Gut Health And the Microbiome

Various stomach ailments are familiar to almost everyone. Typical complaints include irregular bowel movements, constipation or diarrhea, bloating, and pain. Often, the root cause lies in poor gut health and the microbiome, which can be affected by a stressful lifestyle, an unbalanced diet, or disrupted intestinal bacteria. Everyone’s microbiome is unique, and its well-being is influenced by many factors.

In addition to diet, lifestyle (exercise), environment (environmental toxins), antibiotic courses, trips abroad (intestinal infections) and stress affect the microbiome. Changes in the gut microbiome have been linked to many diseases, such as diabetes, memory disorders and the explosive increase in inflammatory bowel diseases. There have also been indications of connections between the microbiome and depression and anxiety.

What Is the Microbiome?

Microbiome refers to the communities formed by microorganisms, which are found, for example, on the skin, mucous membranes of the mouth, the conjunctiva of the eye and the intestine. These bacterial communities are also called normal flora and they are beneficial for our health.

The human intestinal microbiota is estimated to consist of up to 100 trillion microbial cells and weighs about 1.5 kilograms. 99.9% of these microbes are in the large intestine, which has the highest microbial density of all known ecosystems. Up to 500-1000 different species of bacteria live in the intestine, the most common of which are Bacteroides, Blostridium, Fusobacterium and Bifidobacterium. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains are the most studied for their health effects.

A healthy microbiome is quite diverse. Its microbes limit each other’s growth so that pathogenic microbes cannot reproduce. Depletion of the diversity, quantity and spectrum of the microbiome can predispose to diseases. Therefore, too sterile an environment or antibacterial detergents for home use cannot be recommended for continuous use.

The functions of the gut microbiome

A healthy gut ecosystem is an important part of our body’s defense system. Microbes strengthen the connections between cells and thus prevent harmful substances from entering the bloodstream. The healthy bacterial strain of the intestine, i.e. the normal flora, displaces pathogenic bacteria and secretes substances that inhibit their growth, such as lactic acid. In addition, butyrate, or butyric acid, formed by the microbiome is a significant maintainer of the well-being of the intestinal mucous membranes. It satisfies most of the energy needs of the mucous membranes.

The intestinal microbiome also produces vitamins such as vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting, and biotin, also known as the beauty vitamin. In newborns, the microbiome has not yet developed and therefore, just to be sure, newborns are given a vitamin K injection immediately after birth.

Development of the bacterial population and environmental threats

The development of the bacterial population starts already during the fetal period. A child encounters a significant amount of bacteria when the fetal membranes rupture. Early microbial exposure is an important and long-lasting factor in the development of the composition of the microbiome. In vaginal delivery, the child is exposed to the lactobacilli-rich microbiome of the mother’s birth canal and to the microbes in the feces. Immediately after birth, the child also encounters the microbes of the skin, the environment and the mother’s breast and breast milk. Breast milk’s significant bacterial content, especially the large number of bifidobacteria, is believed to have a positive effect on the development of a child’s healthy immunity. Contact with nature is also particularly important, especially during the first years of life.

The quantity and quality of the normal flora are also affected by lifestyles, conditions and hereditary factors. Many people notice the effects of the environment when they travel. In a healthy person, disturbances to the normal flora caused by a trip abroad are usually temporary.

A course of antibiotics can change the intestinal bacterial population for up to two years. Regular use of antibiotics exposes you to diarrhea and the overgrowth of harmful bacteria. The increased use of antibiotics has also led to an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria in different parts of the world. Alcohol use, smoking and stress also have a negative effect on the gut microbiome. The connection of environmental chemicals to the intestinal bacterial population is also being investigated. For example, glyphosate is thought to kill good bacteria in the gut and thus make room for disease-causing bacteria.

Probiotics and prebiotics saviors of intestinal health?

The understanding of the importance of the microbiome has increased the use of pro- and prebiotics in microbiome modification. According to the definition, probiotics are live, non-pathogenic, cultures of one or more microbial strains that, when taken orally, achieve favorable health effects. The spectrum of health effects associated with probiotics is wide. In order to achieve health effects, probiotics should settle alive in the intestines and thus withstand stomach acids and bile salts. The ability of the probiotic to adhere to and colonize the intestinal mucosa is also considered significant in terms of efficacy.

On the other hand, indigestible fiber that promotes the growth of good-quality bacteria in the intestine is called a prebiotic. A prebiotic is usually a carbohydrate that acts as food for intestinal bacteria and thus stimulates the growth or activity of one or more bacterial strains in the large intestine. However, there are also research indications of the negative effects of prebiotics, at least for those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.

When using probiotics and prebiotics, it is essential to understand individuality. In terms of the success of the treatment, it is good to know which bacterial strains each person needs and tailor the use of probiotics accordingly. Among the bacterial treatments currently in use is stool transplantation, which is mainly used to treat antibiotic diarrhea. In it, a person whose microbiome has been destroyed is given another person’s entire bacterial flora. The results are promising, and in the future, depression or anxiety can also be treated with stool transplantation.

From stomach well-being to help with depression

The gut microbiome is known to have a central effect on the immune system and nervous system function. Gut microbes also seem to affect mood, stress tolerance and behavior. ‘The gut is a person’s second brain’ – the saying must be true. The gut-brain axis (GBA) refers to the neural and biochemical connection between the gut and the central nervous system. Communication takes place especially via brain neurotransmitters and the vagus nerve.

Emotional reactions, stress and nervousness cause changes in the functioning of the intestine. The bacterial population of the intestine and the permeability of the intestinal surface. Information also flows from the gut to the brain, and gut bacteria produce brain neurotransmitters. For example, more than half of serotonin, also called the happiness hormone, is produced in the intestines. So there is a constant exchange of messages between the brain and the gut.

Gut microbes enjoy fiber-rich vegetables, berries and fruits. Particularly good food for the microbiome is relatively low-sugar vegetables such as cabbage, green leafy vegetables, onions, and artichokes rich in inulin (unless you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome). Among the sources of good fats, the intestinal microbiome is especially favored by seeds, nuts and avocado. On the other hand, sugar, caffeine, additives or sweeteners such as aspartame can increase anxiety.

Conclusion

Understanding your microbiome is just the beginning—real change starts when you learn how to support it daily. The Bloated Belly program is designed to help you do just that, with practical steps for lasting relief.

If you’ve been dealing with bloating, irregular digestion, or that frustrating feeling of imbalance, you’re not alone—and there are simple, effective ways to feel better.