Our bodies, both inside and out, are teeming with trillions of good microscopic beings including bacteria, viruses, and fungi that constitute our microbiota. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you can check out my previous blogpost by clicking here.
The microorganisms, that form our microbiota, form an integral part of us. We need them for our survival. This post is all about the ways in which our microbiota helps us to stay healthy.
Bacteria On Our Skin Have an Indispensable Role in Our Health
Let’s start with our skin. Our skin has thousands of bacteria and some fungi that help us in maintaining a good skin condition. Many of these bacteria help in balancing the acidity of our skin. They help us in protecting our skin from infections, and, most importantly, they act as the first line of defence for our body. It is highly unlikely to get acne or itchy skin if you have a healthy skin microbiota.
We Have a Mouthful of Bacteria
It might sound gross that we all have hundreds of bacteria microbes that live inside our mouth. We have symbiotic relationship with these tiny creatures i.e. we both help each other in some way. Inside our mouth, bacteria generally exist as a thin film over our teeth, gums and tongue. This thin film on our teeth, which we call the ‘bacterial biofilm’ protects our oral cavity from disease causing germs which we get exposed to all the time. While most of the microorganisms which live in our mouth protect us from the bad germs, some of them can sometimes cause diseases if there is some sort of imbalance in their numbers due to some of our unhealthy habits. Maintaining a healthy oral microbiota is not just good for our teeth and gums but also for our overall health.
Our Gut Is the Headquarter of Our Microbiota
A lot happens in our gut. Our digestive tract is the favourite place of our tiny superheroes, so much so that the whole team of microbes that live in there has got a special name- the gut microbiota. Mainly living in our large intestine, the first thing that many of them do is to help in digesting the difficult to digest food such as the food containing cellulose or some particular forms of starch which we can’t digest on our own. This helps us to recover more energy and nutrients from the food we eat, and also keeps our gut healthy. Some of these gut microbes act as security guards and do not allow disease-causing germs to survive in our gut. Studies have shown that the gut microbes send chemical signals to our immune system and warn them about any potential infections. Through a process called fermentation (the one which is used to make beers and yoghurts), these microbes produce the amino acids that are used by our body to make proteins. Some of the gut microbes also synthesize and secrete B-Vitamins and Vitamin which are both vital for our wellbeing. Some of them even play a very important role in maintaining our blood pressure.
Our Gut Microbes Communicate With Our Brain
A recent study suggested that the gut microbiota plays a very important role in our behaviour. In this study done in mice, it was found that if the gut microbes of a depressed mouse are transferred to the gut of a healthy mouse, the healthy mouse also suffered from depression. This and many such studies suggest that our gut microbes directly communicate with our brain.
Researchers have found that our gut bacteria also seem to dictate what we eat by sending signals to our brain. They tell our brain to eat the food they like. Our gut microbiota develops and keeps changing based on the food that we eat. however, this not just a one-way process. The different kinds of bacteria that live in our gut like different types of food. Some of them like healthy foods while some like unhealthy or junk food. The more junk food we eat, the more junk food-loving bacteria grow in our gut. The increasing number of these bacteria send signals to our brain to eat more such food and we start craving for junk food. The same applies for healthy food.
Unhealthy Microbiota = Unhealthy You
There are several studies that suggest a link between an unhealthy balance in your gut microbiota and several diseases, including type I diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and even cancer. You need the right mix of bacteria in your gut which can work together to make the right mix of chemicals that are needed for the normal functioning of your body. Hence, it is extremely important for us to keep our microbiota healthy and happy. To know how to keep our microbial friends happy so that they keep us healthy, visit my next blogpost.
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- Gut Microbiota–Immune System Crosstalk: Implications for Metabolic Disease
- The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems
- The Impact of Diet and Lifestyle on Gut Microbiota and Human Health
- Gut microbiota info
- Britannica encyclopaedia- Human microbiome
- The infant microbiome development: mom matters
- Microbiology of the gastrointestinal tract
- The human microbiota in health and disease
- Feeding the Beast: How Germs Eat for You
- Competing bacteria in gut maintain health – study
- Delivery mode shapes the acquisition and structure of the initial microbiota across multiple body habitats in newborns
- The Relationship Between Breast Milk Components and the Infant Gut Microbiota
- Age-related changes in gut microbiota composition from newborn to centenarian: a cross-sectional study
