in this direction. If less dopamine is produced in the gut, it has consequences for brain functions. Two factors have been discovered in Parkinson's patients. Firstly, long before the onset of the disease, they have gastrointestinal complaints. It was determined that they had a different gut bacterial composition than a healthy person. Secondly, Parkinson's patients have a lowered level of dopamine in the brain.
Are gut bacteria responsible for Alzheimer's?
The link between gut bacteria and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's reinforces the suspicion: gut bacteria have an influence on Alzheimer's. At Lund University in Sweden, it was proven through animal testing that the bacterial composition in animals with Alzheimer's deposits in the brain is different from that of healthy animals. The metabolic products of gut bacteria can therefore trigger inflammatory processes in the brain.
Since digestive activity decreases with advancing age, the bacterial composition also changes. The researchers' conclusion: especially in advanced age with lower food intake, more attention must be paid to a nutrient-rich diet. (Source: Deutschlandfunk).
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