Your Gut Microbiome: What happens when your bugs are out of balance?
Think of the gut microbiome as an open invite party. There are some great people there, and a few annoying ones, but overall, it’s a good time. But what happens when there are too many annoying ones? Well… that’s enough to ruin a party.
This is the same as the microbiome, which consists of helpful and potentially harmful microbes. In a healthy adult, the microbiome has ‘symbiotic’ microbiota (meaning they are beneficial), and a small amount of pathogenic (meaning they promote disease), living harmoniously. When the ‘good guys’ are in charge, there are usually no problems. But when there is disturbance of this balance, this can lead to dysbiosis.
What is the microbiome?
The microbiome is a vast collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa which colonizes the human body. Collectively, the microbiome cells found within the body outnumbers human cells by 10 times! The largest colonisation site is within the gut.
Although its complete function is still being explored, it is understood that the gut microbiome plays an important role which exerts both metabolic and immune benefits. The microbes in our gut assist us in breaking down foods, regulating the immune system, and protecting us from external pathogens. There is now even evidence that the gut microbiome also exerts effects across many systems. Because of this, when it is out of balance, there can be many different signs and symptoms.
Signs the Microbiome is out of balance
1. Poor immunity & increased infection rates: the gut microbiome are key regulators of immune function as well as inflammation. This is partly due to certain microbes and their metabolites (i.e. what they produce) promoting immune cells which activate anti-inflammatory responses. Therefore, disruption to the composition of the microbiome can activate the immune system increasing inflammation. As mentioned above, the microbiome is essential in protecting against dangerous pathogens, so if it’s out of balance this can lead to pathogenic outbreak & overgrowth. If your “friendly” bacteria are out of balance, this can therefore lead to infection of unfriendly microbes.
2. Bloating: microbiome alteration can poorly affect digestion of foods such as carbohydrates. This can lead to an increased production of gas, therefore increasing risk of bloating. Dysbiosis can lead to bacterial overgrowth of “unfriendly” microbes (known as SIBO) which can trigger abdominal discomfort and bloating. Not to mention, dysbiosis can also trigger constipation and/or diarrhoea.
3. Skin disorders: in many cases, an unbalanced gut microbiome can be blamed on many skin troubles. This can be due to leaky gut [link to prev. blog] or general inflammation. The gut microbiome communicates to the skin thought the ‘gut-skin axis’ and plays a role in skin homeostasis and inflammation. When your gut microbiome is out of balance, it makes your skin-microbiome out of balance too (yes, it’s a thing!). This can trigger acne, dermatitis, and conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.
4. Mood disorders & stress: If you’re feeling out of sorts and can’t find any reason why, it could be dysbiosis or poor diversity of the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is linked to the brain through the gut-brain axis, and can influence stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and social behaviour! A number of studies have reported associations between the gut microbiome composition and autism, depression and schizophrenia. Although, the mechanism isn’t completely understood, it is believed to be due to a number of influences the microbiome may have along the gut-brain-axis.
5. Nutrient deficiencies: many microbes assist in the absorption and production of nutrients, including Vitamin K and the B Vitamins. If the microbiome is imbalanced, it could lead to deficiencies in vitamin B12 as the key enzymes needed to form B12 are found in our bacteria. Our microbes rely on iron much like we do, but some bacteria produce metabolites that may block iron absorption. This is why a well-balanced microbiome is important.
What wrecks our microbiome?
If any of those signs above sound familiar to you, it’s now important to understand what happened to make your microbiome go out of balance. There are multiple things that can wreck your microbiome, but these tend to be the most common:
1. Medications: many medications can impact your gut, by either causing inflammation or altering the levels of hormones which can impact microbiome. Some of these medications include hormonal contraceptives, menopause hormone therapy, pain killers and anti-biotics.
2. Antibiotics: Antibiotics are made to get rid of bacteria, and often it’s not specific on which bacteria. This means that taking antibiotics can thoroughly disrupt the microbiome’s balance.
3. Poor diet: to keep it pretty simple, if your diet is not diverse, neither is your microbiome. If you’re not getting the right amount of nutrients, neither is your microbes! On top of this, if your diet also contains high amounts of refined sugars, processed foods, and not a lot of fruit & veg, you’re increasing your risk of gastrointestinal inflammation and wrecking your microbiome.
Low stomach acid: low levels of stomach acid (known as hypochlorhydria) can lead to dysbiosis due to increasing risk of migration of bacteria. Furthermore, low stomach acid means that more pathologic bacteria has the chance to populate the bowels.
Ways to improve the microbiome
The best way to begin to improve your microbiome is through diet! Cleaning up your diet by reducing processed, high-fat, and high-sugar foods, and replacing them with good sources of protein and plant-based foods. Remember, the more diverse your diet is the greater, more symbiotic diversity within your gut.
Make sure to include good sources of fibre, pre- and pro-biotic foods. Pre-biotics are what feed the microbiome, like a fertiliser, and are found in fibres of plants such as apples, artichoke, sweet potato, and oats. Probiotic foods are fermented foods, meaning they contain live organisms, and can be found in yoghurt, sauerkraut, and drinks like kombucha.
When to get help with the Microbiome
Sometimes, you can feel like you’ve tried everything, and nothing seems to be improving your symptoms that are linked to dysbiosis. If you’ve tried implementing more pre- and pro-biotic foods and are still noticing bloating, it may be a sign you need more help. Disruption of the microbiome is linked to barrier dysfunction (better known as leaky gut) so it’s best to act quickly if you suspect dysbiosis.
If you notice that your symptoms are worse, or are still low, you also may need more help. Some signs of severe dysbiosis include an extremely low immune system, low moods, autoimmune conditions, and joint inflammation. This is when it’s important to reach out to a naturopath, such as myself!
If any of this rings true, or you want to weed out some annoying people in your party, book to see me today.
References
(Das et al., 2020; Davani-Davari et al., 2019; Johnson, 2020; Karl et al., 2018; Kelly et al., 2015; Khalili, 2016; Mari et al., 2019; Salem et al., 2018; Yoon & Yoon, 2018)
Das, N. K., Schwartz, A. J., Barthel, G., Inohara, N., Liu, Q., Sankar, A., Hill, D. R., Ma, X., Lamberg, O., Schnizlein, M. K., Arqués, J. L., Spence, J. R., Nunez, G., Patterson, A. D., Sun, D., Young, V. B., & Shah, Y. M. (2020). Microbial Metabolite Signaling Is Required for Systemic Iron Homeostasis. Cell Metabolism, 31(1), 115-130.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.10.005
Davani-Davari, D., Negahdaripour, M., Karimzadeh, I., Seifan, M., Mohkam, M., Masoumi, S. J., Berenjian, A., & Ghasemi, Y. (2019). Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications. Foods, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8030092
Johnson, K. V.-A. (2020). Gut microbiome composition and diversity are related to human personality traits. Human Microbiome Journal, 15, 100069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humic.2019.100069
Karl, J. P., Hatch, A. M., Arcidiacono, S. M., Pearce, S. C., Pantoja-Feliciano, I. G., Doherty, L. A., & Soares, J. W. (2018). Effects of Psychological, Environmental and Physical Stressors on the Gut Microbiota. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02013
Kelly, J. R., Kennedy, P. J., Cryan, J. F., Dinan, T. G., Clarke, G., & Hyland, N. P. (2015). Breaking down the barriers: The gut microbiome, intestinal permeability and stress-related psychiatric disorders. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2015.00392
Khalili, H. (2016). Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Oral Contraceptives and Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Current Evidence and Future Directions. Drug Safety, 39(3), 193–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-015-0372-y
Mari, A., Abu Backer, F., Mahamid, M., Amara, H., Carter, D., Boltin, D., & Dickman, R. (2019). Bloating and Abdominal Distension: Clinical Approach and Management. Advances in Therapy, 36(5), 1075–1084. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-019-00924-7
Salem, I., Ramser, A., Isham, N., & Ghannoum, M. A. (2018). The Gut Microbiome as a Major Regulator of the Gut-Skin Axis. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01459
Yoon, M. Y., & Yoon, S. S. (2018). Disruption of the Gut Ecosystem by Antibiotics. Yonsei Medical Journal, 59(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2018.59.1.4
