- The bacteria in our colon weighs on average 1.5kg and is as heavy as our brain
- Dietary changes will alter our microbiota in a matter of hours such is the rapidity at which microbes can grow/reproduce/take-over
- Most of the neuro-transmitters in our body are in our gut not our brain
- The gut microbiome is unique to an individual. Even identical twins who share 99.5% of their genes only share about 20% of their microbiomes
- The number of bacteria on and in our body is roughly the same as the number of cells that make up our body; this is if we include red-blood cells which have no nucleus and are characterised by a lack of genetic material. With this in mind the amount of genes that make up our body is only 10% compared to the genetic material made up by our bacteria
- Processed foods contain many substances that have been shown to negatively alter gut flora. This is a likely cause for the dramatic increase in obesity observed in the last 30 years. Calories alone cannot explain this when comparing the amount consumed 100 years ago which was, on average, greater than today.
- Gut flora is highly sensitive to our emotions and to our sleep patterns
- Raw or/and fermented organic foods bring additional organisms that are beneficial to our gut microbes while non-organic foods contain substances that are poisonous to it (pesticides, herbicides etc.)
- The more diverse our microbiome the stronger our health and resistance to disease. Western diet is responsible for a dramatic reduction in gut bio-diversity while a plant-based whole food diet will promote it
- Chronic and degenerative diseases, including obesity, all have common elements rooted in the gut microbiome.
I will be running a workshop on the use of probiotics for different issues and fermented vegetables on the 1st of October 2017