When you hear the term germs, what comes to mind? If you are like most people, the notion of disease and pestilence comes to mind. But did you know there’s anything as good bacteria, and your body is stuffed with that? In naturopathic medicine, patients are taught different techniques to boost good bacteria, otherwise called flora, which may be seen in your digestive tract and reproductive organs.
Gut Flora
Whenever you have an imbalance of gut flora, it results in common issues, like issues digesting. But before we get into that, let us first discuss what gut bacteria does. Inside of your gut and other regions of the body, you’ll find colonies of different kinds of microbes. Everyone’s micribiome is unique (like a fingerprint). This is dependent on different factors, including your diet, medical history, where you live, lifestyle and ancestry. It’s a really intricate ecosystem and you will find nothing like it on this planet earth.
To provide some perspective, your body’s bacteria interrupts your cells by 10 to 1. Viruses outnumber bacteria 10 to 1. So right now, your body is full of over 100 trillion bacteria and a quadrillion viruses. All the organisms in your body are responsible for a specific function that’s required to maintain optimum health. As an example, your gut flora may improve your immune response, system function and may prevent a variety of ailments, including food allergies.
Did you know?
There’s an epidemic spreading throughout the earth. About 15 million Americans are living with allergies and one in every 13 children are plagued with this illness. This is the reason it’s suggested to have allergy testing performed to nail the allergen. Once you know what is causing your symptoms, you can get treatment from a naturopathic medicine clinic. In 1 study with mice, it was discovered that gut flora named Clostridia could help prevent your body from developing allergic reactions to foods.
What’s surprising is that after Clostridia bacteria numbers were revived in the mice, the food allergens were reversed. Further study demonstrated that Clostridia plays a major role in preventing leaky gut syndrome, which occurs when your blood is contaminated with allergens, resulting in an immune reaction. This has lead to a range of natural allergy treatment choices, like probiotic therapies and SLIT.
Remember
There’s no definitive answer to why allergies happen, but it is believed that modern hygienic and dietary practices play a major part in disturbing the natural bacterial makeup within your body. Including having C-sections, eating high fat diets, overusing antibiotics and bottle feeding formula to infants. Based on the results of the study “Bunning Food Allergy” conducted by the University of Chicago, these are the most probable causes of the current increase in allergies. Besides allergies, premature disruption of gut bacteria may also cause problems with your metabolism.
Final note
In a study done recently, babies which were exposed to antibiotics climbed up to have issues with obesity. This study was published in Cell, which showed that mice given antibiotics their first month of life were 25 percent heavier as they grew older and had 60 percent more fat. A diet change is required if you would like to keep healthy gut bacteria levels. As an example, you need to rule out grains, sugar, processed and pasteurized foods, chlorinated tap water, GMOs and conventionally-raised meat products. You can also speak with a doctor of naturopathic medicine to find out more about preventing an imbalance in gut flora.