If you have followed along so far in our series of blog posts on the microbiome, you now have a better idea of what the microbiome is, how it works, and what a good microbiome looks like. Armed with that knowledge, let’s dive into how we can improve our microbiomes.
To explore strategies to improve our microbiomes, I will take us through a list of 5 strategies that we can utilize to support our microbes.
- Diversity
If you read the previous blog post about the “microbiome gym”, you will know that we need to train the microbiome to make it healthy – and a healthy microbiome is a diverse microbiome, and a diverse microbiome is achieved through a diverse diet! A massive study recently showed that the main predictor of a healthy microbiome was not how much kale one ate or how many probiotics they took every day, it was the diversity of the foods they ate. The study found that the best way to achieve a quality microbiome was to eat at least 30 different plant foods per week. It did not matter what the foods were, it only mattered that they were different, plant-based, and that there were at least 30. This effect was further enhanced if there were also quality fermented foods consumed in the diet. (#2 citation). Our microbiome is a complex “organ” that is constantly changing. Significant changes to our microbiomes can occur as soon as 24 hours after a meal! (2). Increasing the diversity of our foods can result in quick changes!
- Fermented Foods
As mentioned above, fermented foods can significantly impact the health of the microbiome. This is because fermented foods are essentially probiotics themselves and are chock-full of live microbes. Fermented foods are a product of fermentation which is the conversion of carbohydrates from foods into alcohol or organic acids, a process which is driven by yeast or bacteria. This process in turn increases growth of these organisms who then live in the food they consume. Examples of fermented foods include sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt, kefir, miso, tempeh, sourdough bread, and raw cheese. Increasing these foods in your diet is like taking a probiotic!
- Fiber
Fiber is without a doubt my favorite tool to support patients in improving their microbiomes. Only 5% of Americans are meeting recommended daily intake of fiber, which at a minimum is 19g of fiber daily. Average fiber intake for Americans is about 10-15g (3). Fiber is the ultimate prebiotic food that supports our microbial communities. Fiber is a non-starchy carbohydrate found predominantly in plant foods. Humans lack the enzymes to digest fiber. Instead, fiber passes through the entirety of the digestive tract fully intact, serving other purposes in our body. Microbes feed on fiber which in turn supports growth of the types of bacteria we want in our guts. When microorganisms consume the fiber, they not only grow but they also lead to creation of postbiotics. Not only does fiber feed and nourish our microbes, it is also important in maintaining health blood sugar, cholesterol, weight, and more. Read more about the benefits of prebiotics in Part 2 of this series.
- Probiotics
Supplementing with probiotics is another way to improve the health of our microbiomes. Probiotics contain live microorganisms and are usually found in capsule or powder form. These products contain a variety of strains in varying proportions depending on the product. In recent years, newer products have been developed containing microbes not commonly found in our food system. These included spore based microbes such as Bacillus spp. as well as Akkermansia that have been shown to have many benefits. Ingestion of probiotics does not always lead to colonization inside of our guts – most probiotics actually provide benefit by acting transiently, meaning they enter our digestive tract and hang around for a short time, but do not always stay. While they are hanging around, they are able to provide benefits through the postbiotics they make as well as communicating with the resident community of microbes to shift the community towards health.
- Avoidance
In addition to the low amounts of fiber in our modern diets, there are many other ways in which our modern industrialized society has led to damage to our microbiomes. While antibiotic medications are necessary and beneficial in certain situations, the liberal use of them, especially at younger ages, has reduced the health of our microbiomes. Antibiotics can destroy whatever infection has taken hold in our bodies; however, they often also destroy much of the good microbes in the process. But our medications are not the only ways in which we consume antibiotics. Pesticides and other chemicals have antibiotic-like effects and are sprayed on most foods we are exposed to. Many studies have investigated the effects of dietary exposure to these chemicals and almost all seem to suggest detectable levels of these chemicals in our bodies as well as negative long term effects on our microbiome, neurodevelopment, metabolic disease, and more. Aiming to eat organic whenever possible can reduce exposure to these chemicals and subsequently reduce damage to our microbiomes (4).
This list covers only a handful of the many ways we can support our microbiomes and our overall health. In general these recommendations are intended to provide you with the education and tools to help you make decisions each day that can support your own wellness and prevent disease. If you are feeling like you want more support, including evaluation, guidance, and treatment, please give us a call to schedule with Dr. Conway!
Dr. Conway’s approach to patient care begins with talking about the gut. The quality and variety of food we put in our bodies is directly connected to the quality of our health. He enjoys supporting patients with a variety of complaints including gas, bloating, abdominal pain, food sensitivities/intolerances, weight fluctuations, and more. Dr. Conway, a naturopathic doctor in Portland, earned his doctorate from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Learn more about Dr. Andrew Conway
References:
McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, et al. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018;3(3):e00031-18. Published 2018 May 15. doi:10.1128/mSystems.00031-18
David LA, Maurice CF, Carmody RN, et al. Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 2014;505(7484):559-563. doi:10.1038/nature12820
Quagliani D, Felt-Gunderson P. Closing America’s Fiber Intake Gap: Communication Strategies From a Food and Fiber Summit. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2016;11(1):80-85. Published 2016 Jul 7. doi:10.1177/1559827615588079
Gama J, Neves B, Pereira A. Chronic Effects of Dietary Pesticides on the Gut Microbiome and Neurodevelopment. Front Microbiol. 2022;13:931440. Published 2022 Jun 30. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.931440
