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“WHERE THINGS SO SMALL CAN HAVE A MASSIVE IMPACT ON YOUR HEALTH.”
Herbsprout is a webblog and podcast dedicated to sharing the health benefits of herbs, food, innovations related to our gut microbiome. Herbsprout seeks to bridge the vast chasm dividing the mainstream medical community and alternative medicine.

Gut microbe series 2: Lactobacillus, the tangy taste; false beliefs about lactic acid

Mar
22
thread
Gut microbe series 2: Lactobac...
Lactobacillus, a type of bacteria found in some fermented foods and supplements, offers several potential health benefits. Lactobacillus aids in digestion, supporting the immune system, promoting gut health by balancing the intestinal microbiota. It is believed to reduce the risk of certain gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Some research suggests that certain strains of lactobacillus may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, though more studies are needed to confirm these effects. They protect humans against potential invasions by pathogens, and in turn, we provides a source of nutrients for lactobacillus.

Lactobacillus is a genus of gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. The genus Lactobacillus comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically diverse species; a taxonomic revision of the genus assigned lactobacilli to 25 genera, according to Wikipedia.
 
Lactobacilli metabolise carbohydrates to produce lactic acid. Lactic acid is fuel for your cells during intense exercise. It’s created when your body breaks down glucose and other carbohydrates. Contrary to common belief, “lactic acid build up” is a misnomer; it does not cause muscle soreness nor does it build up in your muscles, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
 
Certain foods contain lactobacillus because they undergo a fermentation process where lactobacillus bacteria naturally occur or are added as starter cultures. During fermentation, these bacteria convert sugars into lactic acid, which not only helps preserve the food but also gives it its characteristic tangy flavor. As a result, these foods become rich sources of probiotics, beneficial bacteria that can support digestive health and overall well-being when consumed.
 
Foods that contain lactobacillus include:
 
1. Yogurt: Particularly those labeled as containing live and active cultures.
2. Kefir: A fermented milk drink made with kefir grains containing lactobacillus bacteria.
3. Sauerkraut: Fermented cabbage that can contain various strains of lactobacillus.
4. Kimchi: A traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish usually made with cabbage and radishes, which contains lactobacillus bacteria.
5. Miso: A traditional Japanese seasoning made by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji (a type of fungus), often containing lactobacillus.
6. Tempeh: A fermented soybean product that contains lactobacillus bacteria.
7. Pickles: Fermented cucumbers can contain lactobacillus depending on the fermentation process.
These foods can be part of a balanced diet and contribute to gut health due to their probiotic content.
 

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Gut microbe series 1: Role of Bifidobacteria to our gut health

Mar
20
thread
Bifidobacteria are a type of beneficial bacteria found in the gut, known for their probiotic properties. They help maintain a healthy digestive system and support overall immune function.
Bifidobacteria supports the balance of gut microbiota, which plays a crucial role in immune function. They can stimulate the production of certain immune cells, regulate inflammation, and enhance the gut barrier function, thereby reducing the risk of infections and promoting overall immune health.
Bifidobacteria can stimulate various immune cells, including certain types of T cells, such as regulatory T cells (Tregs), which help maintain immune tolerance and prevent excessive inflammation. They can also promote the production of immunoglobulins, such as IgA, which play a key role in mucosal immunity, protecting against pathogens in the gut and respiratory tract.
Foods that commonly contain Bifidobacteria include yogurt, kefir, certain types of cheese (like Gouda and cheddar), fermented vegetables (such as sauerkraut and kimchi), and some types of sourdough bread. These foods can help promote a healthy balance of gut bacteria.
Author: Chris Kenji Beer, with help from ChatGPT
 

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Gut friendly combinations when making a meal

Mar
7
thread
Gut friendly combinations whe...
While Glamour magazine featured the most common fermented healthy foods in a January 25 2024 article (top 5 are Greek yogurt, kefir, miso, kimchi, and sauerkraut)(1), Eating Well (January 27 2024 issue) recommends roasted salmon (omega-3 fatty acids), smokey chickpea, greens (antioxidants) with quinoa, wild rice or barley (prebiotic fiber), as the ideal gut friendly meal combination, according to Diana Mesa, RD, CDCES, founder and owner of En La Mesa Nutrition (2).
However, keeping a sugar-free diet is the key to staying healthy in the sugar-intensive diet of the U.S.
Stevia is believed to be among the healthiest non-sugar sweeteners primarily because it is derived from a common plant you can grow in your backyard.
Stevia is a non- nutritive sweetener (NNS) that has demonstrated beneficial effects on appetite and energy intake. A January 18 2024 clinical study of 28 participants published in Nutrients found no significant effects on our gut microbiome when consuming the natural sweetener Stevia (3).
The study showed a decrease in Akkermansia (gut lining) and an increase in Faecalibacterium. However, the only genus significantly different at 12 weeks was Butyricoccus, another gut-lining, butyrate-producing species (4). For people with gut lining/ intestinal disorders such as IBS and obesity, this may be cause for caution.

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Friendly gut bacteria show resilience after antibiotic treatment

Feb
28
thread
Friendly gut bacteria show resi...
A new study reported January 18 2024 in Science Alert has found antibiotic resistance genes is giving our gut bacteria an ongoing advantage over microbes that cause us harm. They have beneficial effects “by promoting microbiome resilience to antimicrobials,” says University of Massachusetts bioinformatician Shakti Bhattarai (1).
In a study of 24 patients, Bhattarai and his team found that friendly bacteria reestablish strong presence in the gut following initial imbalance caused by antibiotics treatment.
Although antibiotic treatment severely destabilizes patient gut microbiota, repopulation of nonpathogenic bacteria between 6 to 24 months in the treatment, a process that was promoted by the emergence of mutated, antibiotic resistance in commensal species, adds original editor Catherine Charneski in Science (2)
 
 

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Gut microbial effects and Keto diet on epilepsy found

Feb
26
thread
Gut microbial effects and Keto ...
It’s been known that diet creates some sort of shift in the gut’s microflora. Their functions in our digestive system influence a variety of neurological functions including those that influence epilepsy.
 
“The complexity of the brain, the hundreds of bacterial species that comprise the gut microbiome and the diversity of metabolites make it almost impossible to discern how bacteria impact brain function,” says Woo Kyu Kang, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Alkema lab of UMass Chan Medical School, author of the current study.
 
In the study Kang, who worked with co-author Mark Alkema, fed diets of a single bacterial species, a mutant C. elegans, with their ability to produce vitamin B12. According to Dr. Alkema and Kang, vitamin B12 reduces the levels of choline in the body, a compound found in various foods that metabolizes fat in the liver, leading to increased seizures.
 
While C.elegans is believed to reduce epileptic side effects due to its vitamin B12 production, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus have been linked to positive effects on mood, stress, and cognitive function.
 
A mice study by lead authors, UCLA molecular biologist Gregory Lum and Elaine Hsiao, found that the keto diet; fat-rich, carbohydrate-poor diets somehow reduce the risk of seizures in those with refractory epilepsy, according to a January 02 2024 Science Alert report.
 
 

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プレバイオティクスとプロバイオティクスの共生。Prebiotic- probiotic symbiosis

Feb
9
thread
source: dreamstime paid license. source: dreamstime paid license.
プレバイオティクスとプロバイオティクスの共生。 
プロバイオティクスとプレバイオティクスは共生関係を維持する。例えば、プレバイオ
ティクスは、乳酸菌やビフィズス菌のようなプロバイオティクスの量と活性を高めま
す。
プロバイオティクスには腸の潜在的な水素(pH)を変化させ、免疫システムを高める力が あります。米国⻝品医薬品局(FDA)と世界保健機関(WHO)によると、プロバイオ ティクスは現在、「十分な量を摂取すると宿主に健康上の利益をもたらす生きた細菌」 と呼ばれています。 効果的なプレバイオティクスは、腸内微生物叢の構成を変化させ、有益な細菌の増殖を 促進しながら、有害な(病原性)細菌の増殖を阻害します。 プレバイオティクスには、結腸内の細菌の蔓延を促進し、人間の健康を改善することに より、有益な非消化性⻝品成分が含まれているとヒンダウィジャーナルが追加しまし た。「1」
プロバイオティクスは、人体のさまざまな領域に存在する特定の細菌種をサポートでき ます。プレバイオティクスは有益な微生物叢の拡大を促進し、プロバイオティクスの餌 として機能します。プロバイオティクスは、「結腸内のカルシウムやマグネシウムなど のたくさんのミネラル、発酵の副産物としての短鎖脂肪酸(SCFA)や乳酸の生成、そ して宿主の免疫システム」をサポートします。
ファーミクテス属、プロテオバクテリア、バクテロイデス属、アクチノバクテリア、お
よびフソバクテリアは、口腔微生物叢で最も蔓延している細菌であることをヒンダウィ
が報告しました。健康な人間の肺は無菌であると一時的に考えられていましたが、肺組
織にも細菌が存在する可能性があることが複数の研究で示されています。この肺微生物
叢には、放線菌、バクテロイデテス、ファーミクテス、およびプロテオバクテリアが含
まれます。
物理的および化学的な変動があり、さまざまな肌タイプで多様な微生物叢組成を作り出 します。しかし、2022年11月のヒンダウィ報告書によると、放線菌、バクテロイデス 属、シアノバクテリア、ファーミクテス属、およびプロテオバクテリアが皮膚微生物叢 の大部分を占めているとのことです。「1」

Probiotics and prebiotics maintain a symbiotic relationship. For example, Prebiotics enhance probiotics like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in quantity and activity.
Probiotics have the ability to alter gut pH and boost the immune system. Probiotics are currently referred to as “living bacteria that, when eaten in sufficient numbers, provide the host with health benefits” according to both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Effective prebiotics can change the composition of the gut microbiota, encouraging the growth of helpful bacteria while inhibiting the growth of harmful (pathogenic) ones.
Prebiotics have beneficial non-digestive food components by promoting the prevalence of bacteria in the colon, improving human health, adds the Hindawi report.
Probiotics can support specific bacteria species present in different regions of the human body. Prebiotics encourage the expansion of beneficial microflora, serving as food for the probiotics. They support “the amount of minerals in the colon, such as calcium and magnesium, creating short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and lactic acid as a byproduct of fermentation, and the host immune system”.
Hindawi reports that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Fusobacteria are the most prevalent bacteria in the oral microbiota. Although it was once thought that human lungs in good health were sterile, multiple studies have shown that bacteria can also be found in lung tissues. These lung Microbiota include Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria.
There are physical and chemical variations creating diverse microbiota compositions in various skin types. However, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria make up the majority of the skin microbiota, according to the November 2022 Hindawi report.

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microbiome variability complicates but improves personalized treatment

Jan
24
thread
source: dreamstime paid license source: dreamstime paid license
Personal variability includes genetic variation and environmental factors, but also our gut microbiome, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and eukaryotes. The microbiome, which consists of diverse microorganism communities, is also a contributor to inter-individual variation, according to a December 18 2023 report from Nature.com.
The variation can complicate early detection analyzing the human microbiome, however its modulation may drive effective and safe personalized treatment.
Adds the Springer Link report, gut-based approaches to health care involves microbiota, such as the development of personalised nutrition and probiotic approaches, identifying therapeutic components of probiotics, “faecal microbiota transplantation, and the incorporation of genetically modified bacteria that express therapeutic factors into microbiota.”
#guthealth #gutmicrobiome

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プロバイオティクスの活動を追跡するために作成されたツール; Tool created to track probiotic activity

Jan
7
thread
プロバイオティクスの活動を追跡...
 2023年12月19日のThe Conversation記事によると、複数の研究によって裏付けられて いる500億ドルの米国のプロバイオティクス市場は、体内の有害な細菌や便秘を予防 し、コレステロールと血圧を下げ、ビタミン生成をサポートし、免疫システムを高める ことを示す。「2」 しかし、他の研究では、プロバイオティクスが特定の健康上の問題に対処するには限界 があることが強調されています。プロバイオティクスの効果を測定する方法はあります か?
 
クレムソン大学のカルロス・ガルシアとジョージ・チュマノフは、酸化還元を通じて細 菌の代謝活動を検出する帯電したカーボン製のセンサーツールを作成しました。「2」 テストには、米国の店舗でテストツールを使用して広く販売されている人気のプロバイ オティクスヨーグルトとビールを使用しました。この検査では、乳酸菌、ビフィズス 菌、サッカロミセスなどの種の種類は区別されませんが、代謝活性のレベルが判定され ます。このツールを作成する前は、プロバイオティクスのモニタリングは大規模で費用 がかかりました。

The $50 billion US probiotics market is backed by multiple studies showing they prevent harmful bacteria in the body and constipation, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, supports vitamin production, and boost the immune system, according to a December 19 2023 article in TheConversation.

However, other studies highlight the limitations probiotics have to address specific health issues. They are only as helpful as they are live active cultures. Is there a way to measure the efficacy of probiotics?
 
Clemson University’s Carlos Garcia and George Chumanov created a sensor tool from electrically charged carbon that detects the metabolic activity of bacteria through oxidation reduction, per the Conversation.
For testing, they used popular probiotic yogurt and beer, widely sold in U.S. stores using their test tool.
While the test does not distinguish the type of species such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Saccharomyces, it determines their level of metabolic activity. Before creating this tool, monitoring probiotics has been extensive and costly.
 
#datascience #fiber #gutbacteria #gutmicrobiome #health #healthtech #herbalmedicine #nutrition #probiotics

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Daily fiber key to disease prevention

Dec
27
thread
paid license of dreamstime. paid license of dreamstime.
A short-term intervention in daily fiber consumption can significantly alter the gut microbiome and nutrient intake, according to a study led by University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers. “The lack of fiber intake in the industrialized world is starving our gut microbes,” says UCI professor Katrine Whiteson who co-directs UCI’s Microbiome Initiative, and conducted the dietary study.
Though humans cannot digest fibers from fruits, vegetables and whole grains, our gut bacteria uses fiber to make healthy byproducts such as short-chain fatty acids, according to the UC Irvine report.
The students who participated in the two week fiber enriched diet tracked their gut microbial composition. The two-week intervention significantly altered individual gut microbiome composition, including an increase in the abundance of Bifidobacterium, according to the UCI report.
The study was supported by the UCI Microbiome Initiative (https://microbiome.uci.edu/) at the University of California, Irvine and Thistle. An education outcome-focused manuscript was published last year:
 

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Gut friendly veggies for the fall season

Dec
14
thread
Gut friendly veggies for the fal...
Tis pumpkin season, and scientists say consuming pumpkins hold the promise of good gut health, even protection against type 2 diabetes. “Number one, they increase the beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia, which we love,” says Will Bulsiewicz, M.D. in a recent “Eating Well”interview (1). “Number two, they lower unhealthy bacteria like Biophila. Number three, they increase gut diversity,” he continued.
Another friendly fall food is beets, a good source of nitrates. Our bodies convert nitrates into nitric oxide which relaxes our blood vessels, says Bulsiewicz (2). Other veggies he recommends are acorn squash and purple cabbage.
 
 
 
 

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