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Diet and lifestyle factors, including poor sleep quality, alcohol consumption and inactivity, can harm your gut bacteria. Alternatively, living a healthy lifestyle characterized by regular physical activity, low stress and a variety of whole foods is the best way to ensure a healthy gut flora.
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Read More »The human gut is home to over 100 trillion bacteria, known as the “gut flora.” Having a healthy gut flora is incredibly important for your overall health. Interestingly, many diet, lifestyle and other environmental factors can negatively affect your gut bacteria. Share on Pinterest What Are Gut Bacteria and Why Are They Important? Hundreds of species of bacteria reside in your gut. Some of them are friendly, while others are not. Most bacteria in the gut belong to one of four groups: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria or Proteobacteria ( 1 , 2 ). Each group plays a role in your health and requires different nutrients for growth ( 3 ). The friendly gut bacteria are important for digestion. They destroy harmful bacteria and other microorganisms and produce vitamin K, folate and short-chain fatty acids ( 4 , 5 ). When the gut flora contains too many harmful bacteria and not enough friendly bacteria, an imbalance can occur. This is known as dysbiosis ( 6 , 7 ). Both dysbiosis and a reduction in gut flora diversity have been linked to insulin resistance, weight gain, inflammation, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer ( 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ). Therefore, it’s important to keep your gut bacteria as friendly and abundant as possible. Without further ado, here are 8 surprising things that can cause harm to your gut bacteria. 1. Not Eating a Diverse Range of Foods Generally, a rich and diverse gut flora is considered to be a healthy one ( 12 ). A lack of diversity within the gut bacteria limits recovery from harmful influences, such as infection or antibiotics ( 13 , 14 ). A diet consisting of a wide variety of whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, can lead to a more diverse gut flora. In fact, changing up your diet can alter your gut flora profile after only a few days ( 12 , 15 , 16 ). This is because the food you eat provides nutrients that help bacteria grow. A diet rich in whole foods provides your gut with a variety of nutrients that help promote the growth of different types of bacteria, resulting in a more diverse gut flora. Unfortunately, over the past 50 years, much of the diversity in the Western diet has been lost. Today, 75% of the world’s food supply comes from only 12 plants and five animal species ( 12 ). Interestingly, studies show that those living in rural regions of Africa and South America have a more diverse gut flora than those living in the US and Europe ( 17 , 18 ). Their diets are generally unaffected by the Western world and are rich in fiber and a variety of plant protein sources. Summary: A diet lacking in a variety of different whole foods can result in a loss of gut flora diversity. This may have a number of negative health effects. 2. Lack of Prebiotics in the Diet Prebiotics are a type of fiber that passes through the body undigested and promotes the growth and activity of friendly gut bacteria ( 19 ). Many foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains, naturally contain prebiotic fiber. A lack of them in the diet may be harmful to your overall digestive health ( 20 ). Foods high in prebiotics include: Lentils, chickpeas and beans
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Read More »5. Lack of Regular Physical Activity Physical activity is simply defined as any movement of the body that burns energy. Walking, gardening, swimming and cycling are all examples of physical activity. Being physically active has a number of health benefits, including weight loss, lower stress levels and a reduced risk of chronic disease ( 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ). What’s more, recent studies suggest that physical activity may also alter the gut bacteria, improving gut health (45, 46 , 47 ). Higher fitness levels have been associated with a greater abundance of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that’s important for overall health, and butyrate-producing bacteria ( 48 , 49 ). One study found that professional rugby players had a more diverse gut flora and twice the number of bacterial families, compared to the control groups matched for body size, age and gender ( 50 ). Moreover, athletes had higher levels of Akkermansia, a bacteria shown to play an important role in metabolic health and the prevention of obesity ( 50 , 51 ). Similar results have been reported in women. A study compared the gut flora of 19 physically active women to 21 non-active women ( 52 ). Active women had a higher abundance of health-promoting bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia, suggesting that regular physical activity, even at low-to-moderate intensities, can be beneficial. Summary: Regular physical activity promotes the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, including Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia. These positive effects are not seen in individuals who are inactive. 6. Cigarette Smoking Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals, 70 of which can cause cancer ( 53 ). Smoking causes harm to nearly every organ in the body and raises the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer ( 54 ). Cigarette smoking is also one of the most important environmental risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease, a disease characterized by ongoing inflammation of the digestive tract ( 55 ). Furthermore, smokers are twice as likely to have Crohn’s disease, a common type of inflammatory bowel disease, compared to non-smokers ( 56 ). In one study, smoking cessation increased gut flora diversity, which is a marker of a healthy gut ( 57 ). Summary: Smoking has detrimental effects on nearly even organ in the body. Giving up smoking can improve gut health by increasing the diversity of the gut flora, and this can occur after only nine weeks. 7. Not Getting Enough Sleep Getting good sleep is very important for overall health. Studies show that sleep deprivation is linked to many diseases, including obesity and heart disease ( 58 , 59 , 60 ). Sleep is so important that your body has its own time-keeping clock, known as your circadian rhythm (61). It’s a 24-hour internal clock that affects your brain, body and hormones. It can keep you alert and awake, but it can also tell your body when it’s time to sleep ( 62 , 63 ). It appears that the gut also follows a daily circadian-like rhythm. Disrupting your body clock through a lack of sleep, shift work and eating late at night may have harmful effects on your gut bacteria ( 64 , 65 , 66 ). A 2016 study was the first to explore the effects of short-term sleep deprivation on the composition of gut flora ( 67 ). The study compared the effects of two nights of sleep deprivation (about 4 hours per night) versus two nights of normal sleep duration (8.5 hours) in nine men. Two days of sleep deprivation caused subtle changes to the gut flora and increased the abundance of bacteria associated with weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and fat metabolism ( 67 , 68 ). Nevertheless, sleep deprivation’s effects on gut bacteria is a new area of research. Further studies are required to determine the impact of sleep loss and poor sleep quality on gut health. Summary: The body has a 24-hour internal clock called the circadian rhythm. Sleep deprivation can disrupt the circadian rhythm, and this appears to have harmful effects on gut bacteria. 8. Too Much Stress Being healthy isn’t only about diet, physical activity and adequate sleep. High stress levels can also have harmful effects on the body. In the gut, stress can increase sensitivity, reduce blood flow and alter the gut bacteria ( 69 ). Studies in mice have shown that different types of stress, such as isolation, crowding and heat stress, can reduce gut flora diversity and alter gut profiles ( 70 , 71 , 72 ). Stress exposure in mice also affects bacterial populations, causing an increase in potentially harmful bacteria like Clostridium and reducing beneficial populations of bacteria like Lactobacillus ( 73 , 74 ). One study in humans looked at the effect of stress on the composition of gut bacteria in 23 college students (75). The composition of gut bacteria was analyzed at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester during final examinations. The high stress associated with final exams caused a reduction in friendly bacteria, including Lactobacilli. While promising, research on the relationship between stress and gut flora is fairly new, and human studies are currently limited. Summary: Excess stress has been shown reduce gut flora diversity and alter gut flora profiles by increasing harmful bacteria like Clostridium and reducing beneficial bacteria like Lactobacilli.
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Read More »How to Improve Gut Health A healthy gut flora that’s high in friendly bacteria is essential for overall health. Here are some tips on how to improve your gut flora: Eat more prebiotic foods: Eat plenty of foods rich in prebiotic fibers, such as legumes, onions, asparagus, oats, bananas and others. Eat plenty of foods rich in prebiotic fibers, such as legumes, onions, asparagus, oats, bananas and others. Consume more probiotics: Probiotics may increase the abundance of healthy gut bacteria. Fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi, kefir and tempeh, are all excellent sources. You could also start taking a probiotic supplement. Probiotics may increase the abundance of healthy gut bacteria. Fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi, kefir and tempeh, are all excellent sources. You could also start taking a probiotic supplement. Make time for quality sleep: To improve sleep quality, try cutting out caffeine late in the day, sleeping in complete darkness and making a structured sleep routine so that you go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. To improve sleep quality, try cutting out caffeine late in the day, sleeping in complete darkness and making a structured sleep routine so that you go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. Reduce stress: Regular exercise, meditation and deep breathing exercises may help reduce your stress levels. If you regularly feel overwhelmed with stress, you may want to consider seeing a psychologist. Regular exercise, meditation and deep breathing exercises may help reduce your stress levels. If you regularly feel overwhelmed with stress, you may want to consider seeing a psychologist. Eat foods rich in polyphenols: Good sources include blueberries, red wine, dark chocolate and green tea. Polyphenols are not digested very efficiently and often make their way to the colon, where they are digested by bacteria. Summary: There are many ways to improve your gut health. Eating a healthy and diverse diet, getting good sleep and reducing stress levels are all great ways to help improve your gut flora.
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