{"id":14067,"date":"2020-09-02T01:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T05:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=14067"},"modified":"2020-09-10T10:34:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T14:34:09","slug":"healthy-gut-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Gut Bacteria: Why You Need Good Microbes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are gut microbes? What makes good gut bacteria and what makes bad gut bacteria? How do you get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-balance-gut-bacteria\/\">healthy gut bacteria<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Healthy gut bacteria, or gut microbes, are important for healthy digestion. Good microbes protect you from toxins and keep you well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about healthy gut bacteria and gut microbes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Are Gut Microbes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You have about five pounds\u2019 worth of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, molds, viruses, and worms in your intestines, on your skin, and in the air around you. Collectively all these critters\u2014called microbes\u2014make up your holobiome.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Microbes live and feed on you, but your well-being is also dependent on them.<\/strong> Most of your microbes live in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract\u2014your gut; these make up your microbiome. Healthy gut bacteria are needed for several critical jobs:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Break down and digest food, extracting the energy and distributing it to you in the form of fats<\/li><li>Act as a first response team for your immune system, detecting harmless or harmful proteins and bacteria<\/li><li>Absorb materials through food<\/li><li>Protect you from outside objects passing through your intestines<\/li><li>Communicate with your brain and control certain body functions<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To understand why the microbes\u2019 functions are so important, you must understand how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-gastrointestinal-tract-plant-paradox\/\">the GI tract<\/a> is designed to work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Healthy Gut Bacteria Keep the GI Tract Contained<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of your GI tract as a tunnel under a river: When you drive through the tunnel, you\u2019re not <em>in<\/em> the river, you\u2019re just passing <em>through<\/em> it. Similarly, food that passes through your intestines is not <em>in<\/em> your body as much as it\u2019s passing <em>through<\/em> it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recall from chapter 1 that the intestinal wall is formed of tightly locked cells designed to prevent big molecules from passing through to the rest of your body. You need healthy gut bacteria in your GI tract to break down food into tiny molecules of amino acids, fatty acids, and sugar, which <em>should <\/em>be the only things that pass through the intestinal wall.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However,<strong> lectins and LPSs can breach the intestinal wall, prompting the immune system to attack.<\/strong> Additionally, regular use of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs, e.g. Advil, Motrin, ibuprofen, Aleve, and aspirin) damages the protective mucus layer that lines the intestinal walls, making you even more susceptible to foreign objects breaking through the barrier and entering your body.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Healthy gut bacteria help you survive and thrive when they\u2019re in the intestine and doing their jobs, <strong>if microbes escape through your breached intestinal wall into your body, they become another invader for your immune system to attack, wreaking havoc on your health. <\/strong>Suddenly, good gut bacteria becomes bad.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Good Gut Bacteria and Bad Gut Bacteria<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You and your microbes have a symbiotic relationship: You rely on them (whether or not you know it) and they rely on you. As such, it\u2019s in your microbes\u2019 best interest to keep you in good health; they\u2019re in constant communication with your brain and body to control your hormones, appetite, cravings, and other functions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this balance can be disrupted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you kill your good microbes with certain foods and products\u2014or starve them by <em>not<\/em> eating certain foods\u2014bad microbes can take over and harm your health. Bad microbes have no interest in keeping you healthy. They only want what benefits them; <strong>bad gut bacteria hijack the communication between your gut and your brain and drive you to crave sugars, fats, and unhealthy foods that nourish them but harm your health.<\/strong> When we get into the details of the PPP later, you\u2019ll see that the first step to recovery is getting rid of your bad microbes so the good ones can regain control.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Supplements for Healthy Gut Bacteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Phytochemicals<\/strong>: The phytochemicals in leafy greens nourish your good microbes and ease your cravings for foods that feed bad microbes. Besides eating lots of leafy greens, you can increase your phytochemical intake with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Diindolylmethane (DIM)<\/li><li>GundryMD Primal Plants (created by the author)<\/li><li>Modified citrus pectin (powder or capsules)<\/li><li>Spinach extract<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Polyphenols<\/strong>: Polyphenols nourish your good microbes, dilate your blood vessels, and prevent an artery-clogging molecule from forming from certain animal proteins. You can get polyphenols from:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Berberine<\/li><li>Cinnamon<\/li><li>Cocoa powder<\/li><li>Grape seed extract<\/li><li>Green tea extract<\/li><li>Mulberry&nbsp;<\/li><li>Pine tree bark extract<\/li><li>Pomegranate<\/li><li>Resveratrol (the polyphenol found in red wine)&nbsp;<\/li><li>Vital Reds (created by the author)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prebiotics<\/strong>: Prebiotics feed the probiotics\u2014or microbes\u2014in your holobiome, while starving the bad microbes. Recommended prebiotics include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)<\/li><li>Galactooligosaccharides (GOS)<\/li><li>GundryMD PrebioThrive (created by the author)&nbsp;<\/li><li>Inulin powder, a type of FOS<\/li><li>Psyllium husks<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are gut microbes? What makes good gut bacteria and what makes bad gut bacteria? How do you get healthy gut bacteria? Healthy gut bacteria, or gut microbes, are important for healthy digestion. Good microbes protect you from toxins and keep you well. Read more about healthy gut bacteria and gut microbes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,43],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-14067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-self-improvement","tag-the-plant-paradox","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Healthy Gut Bacteria: Why You Need Good Microbes - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your body is filled with bacteria and the gut microbes are necessary for your survival. 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Here&#039;s what healthy gut bacteria is and what it does.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-02T05:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-10T14:34:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/healthy-gut-bacteria-plant-paradox-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Healthy Gut Bacteria: Why You Need Good Microbes\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-02T05:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-10T14:34:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/\"},\"wordCount\":777,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/healthy-gut-bacteria-plant-paradox-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Plant Paradox\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/\",\"name\":\"Healthy Gut Bacteria: Why You Need Good Microbes - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/healthy-gut-bacteria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/healthy-gut-bacteria-plant-paradox-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-02T05:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-10T14:34:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Your body is filled with bacteria and the gut microbes are necessary for your survival. 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