Apr. 21, 2022
We are what we Eat
Loreta Gia Stare, LPN
Title: “We are what we eat”
Abstract
I would like to present real life research, which is my own research that I have dedicated myself to it in May of 2018. The research is called “We are what we eat.” I work with patients every day and I have noticed that a lot of them are unhappy due to overweight, depression, uncontrolled blood sugar levels, and unhealthy lifestyle. I have always been an advocate and ambassador of healthy lifestyle, so I decided to propose them a challenge, challenge to join me as a group in changing the lifestyle to better healthier one.
Introduction
We cannot see them, but they are all around us, on us, in us. I am referring to prokaryotic organisms, for most people, organisms known as agents that cause a disease. It is true that some bacteria are responsible for human diseases (Hemorrhagic Colitis, Septicemia, Gastroenteritis, etc.….) but they are many bacteria that are not harmful instead they are very beneficial and necessary for human functions such digestion.
Life that we know would not exist without bacteria. Question is are they our friends or enemies?
Research: Diet, Gut Microbiota and Health
You are what you eat, the concept from 2000 years ago by Hippocrates known as The Father of
Medicine, who said:” Let Food be thy medicine”
Gut Microbiota, I would say an organ on its own. About trillions living in our body. Most of
microorganisms are residents in distal part of the large intestines. The gut microbes in the distal gut perform biosynthesis of vitamins and essential amino acids, and work on the byproducts left undigested from small intestines. All this work is done to protect the health of the host. Examples of bacteria in our Gut: Bifidobacterium a Gram positive obligate anaerobe that improves gut mucosal barrier and associates with reduced obesity, Bacteroides a gram-negative obligate anaerobe rod shaped that activates CD4 and T cells associated with Irritable Bowel syndrome.
World health organization worldwide has been working on their goal” Healthy people” for decades and set up some Healthy diet guidelines with standards and calorie intake of micronutrients and
Over the past 10 years more and more researches were done on human nutrition and influence on the gut microbiota and how interaction between the diet and gut microbial factors affects host health.
macronutrients to help with healthy weight management, but obesity is still a huge health issue and pandemic. I call it obesity pandemic.
Diet begins to influence the gut microbiota from the beginning of life, first human milk is introduced
and helps with maturation of microbiota in early infancy, then solid food Is introduced that helps with increase richness of gut microbiota, as we age, we will see decrease of that microbiota probably associated with decreased food diversity. That clearly brings to conclusion that gut microbial community is shaped by different factors such birth, breastfeeding, diet, age and environment. Gut microbiome responds to foods in few different ways. There is Direct mechanism where nutrients directly interact with microorganisms where they either promote their growth or inhibit their growth
Indirect mechanism is when diet delivery antigens will affect gut microbiota by affecting host
metabolism and the immune system.
Examples:
- reports of microbiome gene richness in response of eating fruit, vegetable and
fish in overweight humans.
- Supplementing diet and add iron to help decrease anemia in infants. Some bacteria are iron
scavengers and iron supplementation can than result in dysbiosis and growth of pathogens.
So, my question is Can a meal be medicine? I hope that one day we can go to the Doctor and
written prescription will state food as prescribed medication. Example: RX: Blueberries, Sig: one cup
three times a day, for memory improvement.
And over the years many researches have shown that there is a connection between the gut
bacteria and brain, bacteria in our gut produces metabolites that send signals to brain and other
parts of the body. If the gut bacteria based on what we eat changes, then the signals will change
too.
The studies were done in composition of the gut microbiota and their association to disease state.
Examples:
- patients with Irritable bowel syndrome tend to have less bacterial diversity and low
number of Bacteroides and Firmicutes. Reduce concentration of butyrate which is known to have
anti-inflammatory effect on the gut microbiome.
- Atherosclerosis has been linked to gut microbiota due to enhanced metabolism of choline and
phosphatidylcholine that produces pathogenic compounds such trimethylamine.
In conclusion:
Over the year’s researches show that there is an opportunity to use diet to modify gut bacteria in
order to achieve a healthier state in the host to reach the optimal homeostasis.
Many today diseases in industrialized and developing countries are related to the diet, but very little
is done for prevention. CDC (center for disease control) has launched a great new program Diabetes
Prevention Program. Many hospitals, insurances and Doctors office this day are offering classes.
I think more emphasis should be done to promote healthy eating and education about what is good
and what is bad to eat as diabetes prevention coach I have found trough my own researches that
high glucose numbers in my patient blood work results have a lot to do with what they eat, yes, I do
take in effect other risk factors such age, gender, ethnicity.
Results and Acknowledgment
Over past year that I have started this program I have seen a lot of positive results where Ha1c the
blood work that represents the glucose overall contents in a blood over a period 3 months has been
greatly improving with my patient’s diet.
Patient have been losing about 7% of their weight and dropping glucose numbers to normal levels,
such drop from HA1C 14 to 6.4 That’s more than proves that modifying the diet increases the
richness of our gut bacteria and improves our health.
Positive results shown by my patient in this program had gave me more strive towards working on
healthy eating project. I am determined that one day we will not just prevent Diabetes in
prediabetic patient, but that we will be able to reverse and stop Diabetes.
References:
Allford, J., Microbiome and our Wellness, Dec.1,2018
Resnik K. Singh, journal of Translational Medicine, April,2017
Niv Zmora, You are what you eat, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, volume 16, January 2019