Tag Archives: microbiome

Questions & Answers

The Microbiome And Your Blood Pressure

Statistics show that about 19% of people in the United States have high blood pressure that can’t be effectively controlled using medications.

In many cases, high blood pressure is called “idiopathic,” meaning that the cause is unknown. It’s hard to treat something when the underlying reason hasn’t been determined.

The research community has been doing a lot of work regarding the human microbiome. We now know that bacteria in the gut have links to many different health conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, depression, anxiety, autoimmune conditions, to name a few.

Is there a link with high blood pressure. I recently read a study that included about 40 people with normal blood pressure, 50 people with “pre-hypertension,” and 99 people who had progressed to full out hypertension. When they looked at the gut flora of the study participants, they found that people with normal blood pressure tended to have the highest diversity of gut bacteria.

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Subjects with pre- or full out hypertension had a smaller number of bacterial species in their gut. The study doesn’t establish cause and effect, but it’s a starting point for understanding the link between the gut and blood pressure regulation.

If you look at some South American countries and indigenous tribes with more diverse gut flora, they don’t usually have high blood pressure, diabetes, or a lot of the chronic diseases seen in Western countries.

In the future, they may have been able to identify the specific species of gut bacteria that help to keep the blood pressure normal. But in the meantime, you need to control your blood pressure. Stick to your medications but also consider improving your diet by eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. These foods will boost the health of your gut and your health in general.

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Questions & Answers

What Does Soap Do To Your Microbiome?

Have you ever thought about how your gut could be affected by the chemicals in dishwashing liquid?

Why not shift to a more natural kind of a product? May common dishwashing liquids use chemicals like surfactants which break down the grease and grime.

Some of these soaps also consider chemicals like triclosan. Triclosan is an antibacterial substance that used in hand soaps, dishwashing liquids, and chemical cleaning products.

I read an interesting study from 2000 that showed triclosan is associated with methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial problem found in hospitals.

Further readings:

I recommend being very careful about using products with triclosan because it may disrupt your microbiome.

Another study demonstrated that children whose parents/caregivers hand-washed dishes had fewer allergies than children whose parents used the dishwashing machine.

I think the take-home message from this study is to use natural soaps without harsh chemicals when washing your dishes. The goal is to preserve your beneficial bacteria.

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Questions & Answers

The Connection Between Your Mood And Your Microbiome

How do gut and bacteria affect your mood?

It’s interesting. All the years that I practiced as a naturopath, I had this strong feeling that gut health had a significant impact on mood. I saw the relationship quite early on in my practice.

I noticed years ago that people who ate vegetables, lean meats, fruit, seeds and nuts, and whole grains with only light alcohol consumption had a much better mood than those eating potato chips, pizza, and soda pop. People who ate a lot of junk tended to be much more depressed.
Scientists are now validating my observations.

I think one of the first people that noticed the link between the GI tract and mood was a doctor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Dr. Sven Peterson is an experimental biologist who made the connection between the gut and the brain way back in the 1980s or 90s.

Now, I’m excited by all the different research institutions which are researching the impact of the microbiome on mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

Dr. Cray is a scientist who has compiled a list of about 60 substances in the gut that impact neural response. We know that that a lot of the bacteria in the gut produce chemicals that affect nerve endings. These chemicals can influence whether your mood is good or bad.

Further readings:

There are gut bacteria called Dialister and Coprococcus that can influence the brain.

Coprococcus produces butyrate, an anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acid. Coprococcus also can impact the dopaminergic pathway, which is the pleasure pathway in our brain. In other words, this bacteria may be able to make people feel better.

We don’t know yet what factors are causative and what factors are just associated. But we can say there is a connection between the gut flora and our brain.

That’s the reason I tell people to avoid artificial sweeteners. I recommend getting rid of all the junk in your diet.

If you eat junk, you’re going to feel awful. If you eat great food, you’re going to look and feel great.

Eat well, feel well. That’s a motto worth following.

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