What do you know about your Gut?

Our gut not only responsible for breaking down food and nutrients absorption. It is also home for trillions bacteria that made up a delicate balance of good bacteria and bad bacteria (gut flora). A good one must always outnumber bad one and keep it in control in order to perform a number of useful functions in the body which is important for good health. Disruption to the balance of this fragile microbial ecosystem at any point of time may lead to a lot of gut health problems such as bloating, intestinal pains, nutritional deficiencies and constipation and also seem to precede some diseases. The maintenance of healthy balanced gut flora becomes more challenging due to our modern day lifestyle. Factors such as stressful lifestyle, changing food habits (preferences for processed and sterile food), medications (especially highly dependence on antibiotic therapy) and increased aging population are contributing to the alteration of microbial population.

A healthy balanced gut flora plays a significant role in defending the invaders such as pathogenic bacteria, toxins, allergens, chemicals and pollutants from penetrating our body where they will cause health problems. This is also called gut barrier effect or gut barrier function. Beside the barrier function, there are increasing evidences that exhibit an intimate interaction between gut flora and immune defenses. In fact, our gut is also the largest immune organ in the body that approximately 70 -80% of immune cells resides in within. Thus, any alterations in the balance of gut flora especially during infancy can result in a skewed development of immune system.

FUNCTIONS OF THE GUT FLORA
1. Assist in the digestion and absorption of nutrients
2. Synthesize vitamins: folic acids, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B1 & B12
3. Assist in the absorption of minerals
4. Break down dietary carcinogens
5. Influence the development and function of the immune system
6. Form a natural defense barrier against bacteria, toxins and antigens
7. Protect body against infection