"The Neglected Organ": Your Microbiome's Role as Guardian and Protector

Contributing Author: The Tortoise

Weizmann Institute of Science immunologist Dr Eran Elinav calls the microbiome -- the collection of commensal bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi which live in and on us -- our "neglected organ", both integral to the body, and with a microbial composition and function unique to each person.¹ Cornell University Professor of Immunotoxicology Rodney Dietert describes the lack of a complete or adequate microbiome in newborns the "equivalent [in many ways] of being born with a serious birth defect, resulting in inappropriately matured physiological systems."² Describing the 'seeding' of a complete microbiome at birth as "absolutely critical for a healthful life", Dietert states:

In the absence of effective microbiome-based training, the immune system does not learn what is safe outside of the body, resulting in haphazard, inappropriate reactions to innocuous environmental factors -- allergens such as pollen, mold, cat dander, and peanuts. It also fails to properly recognize and ignore internal targets, resulting in autoimmune and inflammatory responses that are misdirected, ineffective, and sometimes never-ending. Such reactions can eventually compromise the function of our own tissues and organs.³

With the microbiome not generally recognised to even exist until the late 1990s,⁴ medical science has been unaware, until very recently, of the critical role this overlooked 'organ' plays in our health and well-being. This role cannot be overstated. The human is a composite creature of single-celled organisms from all domains of life (eukaryotes, archaea, bacteria) and its own mammalian cells -- a composition Dietert calls a "superorganism".⁵ This superorganism that is the human is, by cell numbers, "approximately 90% microbial".⁶ The University of Washington's Ecogenetics Center describes humans as "mostly microbes", with microbes outnumbering human cells by ten to one.⁷ Residing mostly in the gut, this microbiome can weigh as much as 5 pounds (2 kg).⁸

While two-thirds of each person's microbiome development is unique to them, the result of lifestyle choices and environmental factors,⁹ the newborn's initial microbiome is largely inherited from the mother, 'seeded' through its birth via the birth canal.¹⁰ This process exposes the baby to vaginal microbiota and also maternal intestinal flora. Skin-to-skin seeding is also significant at birth. Dietert notes that "cesarean-delivered babies typically have altered immune profiles and are at an elevated risk for NCDs [non-communicable diseases] such as asthma, type 1 diabetes, and obesity."¹¹ The University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center's profiling of such non-communicable health conditions now known to be linked to a compromised microbiome include: acne, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, asthma, allergies, autism, auto-immune diseases, cancer, dental cavities, depression and anxiety, diabetes, eczema, gastric ulcers, hardening of the arteries, inflammatory bowel diseases, malnutrition and obesity.¹² The University of Washington's Ecogenetics Center states, more directly, that "autoimmune diseases appear to be passed in families not by DNA inheritance but by inheriting the family's microbiome."¹³ The vertical transmission of familial microbiome inheritance is, however, greatly complicated by modern living circumstances. Dietert points out that the

increase in cesarean deliveries, the reduced prevalence and duration of breastfeeding, overuse of antibiotics both as prescription drugs and in agriculture, modern urban living surrounded by sanitizers, and a general tendency to limit contact with the environment have changed our relationship with the microbes that are an integral part of our biology.¹⁴

An additional and important factor of microbiome health is not mentioned in Dietert's article -- the everyday consumption of fibre. Like Dietert, Stanford microbiologists Drs Justin and Erica Sonnenburg also believe there is a direct link between the health of the body's ecosystem of intestinal microbial organisms and 'Western diseases' such as irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, diabetes, allergies and food sensitivities. However, they believe that the root of the problem is the recently-evolved Western diet -- a diet high in processed foods which lack the abundant and diverse fibre we need.¹⁵ With such foods, digestion takes place in the stomach and small intestine, leaving too little fuel for the beneficial microbes in the large intestine to maintain themselves with. This leads to low bacterial diversity in the gut, unbalanced microbe communities, and a damaged microbiome. The change from traditional high-fibre hunter-gatherer diets to the last 100 years of the most processed and modified foodstuffs ever experienced in human history,¹⁶ has contributed to what the Sonnenburgs call a "mass extinction event" of the 100 trillion bacteria required to tune our immune systems and regulate inflammation.¹⁷ This dietary time frame correlates directly with the rise of non-communicable diseases. Dietert writes:

In less than 100 years, leading diseases and causes of death have shifted dramatically away from infectious diseases and heavily toward noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), not just in developed countries, but around the globe. NCDs are now the number one killer worldwide, accounting for 63 percent of all mortalities.^{18, 19}

For the generation which grew up in the 1920s, Dietert notes that

fear of infectious diseases -- including typhoid fever, cholera, and influenza -- far outweighed concerns about heart disease or cancer. Autism, Alzheimer's, attention deficit disorder, and Parkinson's disease were virtually unheard of. Allergies, then called hay fever, were around, but not common. Ratchet ahead...to the '80s and '90s, and the fear of cancer grew enormously, while a number of new diseases began to appear [...] Asthma, autism, lupus, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, attention deficit disorder, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, obesity, and diabetes, among others, became common concerns. Fast-forward another two decades to the present day, and it is not a matter of whether you, your friends, or family members have one of these ailments, but which ones and how many.²⁰

Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are also directly linked to the health of the microbiome. In an article for the American Psychological Association, Dr Suri Carpenter points out that gut bacteria manufacture approximately 95% of the body's supply of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which affects mood, sleep, memory, digestion, and increases feelings of well-being. In addition, the microbiome produces "hundreds of neurochemicals that the brain uses to regulate basic physiological processes as well as mental processes such as learning, memory and mood",²¹ rendering it, for University of California's Center for Neurobiology of Stress gastroenterologist Dr Emeran Mayer, "almost unthinkable that the gut is not playing a critical role in mind states."²² In other words, an unhealthy microbiome can lead to mental health instability.

For Dietert, "altered microbiomes and elevated risk of NCDs go hand in hand",²³ creating a modern living landscape where non-communicable disease is now a persistent, global, medical situation with the highest mortality rates. Without doubt, we need to preserve and maintain microbiome health. Damaging our microbiome can be far easier, and quicker, than replenishing it: research shows that gut bacteria depleted by diarrhoea or antibiotics take approximately 30 days to recover to their pre-diarrhoea or pre-antibiotics state.²⁴ So how can we look after our microbiome as best as we can? Here are three key ways:

1) Avoid processed and fast food

A Cornell University-Kings College experiment showed that even just 10 days of eating McDonald's fast food "devastated" the microbiome of a 23-year old male, with "massive shifts in his common microbe groups."²⁵ Kings College Professor of Genetic Epidemiology Tim Spector asked his son Tom to eat all his meals at McDonald's for 10 days, with additional beer and crisps in the evenings. Fecal samples were collected before, during and after the experiment, and sent to three different labs to ensure consistency. Within 4 days of the diet, Tom experienced lethargy, which continued to increase. His friends thought he had "gone a strange grey colour" by day 7.²⁶ The last few days were "a real struggle", with Tom feeling "really unwell".²⁷ After 10 days on the diet, Tom lost 50 percent of his Bifidobacteria (good bacteria which suppress inflammation), and his firmicutes (bacteria which helps us extract energy from food) had been replaced with obesity-linked bacteroidetes as the dominant type. In addition, he had lost an estimated 1,400 species of bacteria after just a few days -- nearly 40% of his total species diversity. Two weeks after ending the McDonald's experiment and returning to a healthy diet, Tom's microbes had not recovered.²⁸

2) Increase your prebiotics

Eat diverse and plentiful amounts of prebiotics (dietary fibre which feed the beneficial bacteria in our gut). Have as wide a variety of plant-based fibre as you can, as different microbes require different polysaccharides, the complex carbohydrates in plant matter which they feed on.²⁹ Research shows that there is a direct correlation between the food we eat, and the species of bacteria which responds: for example, the standard Western diet which is high in protein and fat produces greater proportions of the Bacteroides genus linked to obesity, while a high-carbohydrate, high-fibre diet, encourages higher numbers of healthy Prevotella bacteria.³⁰ Increasing your fibre choices will increase your microbiome diversity. As Spector notes, "the clearest marker of an unhealthy gut is losing species diversity... Loss of diversity is a universal signal of ill health in the guts of obese and diabetic people and triggers a range of immunity problems in lab mice."³¹ Good prebiotic foods include onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, asparagus, beets, cabbage, beans and legumes, bran, whole wheat and grains, oats, barley and bananas.³²

3) Probiotics can be useful

They certainly won't hurt. Aim for properly fermented foods which are full of beneficial lactic acid producing bacteria. These include yoghurt with live cultures, unpasteurised miso, kefir, tempeh and fermented vegetables such as pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi. NOTE: Always look for these foods in the refrigerated section, as shelf-stored varieties do not contain live bacteria.³³.

REFERENCES

1 How your gut bacteria govern your health -- and how you can change them for the better, Trust Me, I'm A Doctor, BBC Two

2 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

3 ibid.

4 Fast Facts About the Human Microbiome, Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health, University of Washington

5 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

6 ibid.

7 Fast Facts About the Human Microbiome, Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health, University of Washington

8 ibid.

9 The gut microbiome: how does it affect our health?, Honor Whiteman, Medical News Today

10 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

11 ibid.

12 The Microbiome and Disease, Genetic Science Learning Centre, University of Utah

13 Fast Facts About the Human Microbiome, Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health, University of Washington

14 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

15 Cute Family. And you should see their bacteria, John Swansburg, New York Magazine

16 Food processing: a century of change, Welch, R.W., & Mitchell, P.C., British Medical Bulletin, 2000, 56 (No 1) 1-17

17 Cute Family. And you should see their bacteria, John Swansburg, New York Magazine

18 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

19 The global economic burden of noncommunicable diseases, Bloom, D.E. et al, Geneva, World Economic Forum, 2011

20 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

21 That gut feeling, Siri Carpenter, Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association

22 ibid.

23 The sum of our parts, Dietert, Janice & Dietert, Rodney, The Scientist

24 Gut microbial succession follows acute sensory diarrhea in humans, Lawrence A. David, et al, mBio, American Society for Microbiology

25 Your gut bacteria don't like junk food, even if you do, Tim Spector, The Conversation

26 ibid.

27 ibid.

28 ibid.

29 Cute Family. And you should see their bacteria, John Swansburg, New York Magazine

30 Eat these 3 foods for a healthy gut, Johannah Sakimura, Everyday Health

31 Your gut bacteria don't like junk food, even if you do, Tim Spector, The Conversation

32 Eat these 3 foods for a healthy gut, Johannah Sakimura, Everyday Health

33 ibid.

Images from Pixabay

Harvard Study: Trans fats linked to highest mortality association amongst different dietary fats

Contributing Author: The Tortoise

A July 5th 2016 Harvard study has provided the most detailed and powerful evidence to date on how dietary fats affect health. In a study which followed 126,233 participants for 30 years, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers found that higher consumption of saturated and trans fats was linked to higher mortality compared with the same number of calories from carbohydrates, whereas higher consumption of unsaturated fats was associated with lower mortality levels.¹

The study found different types of dietary fats had different associations with mortality. High intake of unsaturated fats -- both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated such as olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil and coldwater fish oil -- was associated with between 11% and 19% lower overall mortality compared with the same number of calories from carbohydrates. Higher consumption of saturated fats (such as butter, lard, fat from red meats) was linked with greater mortality risk, with every 5% increase in saturated fat intake associated with 8% higher risk of overall mortality, when compared with the same number of calories from carbohydrates. Trans fats, however, were found to have the most significant adverse impact on health: every 2% higher intake of trans fat was associated with a 16% higher chance of premature death during the study period.²

So what is trans fat? While trans fat occurs naturally in small amounts in some meat and dairy products, most trans fat is produced through an industrial process which adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, causing the oil to become solid at room temperature. This partially-hydrogenated oil is less likely to spoil, so foods made with trans fat have a longer shelf life. Also called trans-fatty acids, trans fat is already known to raise 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol and lower 'good' (HDL) cholesterol, a combination which increases risk of heart disease.³ Trans fat, particularly the manufactured variety, appears to have no known benefit, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determining that partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil is no longer "generally recognized as safe", and should be phased out by 2018.⁴ Denmark has banned all but trace amounts of trans fat in food since 2003. In the UK, trans fats are not banned, but the Food Standards Agency has proposed greater transparency to food labelling with regard to trans fat amounts.⁵

With the Harvard study providing the strongest evidence yet of the risks posed by trans fats, every effort should be made to avoid these dangerous fats in our diet. Be aware that even if the nutrition label on a particular food says there is no trans fat, food brands are allowed to round amounts down to zero if there is less than half a gram. If the label mentions "partially hydrogenated oil", it means that trans fat is present.⁶

The following is a list of commonly-available foods often containing trans fats.

• Fried fast foods
• French fries
• Pie crust
• Margarine
• Shortening
• Frosting
• Non-dairy whipped dessert toppings
• Cake mixes
• Pancake and waffle mixes
• Non-dairy creamer
• Microwave popcorn
• Cookies and cakes
• Biscuits and sweet rolls
• Doughnuts
• Crackers
• Cream-filled candies
• Creamy frozen drinks
• Ice cream
• Frozen pizza
• Packaged pudding
• Tortillas
• White bread
• Crunchy noodles and instant noodles
• Microwaveable breakfast sandwiches
• Meat sticks
• Animal fat and dairy

REFERENCES

1. Higher consumption of unsaturated fat linked with lower mortality, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

2. Ibid.

3. Trans fat is double trouble for your heart health, Mayo Clinic.

4. The FDA takes step to remove artificial trans fats in processed foods, US Food and Drug Administration.

5. Trans Fats, NHS Choices.

6. 13 Foods Highest in Trans Fats, Dan Myers.

OTHER SOURCES

Avoid these 10 foods full of trans fats, Kristin Kirkpatrick.

22 Worst Foods for Trans Fat, Amanda MacMillan.

10 foods to avoid that contain hydrogenated oils, Sequoia.

Humpday Hint: Using Credit Cards Wisely

Contributing Author: Alice Krueger

Credit cards are useful ways to build credit ratings by showing future lenders that you are responsible in your spending and borrowing habits. They are also helpful in the rare financial emergencies.

Get the right card to begin with.

When you are first eligible for credit cards, you often are inundated with mailed offers from a variety of companies. To begin with, select just one card with a low spending limit. Choose one that also has a low annual fee and low interest rate. You’ll be building your credit rating by using this one card wisely.
Be sure you read your cardholder agreement carefully. It will explain all the fees and finance charges that apply to your type of account. If you have questions, call the toll-free customer service number, usually found on the back of the card or the top of each statement document.

Don’t use your credit card for everyday purchases.
That’s what cash or a debit card (that takes money directly from your bank account) are for. Use your credit card for purchasing more expensive, longer lasting items.

Check your budget first.
Don’t use your credit card to buy things you really can’t afford. Always follow your budget. Before using the card, you have to be sure you can repay it. Try to keep credit card debt low enough that your required payments never exceed 10% of your lowest monthly income.

Pay off as much of your monthly balance as you can.

Always make at least the minimum payment required each month. If you can afford to pay more than the minimum, do so. Pay off the entire balance whenever possible. The more you pay off each month, the lower the finance charges you will have to pay. You should try to keep the owed balance on your card lower than 70% of the card’s credit limit at all times.

Pay your credit card bill on time.
Be sure your payment will arrive before the due date. Paying your bill on time each month is one of the best ways to build good credit; it shows future lenders that you’re reliable. Plus it also helps you avoid being charged additional late fees.

Stay under your credit limit.
Credit card companies will charge you an over-limit fee if you spend over your specified limit (check your cardholder agreement for the exact percentage.) You can avoid this problem by keeping track of your credit card use during each month. Keep a slip of paper in your wallet to write down every time you use your card, and keep a running total. You’ll want to be sure you always have about 30% of your allowed total available in case of an emergency.

Cash advances are only for emergencies.
Don’t take a cash advance just because your credit card company offers one. Use advances only in real emergencies. You’ll probably be charged an additional fee for the cash advance, and the interest rate on cash advances is usually much higher than the regular interest rate for the credit card. Check your cardholder agreement document for full details.

Get debt help early.
If you’re in financial trouble, get professional help right away. If you feel you are getting into trouble with debt, get help soon rather than waiting for the situation to get worse. Set up an appointment with a credit counselor, an experienced financial professional who can help you plan ways to get out of debt.

Images credit: Pixabay

De-stress Effectively

Contributing Author: The Tortoise

Everyone handles stress differently. Some people can juggle family, children, work, personal fitness, housekeeping and the tax return without blinking. Others, however, can find it difficult to negotiate even minor stresses in life, such as mild criticism. Increasingly, also, there are people with health conditions which generate anxiety and depression, making it harder for them to handle stressful situations. And there are others who manage disabilities such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or Complex-PTSD, which can make it nearly impossible to face many kinds of everyday stressors at all. Because we live in an increasingly high-pressured world which puts constant demands on us, we need to learn to deal effectively with stress. Inability to handle stress can, in the long term, lead to ill health.

Here are 15 tips to help you de-stress effectively.

1) Give yourself enough time
Whether it's getting ready for work or an appointment, or preparing a meal or receiving guests, the key thing is to give yourself enough time. Wake up earlier, give yourself an extra 15 or 20 minutes so that you're not rushing about in a panic. The extra time will give you time to think, to do things calmly and properly, to centre yourself and assess the situation correctly. Do not rush out the door in a frazzle -- things tend to go downhill from there.

2) Create a calm corner
For some people, a 'calm corner' helps. Create a soothing space or room with colours along the gray, green or blue spectrum, rather than red, orange or yellow. Dress this space with items or memories which calm you, such as a photograph of someone you love and respect, or pictures of a favourite pet or place. Let this space trigger good, happy, positive feelings and associations.

3) The tidying tactic
Clean out your junk drawers or corners. Tidying your home or personal spaces will also tidy up your mind, give you access into areas you've procrastinated about, and set up a boundary between having 'done something' and 'done nothing'. Purging junk and unused things will give you a sense of order and satisfaction, of moving ahead in your life rather than standing still, and a feeling that you've done something tangible and purposeful. Visible organisation will help your mental organisation -- it is also a cleansing process which helps untangle your mental and emotional knots.

4) Visualise and discard
Visualise your stressful thoughts as clouds or packages which you deliberately set adrift and send away into the distance. This is to remind you that your thoughts are not YOU, they are products distinct from you, constructions of thinking, and that unpleasant or negative thoughts can be identified and tackled.

5) Watch cute animal videos
Watching cat, dog or fluffy animal videos is definitely a feel-good exercise, especially if you love animals. Pets exert a calming and soothing influence on people, partially because their presence is (mostly) free from the social and power politics embedded in (most) human interaction, and we tend to be more 'natural' and less guarded and tense in their presence. Watching animal videos can distract you from a stressful trajectory and take you to a different place, like a good book or movie might. When you return from that positive other place, you are more equipped to start afresh.

6) Sing out loud, loud
Singing aloud can release stress the way a 'stress-shouting session' can. Letting your voice out is a sensory exercise; you can hear your voice reverberating through your body, and it lets you put internal feelings into an action, sound and sensation you direct outwards and away from you. By letting your voice put it out there, you are helping to get the stress out of yourself.

7) Muscle the stress away
This exercise does two things: it relaxes your body physically, which relaxes the mind; and it is a powerful sensory distraction which takes your mind away from the stress. Working from the top of your head to your toes, tense individual groups of muscles for 5 seconds at a time, then relax. Do this several times. Work all muscle groups until your whole body is relaxed.

8) Take deep breaths
Deep breathing also relaxes the body and your mind. Take deep breaths through your nose, making sure your diaphragm expands well. The extra oxygen will slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure, helping with any stress.

9) Count your blessings
It might be a cliché, but it is still effective. Look for the silver lining, and be thankful for what you have, because it could certainly be worse. Be glad for all the good things in your life.

10) Let your nose help
Everyone has favourite smells and scents. Employing such favourite smells could be an aid to lowering stress. Smells have powerful associative connections to memories and emotions -- triggering a happy memory or sensation would certainly distract you from your current stressor.

11) Do something physical you enjoy
Doing something physical which you like -- such as gardening or rearranging the living-room furniture -- is a good technique to counter stress with. It focuses the mind on one thought or objective rather than let it dwell on the merry-go-round of stressful thoughts, thus breaking the negative repetition cycle in your mind.

12) Listen to nice music
Again, this is powerful re-direction technique. Listening to soothing music or favourite sounds, such as a bubbling brook, refocuses your mind on something else with good vibes, to break the stress cycle in your mind.

13) Exercise
A good bout of exercise will help defuse the flight or fight state that is stress, and rid your body of the unhealthy adrenalin that has built up. Exercise will also release feel-good chemicals such as endorphin, creating an all-over body high that may give you a new perspective on things.

14) Bring back good memories
Reminiscing about good, happy and funny memories is always a powerful de-stressing tool. "Remember when Dad was chased by that small goat?" stories bring back the laughter and associated emotions of favourite memories, which in turn leave you feeling good.

15) Help others
Not so strangely, perhaps, helping others is one of the most effective ways of getting rid of stress. Helping others makes you feel good about yourself -- and feeling good about yourself and your actions is what de-stressing is all about.

SOURCES

10 stressbusting strategies for your daily commute, Everyday Health

10 relaxation techniques that zap stress fast, Jeannette Moninger, WebMD

13 ways to beat stress in 15 minutes or less, Yelena Shuster, Health

Photos credit: Pixabay