Allergies, skin problems, weight gain. What do they have in common?
These are all extremely common issues that a lot of us face on a daily basis. But what is the common denominator between all of these problems? Keep reading to find out. It may come as a surprise to you.
We’ve talked briefly about the effects of low-grade gut inflammation in one of our previous blogs ‘How Your Gut Affects Your Looks’ and how an imbalanced gut can lead to an array of different health problems. Lets take a deeper look into how our gut impacts our health.
How the Gut Affects Weight
When we think of people’s most common concerns regarding their health and their appearance, weight gain is one of the biggest issues that come to mind. According to the WHO (World Health Organisation) “Overweight and obesity affect almost 60% of adults.” Excessive weight gain can unfortunately impact one’s overall health, increasing the risk of certain illnesses.
Most people try to tackle this issue by looking at how calorific their diet is, restricting the intake of certain foods, and exercising more. Whilst these can all help greatly, sometimes it isn’t quite enough as there is a deeper issue at play that many of us are unaware of.
According to Anna Maxted from her article ‘Allergies and weight gain: it’s all about the gut” on James Kinross, Consultant surgeon and clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London, in The Sunday Times “To understand why we’re in crisis, we must look at our microbiome, the inner ecosystem of viruses, bacteria and other microbes largely populating our gut but also present on our skin and in our organs.”
Our gut microbiome plays an underestimated but significant role in weight loss, skin health and overall immunity. Depending on the health of our gut bacteria, weight loss intervention will either be successful or a struggle. Our gut microbiome doesn’t have a direct affect on weight loss, but it does directly affect the processes associated with weight loss. For instance, gut bacteria determine how our body metabolises food and also controls how hungry or not we feel.
It’s not surprising then that if our gut microbiome is imbalanced we may crave unhealthy foods high in sugar, salt and fat. And if our metabolism isn’t functioning properly our entire bodies will be out of balance, which includes how much energy and fat stores are used. According to Kinross “When you decimate the gut ecology you promote inflammation, and that changes insulin resistance and then you gain weight.”
The Gut and Immunity
Along with an epidemic of weight gain and obesity, there has also been a rise in the prevalence of food and skin allergies, along with autoimmune conditions and inflammatory diseases in the body. Again people may try to ease the symptoms of these issues by use of antihistamines and anti-inflammatory drugs, but this again isn’t quite getting to the root of the problem.
The gut is the most vital organ when it comes to our immune system. It is the microbiome of our gut that works in symbiosis with our bodies, making sure everything stays in balance, including our immune system.
Unfortunately when our protective gut bacteria is compromised, so too is our immunity. This inevitably can lead to a chain reaction of events in the body, increasing inflammation, and thus increasing the risk of allergic reactions, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory conditions, and infections.
Ironically, in order to treat these conditions we set up a negative feedback loop of trying to ease symptoms with drugs and antibiotics, and this in turn further disrupts our gut bacteria. However, Kinross states that antibiotics are of course necessary when really needed and that “if your kid is sick, and they’ve got a bacterial infection, for God’s sake given them antibiotics.”
Modern medicine has come leaps and bounds with the invention of lifesaving antibiotics and medicines. We have a lot to be thankful for that. So how are we to keep our guts balanced, and our immunity intact with the co-existing of modern medicine and western diets. The key solution is building resilience.
Building Resilience
Four key points that Kinross outlines in the article in order to help keep our gut microbiome balances is: 1. Hygiene 2. Diet 3. exercise 4. socialise
1. Hygiene
Maxted states that according to Kinross “one way to be pragmatic about personal hygiene (yes wash your hands after the loo – it stops the transfer of pathogens), but don’t obsess over cleanliness.” Over cleansing and the excessive use of detergents can strip away good bacteria from our skin, making it susceptible to foreign pathogens, such as harmful bacteria, viruses and allergens, which can all contribute to disease.
Instead of using harsh chemicals to wash our skin, hair and bodies, we should opt for eco certified natural and organic products that won’t disrupt the skin’s natural microbiome.
Along with personal hygiene, the way in which we clean our environment plays a significant role in they health of our gut as well. When we over sterilise our surrounding, we eliminate all exposure to bacteria, and other microorganisms which can negatively impact our gut microbiome and thus our immunity. Common household products such as bleach, fluorinated water and pesticides all lead to the total sterilisation of microorganisms.
2. Diet
Diet plays an enormous role in maintaining our gut health. A diet high in fibre has a much more positive impact on gut health, and therefore our overall health and immunity. Maxted states that according to Kinross “if we were to eat 7g more fibre a day, “our risk of diabetes, obesity, stroke, cancer – everything drops. If we can get to the magic 30g daily it really helps”.
Fibre, which is a non-digestible complex sugar found usually in fruit, veg and whole grains, acts like ‘drain cleaner’ for the gut. It is also known as ‘roughage’ and forms a thick substance, that carries away toxins and pathogens in our gut, preventing them from being absorbed and wrecking havoc in the body.
Kinross also praises intermittent fasting and states that “it has an important anti-inflammatory affect”. It helps to regulate the microbiome population in the gut, and allows for beneficial gut bacteria to multiply during the time in between meals.
Kinross also mentions that probiotics such as Kefir, a fermented milk, pending you are not lactose intolerant, or other non-dairy probiotics from health stores, are great for the microbiome, the take around 8 weeks to kick in, but that they are “not a panacea” so it is also important to incorporate other lifestyle changes in order to help build resilience.
3. Exercise
Exercise is greatly advantageous to the health of our gut microbiome, and aids with our guts ability to metabolise food. According to Kinross “A helpful rule is – what’s good for our physical and mental health is good for our microbiome”.
Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have more good gut bacteria than those who don’t. A recent study that followed 40 women ages 18 to 40 also showed that exercise helped improve composition of gut microbiota.
Therefore, if you’re sitting at a desk most days for work, try and get 30 minutes of exercise a day. Whether it be a brisk walk around the office block, walking or taking the bike to work, or an evening stroll to the shops, it could make a huge difference to the health of your gut.
4. Socialise
Lastly, one surprising thing we can all do to improve the health of our gut flora, is to socialise more. Whether that be with a close friend, partner, relative or pet, it can also be greatly beneficial to our gut health. Being close to others helps our gut bacteria to diversify. This happens through the sharing of good bacteria either through social interaction such as hugging and kissing, and sharing food.
Also socialising reduces the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can disrupt the good microbiome and can lead to inflammation and disease in the body. When we socialise we release many happy hormones, the main one being Oxytocin, commonly known as “The Cuddle Hormone”. It is released when we are close to those that we love, including our pets, and inhibits the production of cortisol.
*This blog has used segments from Anna Maxted’s article ‘Allergies and weight gain: it’s all about the gut‘ published in The Sunday Times on July the 16th, 2023.
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