Probiotics and your DNA: Do they help?

In 2003 the human genome was almost completely decoded.

Scientists discovered that it is made up of around 25,000 genes, these genes are the units within our cells that hold our DNA and we that know when something goes wrong with our DNA it can cause disease.

But we then discovered that our gut holds many times that amount of DNA and we know very little about it or what it does.

So what is DNA?

DNA is what makes us look the way we do. It also predicts diseases that we may have inherited from our parents and grandparents.

Interestingly our genome doesn’t change throughout our lifetime.

But, the human genome is only the beginning of our DNA story.

Deep within our bodies, inside our intestines and mouth- and indeed any orifice or surface in our body- we have 100 times more DNA than in our genome.

This DNA lies within the bacteria in our intestine, mouth, lungs, skin and in women the birth canal.

Throughout our whole body live over 300,000,000,000 bacteria.

These bacteria which also hold our unique DNA make up our microbiome. But, for most of us we tend to ignore or forget about our microbiome day to day. Yet we all want to be healthy and we want our children to be healthy. So in this case we need to take care of our microbiome.

So what’s different about your genome and microbiome?

The most important difference is that your microbiome can change, whereas your genome cannot. So all that DNA in your intestine can change and your diet-among many other things- plays a huge role in that

So what can change your Microbiome?

Diet, exercise and stress can indirectly change your microbiome and in turn can change how our genetic material functions.
Pollution can also change your microbiome which means it can change the genetic material within your microbiome.
Being born by cesarean-section instead of coming through your mother’s birth canal dramatically decreases the diversity of your microbiome.
Smoking and infection can change your microbiome.
Taking antibiotics can change your microbiome so consider taking a probiotic the next time your are prescribed an antibiotic.

And there are probably many more environmental factors that we do not yet know about that can change your inherited microbiome. You get the gist!

The other significant difference between our genome and microbiome is that our microbiome is huge in comparison to our genome, and the microbiome carries the majority of your genetic material.

To make it more clear: the genome has 25,000 genes, the microbiome has over 50,000,000 genes.

So, can we change our microbiome to treat disease?

Research in this area has rocketed over the last ten years.

To date most studies have been in inflammatory bowel disease-ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease,-and in irritable bowel syndrome.

There are four ways in which the gut/intestinal microbiome can be directly altered to treat disease:

1.Taking antibiotics,

2.Eating a diet enriched with prebiotics (e.g food high in fibre which promote the growth and activity of good bacteria, eating a diverse range of plants and vegetables not just peas carrots),

3.Eating food rich in probiotics ( good bacteria) or indeed taking probiotics, and

4.Faecal microbial transplant (FMT) when the faeces of a healthy person’s gut and transplanting it into the intestine of someone with intestinal issues such a severe infection of the intestine.

We are still learning about how we can care for, and improve our microbiome to improve our health. WE do not have definite answers and what exactly works for each person but we know that food diversity is essential to nutrifying our intestines and in turn ensuring the genetic material in our intestine remains as healthy as possible.

Many people take probiotics but perhaps do not see any effects. Like most things in medicine there are no magic answers and it takes many treatments/lifestyle changes together to see change.

As mentioned above exercise and stress have profound effects on our microbiome. Breast-feeding your child, being born via the birth canal versus a C-section, getting out into nature and even having a dog at home!

But what we eat today matters more than it did 60 years ago.

the reason for this is that our soils, the land our crops are grown in are much less nutrient dense than ever before. So the plants we eat do not contain the same nutrients as those eaten 60 or 100 years ago. This means we have to more plants to increase our nutrient intake towards what our bodies need and have always needed. We use pesticides and herbicides in our food production, these chemicals are found in everything you eat from cheese to tomatoes to the fruits we enjoy. What we ingest affects our gut and in turn our microbiome.

So what about just taking a probiotic, can this fix your microbiome on its own?

Not all commercial probiotic preparations will have the same effect on each person and we do not know fully the effects of long term probiotic manmade preparations.

Some doctors believe that the probiotic era- taking probiotic preparations- will follow the antibiotic era: we will over use them which could result in other unforeseen diseases.

There are some medical guidelines that recommend the use of probiotics in irritable bowel disease, chronic fatigue and recurrent urine infections; but they do not work for everyone and they should be supported by naturally occurring probiotics. Some people with irritable bowel feel much better after taking a probiotic for a few months and this can allow the bowel to regulate itself in order for a healthy diet to maintain the good bacteria in the intestine.

The most important thing to remember is that foods that are naturally rich in pre and probiotics are the key to a healthy microbiome.

This means eating a wide range of plant based food, fermented foods, nuts, seeds, root spices such as ginger and turmeric, fermented drinks like kefir.
Try and eat at least 20-30 different plants types a week, ordering an organic vegetable box is a good place to start, making soups, adding nuts and seeds to your breakfast or as a snack. Eating fermented yogurts, adding fresh herbs to your meals.
Eat fresh fruits in season if possible. Eat the skins. try and eat organic if you can.

Do probiotics help in inflammatory bowel disease?

Overall research is still lacking on the effectiveness of probiotics pills in inflammatory bowel disease, but there are some studies showing benefit of the specific probiotic preparation in the prevention of pouchitis, which is seen in surgery for ulcerative colitis and a type of bowel cancer where the whole large bowel is removed and with it its microbiome.

It is easy to take a probiotic preparation without much thought to its potential side effects.

As explained above I think it’s a good idea to start with natural foods first, and if still needed try a probiotic for 8-12 weeks to see if it helps. A probiotic with lactobacilli and bifidobacterium is recommended, as most research has been done involving these bacteria.

Natural yogurt does contain bacteria if not pasteurised however, many of the live cultures do not survive the stomach acid. In the UK our supermarket sells yogurts that are pasteurised. Some do have added live cultures so try and buy these.

Kefir- fermented coconut water/husk contains lots of live bacteria and does survive the stomach acid.

There are many other fermented foods that increase the diversity of your microbiome so try and add them to your weekly shop.

My favourites are sauerkraut and kimchi.

Kombucha drinks contain a lot of sugar so remember to go easy on this.

Get your children interested in healthy foods and learning about their health. Avoiding processed foods- which are often high in hidden sugars and devoid of good bacteria- is a healthy place to start.

We have had a fermenting scobi ( that thing int he picture above) in our fridge for the last two years, so I hope to make some Kombucha soon and get the kids involved in the whole process!

Probiotics and your microbiome