Learning about cancer and the gut microbiome
So obviously, this was Helen’s first question to me. And, like most things in life, the most accurate answer is probably: “It’s complicated.” Continue reading “An Introduction to The Gut Microbiome, Probiotics and Prebiotics”
Brace yourself. This is a long one.
I’ve broken into down into six (hopefully helpful) sections so don’t feel you have to tackle it all at once. But you might want to get yourself a cup of (green!) tea before you start…
How the Gut Microbiome Makes Us Healthy
So, you should by now have a basic understanding of what your gut is and what the term “microbiome” refers to. (If not, please go back and have a look at my earlier posts: Gut Reaction: What is your gut? and What is a microbiome?)
But here comes the exciting stuff… Continue reading “What has the gut microbiome got to do with health and disease?”
I think I must have been one of the last people on the planet to have heard about the concept of a “microbiome”. I mean, I’ve been familiar with the idea of “good bacteria” in the gut, and the genital tract, for years as part of generally accepted medical knowledge. And any health professional who has ever needed to send swabs or samples looking for possible infection in any part of the body will know how common it is to have a report come back with “normal commensals” or “normal flora”, whether you are talking about a skin swab or a sputum sample (stuff you’ve coughed up).
So I have known that your body is covered, inside and out, with “bugs”, most of which do no harm most of the time, and may even help to protect you against invasion of some of the “bad” or pathogenic bacteria, but I had never heard of them being given a name collectively, and I had no idea that so much research had become focused upon them recently, particularly the bunch living in our guts (see Gut reaction – What is Your Gut? post).
Gut question!
This is your gut:
Well, your gastrointestinal tract actually. The word “gut” is clearly not a technical term… according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it comes from the Old English “guttas” literally meaning “a channel” (related to the German word “Gosse” meaning gutter or drain! Nice.). However, it is commonly understood to mean any or all of the gastrointestinal tract from the stomach to the anus, and most commonly the intestines in particular, comprising the small (ileum) and large (colon) varieties, as labelled on a diagram gratefully replicated from Wikimedia Commons above. Continue reading “Gut Reaction (What is Your Gut?)”
