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High-fiber diet keeps gut microbes from eating colon's lining, protects against infection. It sounds like the plot of a 1950s science fiction movie: normal, helpful bacteria that begin to eat their host from within, because they don't get what they want. But new research shows that's exactly what happens when microbes inside the digestive system don't get the natural fiber that they rely on for food.

Starved, they begin to munch on the natural layer of mucus that lines the gut, eroding it to the point where dangerous invading bacteria can infect the colon wall. In a new paper in Cell, an international team of researchers show the impact of fiber deprivation on the guts of specially raised mice. The mice were born and raised with no gut microbes of their own, then received a transplant of 14 bacteria that normally grow in the human gut. Scientists know the full genetic signature of each one, making it possible to track their activity over time.

The researchers also saw that the mix of bacteria changed depending on what the mice were being fed, even day by day. 6 Natural Metabolism Boosters. Can you really boost your metabolism? When most people think of what it means to have a “high metabolism,” they picture someone who’s “luckily” naturally thin. We assume these people can maintain a healthy body composition mostly due to their genetics, despite whether they try to eat a healthy diet and exercise or not. While a properly working metabolism is definitely important for preventing unwanted weight gain, boosting your metabolism is also critical for many other bodily functions related to maintaining general health. What does “metabolism” really even mean? Technically, metabolism is all of the chemical reactions that take place in a living organism every day to keep it alive. Every single system within the body, from the endocrine system to digestive system, is linked to our rate of energy production at the cellular level.

Are You in Need of a Metabolism Boost? How do you know if you’re in need of a boost to your metabolism? How Diets Can Sabotage Your Metabolism 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Microbiome: Bacterial broadband. The Human Microbiome: considerations for pregnancy, birth and early mothering | MidwifeThinking. Updated and edited: October 2015 This post was co-authored by Jessie Johnson-Cash and based on her presentation at the USC Midwifery Education Day. The human microbiome is rather fashionable in the world of science at the moment. The NIH Human Microbiome Project has been set up to explore correlations between the microbiome and human health and disease. To date the human microbiome as been associated with, amongst other things obesity, cancer, mental health disorders, asthma, and autism. In this post I am not going to provide a comprehensive literature review – this has already been done, and the key reviews underpinning this discussion are: Matamoros et al. (2012) ‘development of intestinal microbiota in infants and its impact on health’ and Collado et al. (2012) ‘microbial ecology and host-microbiota interactions during early life stages’.

Instead I am going to focus on what this means for pregnancy, birth, mothering and midwifery. What is the human microbiome? Birth Postnatal Summary. The infant gut microbiome: New studies on its origins and how it's knocked out of balance. A fecal sample analysis of 98 Swedish infants over the first year of life found a connection between the development of a child's gut microbiome and the way he or she is delivered. Babies born via C-section had gut bacteria that showed significantly less resemblance to their mothers compared to those that were delivered vaginally. The study, which appears May 11 in Cell Host & Microbe's special issue on "The Host-Microbiota Balance," also found nutrition to be a main driver of infant gut microbiome development--specifically the decision to breast-feed or bottle-feed.

"Our findings surprisingly demonstrated that cessation of breastfeeding, rather than introduction of solid foods, is the major driver in the development of an adult-like microbiota," says lead study author Fredrik Bäckhed of The University of Gothenburg, Sweden. "However, the effect of an altered microbiome early in life on health and disease in adolescence and adulthood remains to be demonstrated.

" Susan Lynch and Kei E. Seeding the Cesarean Born Baby. Updated July 24, 2015. Your body is made up of many cells. They are all over your body, not simply inside. Some of these cells are a part of you, other cells are bacteria that live in your body and on your skin. Many people have heard that bacteria live in the gut and help us digest food. Here is an example: Perhaps you have experienced a problem with your bacteria with something like a yeast infection following antibiotics.

This is where the antibiotics also disturb the good bacteria that help keep our body in check, thus causing an overgrowth of yeast. Joshua Lederberg first described the microbiome “to signify the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space and have been all but ignored as determinants of health and disease. So what does this have to do with birth, babies, and in particular, babies born by cesarean?

So how do you help infants who are born by cesarean with the lack of variety of microbes? Dr. Sources: Glogin?mobile=1&URI= Stress during pregnancy affects babies' brain development. Stress during the first trimester of pregnancy alters the population of microbes living in a mother's vagina. Those changes are passed on to newborns during birth and are associated with differences in their gut microbiome as well as their brain development, according to a new study by University of Pennsylvania researchers.

During a vaginal birth, a newborn is exposed to its mother's vaginal microbes, collectively known as the microbiota, which importantly colonizes the newborn's gut, helping its immune system mature and influencing its metabolism. These effects take place during a critical window of brain development. Babies born by C-section miss out on this initial exposure and are more likely to be exposed to and their guts then colonized by other bacteria in the local environment, including the mother's skin and potential pathogens in the hospital. In addition to Bale, the study was conducted by postdoctoral researchers Eldin Jašarevi?

Source: University of Pennsylvania. Maternal stress alters offspring gut, brain through vaginal microbiome -- ScienceDaily. Changes in the vaginal microbiome are associated with effects on offspring gut microbiota and on the developing brain, according to a new study published in Endocrinology, a journal of the Endocrine Society. The neonate is exposed to the maternal vaginal microbiota during birth, providing the primary source for normal gut colonization, host immune maturation, and metabolism. These early interactions between the host and microbiota occur during a critical window of neurodevelopment, suggesting early life as an important period of cross talk between the developing gut and brain. "Mom's stress during pregnancy can impact her offspring's development, including the brain, through changes in the vaginal microbiome that are passed on during vaginal birth," said one of the study's authors, Tracy Bale, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kombucha Tea - History, Health Benefits & Insanity. Kombucha Tea – History and Health Benefits Kombucha is a unique, fermented tea that has been used for millennia to lower blood pressure, improve digestion, and boost the immune system. It is alkaline-forming, simple to brew, and extremely inexpensive. Kombucha is a simply combination of tea, sugar, water, and starter culture which has been used for thousands of years dating back to the Tsin-Dynasty in 221 B.C. – a Chinese Empire – where they called it “the remedy for immortality.” It was later brought to Japan by Dr. Numerous scientific studies have shown that kombucha tea helps populate the intestines with probiotics (beneficial bacteria), enhances the immune system, fights off deadly pathogens and protects vital organs. Like yogurt, kombucha contains healthy bacteria in the form of lactobacillus acidophilus and a dozen other probiotic strains.

Kombucha Insanity You may also remember the FDA calling for kombucha to be removed from store shelves claiming it contained alcohol. The infant gut microbiome: New studies on its origins and how it's knocked out of balance. Microbirth: The Importance of Seeding Your Baby's Microbiome. By Dr. Mercola Microorganisms in your gastrointestinal tract form a highly intricate, living "fabric" that plays an integral part in your health, affecting everything from body weight and nutrition, to chronic diseases of all kinds.

It is very susceptible to toxins, and one in particular can wreak havoc on your microbiome. Beneficial gut bacteria are very susceptible to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Studies have already confirmed that glyphosate alters and destroys beneficial gut flora in animals. Each individual's community of gut microbes is unique, and the groundwork for each person's gut flora is laid from birth. Baby's Microbiome Is Seeded at Birth This is the topic of the featured documentary film, Microbirth, directed by Alex Wakeford and Toni Harman. "Two amazing events happen during childbirth. Mode of Birth Influences Your Baby's Microbial Profile Indeed, research shows that the mode of delivery affects the infant's microbial profile.

Probiotics: myth or miracle? The chances are, you think you are an individual. Within a few social, economic and legal constraints, you probably see yourself as pretty autonomous. The reality, however, is that you are more of an ecosystem than an individual. There are 10 times more microbial cells in your body than human ones. In recent years, scientists have developed a greater understanding of the important roles played by the 100tn or so bugs the average person carries. After decades of focusing on how to kill bacteria with soap and antibiotics, we are coming round to a more nuanced appreciation of the symbiotic relationship we have with them.

As our knowledge of the importance of the microbes in our bodies grows, the big question is whether it is possible to give our gut flora a helping hand. Research also suggests that healthy gut bugs can improve the effectiveness of some cancer therapies. When it comes to mundane colds and respiratory infections, the evidence is mixed. Holobiont: What Obstetricians Aren’t Trained To Care About. 'Keizersnede zet immuunsysteem baby op achterstand' Foto: thinkstock Dat verklaart mogelijk een verhoogde kans op allergieën. Die conclusie trekken Zweedse onderzoekers in de nieuwste editie van Gut. De Zweedse onderzoekers bestudeerden poep- en bloedmonsters van vijftien kinderen die op de normale manier ter wereld kwamen en negen kinderen die via een keizersnede werden geboren. Ze deden dit een week en één, drie, zes en 24 maanden na de geboorte. De keizersnedekinderen hadden een significant minder diverse darmflora bij alle meetpunten. Vooral het aantal soorten Bacteroidesbacteriën was lager.

Dit zijn nuttige bacteriën die vooral koolhydraten afbreken. Verder bleek dat deze kinderen ook minder signaalstoffen in hun bloed hadden van zogeheten T-helpercellen van het type 2, die allergische reacties onderdrukken. Vijf keer hogere kans Uit eerder onderzoek was al gebleken dat kinderen die via een keizersnede ter wereld zijn gekomen een vijf keer hogere kans hebben op allergieën dan kinderen die op de normale manier worden geboren.

Bacterievrij. Autism's Gut-Brain Connection | Fast Forward. Stress can send your stomach into a painful tailspin, causing cramps, spasms and grumbling. But trouble in the gut can also affect the brain. This two-way relationship may be an unlikely key to solving one of medicine’s most pressing — and perplexing — mysteries: autism. Nearly 60 years after the disorder was first identified, the number of cases has surged, and the United Nations estimates that up to 70 million people worldwide fall on the autism spectrum. Yet there is no known cause or cure. The gut bacteria in individuals with autism aren’t just different… they may actually contribute to the disorder. But scientists have found promising clues in the gut. Today autism is treated primarily through behavioral therapy.

Autism is a complex spectrum of disorders that share three classic features — impaired communication, poor social engagement and repetitive behaviors. Treatment for autism may one day come in the form of a probiotic — live, ’friendly’ bacteria like those found in yogurt. Babies' Gut Bacteria Are Mostly Fixed By Time Spent In The Womb. Your gut bacteria won't change much. Credit: ponchicaBG By Nicholas Ellaby, University of Liverpool From eyes to the gap between the toes, we are covered in bacterial colonies. Between 500 and 1000 unique species live in our gut alone. We provide an ideal environment for bacteria: warmth, moisture, nutrients and protection. Once the food is mechanically reduced through chewing, bacterial communities in the gut get to work. Right from birth, these have been cultured for specific tasks: some love fats while others prefer complex proteins.

And gut bacteria’s function is not limited to just digestion. Their function is so important that these gut bacteria can be considered an organ in their own right, one that performs enzymatic food degradation to which, until recently, we have been oblivious. Where do gut bacteria come from? These bacteria are placed in our guts mostly during and just after birth, coming from the mother, the immediate environment and the child’s initial feed. Babies' Gut Bacteria Are Mostly Fixed By Time Spent In The Womb.