Take care of your microbiota and you will be taking care of yourself

How human are we?

he project that decoded the map of your genes—the human genome—was completed 20 years ago and found that humans have 23,000 genes. At the same time, each human being carries between 2 and 20 million microbial genes within them. This may lead us to question whether we are, in fact, more microbes than humans. Similarly, humans share 99.9% of our human genome with each other, but in contrast, we only share 10% similarity in our microbiome.

This may be a new word for many of us: what does Microbiota mean, and what is the difference between Microbiota and Microbiome?

- Microbiota: the community of microorganisms residing in the human body or in a specific location of the human body, which may include Archaea, bacteria, viruses, and microeukaryotes (fungi).

- Microbiome: the set of genes that make up our microbiota.

Bacterial flora or Microbiota?

Many of us have heard about the famous bacterial flora found in our gastrointestinal system. This name was given due to the first observations of tissues where the growth of microorganisms appeared like a flowery wall. Today, that terminology is completely obsolete, because flora belongs to the plant kingdom, which has nothing to do with microbes, and because microbiota involves much more than just bacteria. Therefore, it is more accurate to use “microbiota” to refer to those permanent guests within us.

Our body is like a world map, with each part of it being a different ecosystem that holds distinct microbiomes. Even though body parts are very close to each other, the bacterial population in each one varies enormously. For example, the population of microorganisms on our face is different from that inside our nose. However, the center of our microbiome is undoubtedly the gastrointestinal system. When talking about microorganisms found in the intestine, one example is E. coli, a bacterium native to our intestines and easily cultivated in Petri dishes.

The most abundant organisms in our intestines are Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, which help us digest food, metabolize drugs, and more. The influence the microbiome can have on us is so great that it can even play a key role in the enzymatic reactions necessary for digestion. For instance, fish that base their diet on a specific type of seaweed have a microorganism that produces an enzyme allowing them to digest it. This seaweed, called nori, is a fundamental ingredient in Japanese cuisine. In a 2010 study, it was shown that Japanese people have this same enzyme produced by a specific microorganism in their microbiota called Bacteroides plebeius. In contrast, it was found that American individuals do not have this enzyme.

How do we acquire our microorganisms?

We acquire our microbiota even while still in the womb, with the baby’s first microbial communities being acquired at birth. As life goes on, the development of our microbiota changes with age, growth, and lifestyle, which will determine the quantity and variety of microorganisms that make up our adult microbiota. This, in turn, will influence the development of many other aspects, such as our immune system.

Every day, more and more studies are being published about how the microbiota directly affects many areas of our health. For example, the microbiome contained in the gastrointestinal tract of an obese patient may determine whether or not they respond to dietary interventions. It has been shown that patients with reduced variety in the genes of their microbiome—that is, with low diversity of beneficial microorganisms—are more likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome and autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

In conclusion, the microorganisms that inhabit our body should not be seen as enemies, but rather as fundamental allies for our proper functioning. Everything we do, everything we eat, and how we live our lifestyle greatly influences their variety and quantity, and therefore many of the functions they perform. We must always keep this in mind and take care of these microorganisms in order to take care of ourselves.

At NutriWhite, we can provide you with the tools to restore your health and strengthen your microbiota by replenishing with friendly foods such as water kefir and fermented vegetables (always considering your food sensitivities) and removing enemy foods that feed dysbiotic flora.

References:

1. Pharmacometabonomic identification of a significant host-microbiome metabolic interaction affecting human drug metabolism
2. T. Andrew Clayton, David Baker, John C. Lindon, Jeremy R. Everett, and Jeremy K. Nicholson
3. PNAS August 25, 2009. 106 (34) 14728-14733; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0904489106‍
4. Transfer of carbohydrate-active enzymes from marine bacteria to Japanese gut microbiota Jan-Hendrik Hehemann, Gaëlle Correc, Tristan Barbeyron, William Helbert, Mirjam Czjzek & Gurvan MichelvNature volume 464, pages908–912 (08 April 2010)
5. Dietary intervention impact on gut microbial gene richness.
6. Nature. 2013 Aug 29;500(7464):585-8. doi: 10.1038/nature12480.
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8. Gut and Liver, Vol. 9, No. 3, May 2015, pp. 318-331 Gut Microbiota as Potential Orchestrators of Irritable Bowel Syndrome  Sean M.P. Bennet*,† , Lena Öhman*,† , and Magnus Simrén*
9. Departments of *Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition and † Microbiology and Immunology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden