The term bacteria will be enough for you to raise your eyebrows if you have not known anything about the good bacteria living in our body. Good bacteria are the ones that live in your gut to protect you against many health problems. This is the type of bacteria that everybody should have for better health, digestion, and immunity.

With research pointing towards the benefits of gut bacteria in human body, more and more people have started looking for food options rich in probiotics. The microbiome in your gut plays a major role in your body functions. It not just stays there in the gut to offer a shield to the digestive system, but it also provides signal to complete defense system of the body. Some of the facts about gut bacteria worth knowing are given here.

What is human microbiome?

Human microbiome is the bacterial ecosystem within human body or gut are instrumental in maintaining the defense mechanism. There are about trillions of such microbes or microorganisms in intestinal area that would never harm the body and in fact it would be beneficial to human health.

The microbiota or microbiome depends on various factors such as diet, age, gender, and genetics of an individual, which means every persons microbiota is unique just like the fingerprint.

daWhy is it called second brain?

The usefulness of gut bacteria can be evaluated from its nickname given by the scientists. Its nickname is second brain. This nickname is given as the gut bacteria is found to be communicating with neurons regarding the possible dangers and reactions occurring because of any foreign body entering the stomach. It gives signals like what food is irritating the stomach lining or what bacteria are not good for the body functioning and so on. It actually works as the second brain and hence named so.

What are its health benefits?

  • Fights virus to restrict frequent cold and flu episodes.
  • It stabilizes your appetite and also regulates weight.
  • The microbiome also known as second brain is also good for cognitive health.
  • Controls your mood and stress levels.
  • Hormone called serotonin is produced with the help of gut bacteria.
  • Forms stool by acting as digestive fiber.
  • Boosts immune system significantly.
  • Repairs damaged tissues and cells.
  • Helps in absorption of necessary nutrients from the food that you eat.

When can microbiome be harmful?

Gut bacteria of every individual is unique and the body of that individual would listen only to his or her set of microbiome. When diverse conditions change the basic structure of this microbiome, the problem starts! This is when you eat out at some place where stale food is served or when you go to completely different location where the dietary habits are totally different from your normal one then the chances are there that your microbiome changes its form and that wont be as beneficial to you as your original gut flora. This is the reason why many people fall sick when they change the location or are travelling and have the water from different regions. Water plays a major role in changing the gut flora and hence people prefer to carry bottled water whenever they are travelling to foreign regions.

How to get more of gut bacteria?

The health benefits of gut bacteria suggest that you should have more and more of this bacteria in order to enjoy good health. There are many foods that would give rise to the microbe number in your body. You will have to increase the intake of such foods that possess probiotics. Yoghurt is very rich in probiotic and hence nutritionists recommended a small portion of yoghurt with every meal. Curd when taken with meals would aid digestion of the food and would also help in absorbing the nutrients from the food well. Other foods that are worth including in your diet are apple, milk, wheat, honey, legumes, garlic, mushroom, stone fruit, mango, and watermelon. Fermented foods also provide good bacteria in adequate amount. Change your diet in order to include more and more probiotics for better results.

Diversity of gut bacteria can really help!

Even when you put in all efforts to increase the gut bacteria in your body, there may be instances that you dont get good results in terms of health. This is because of lack of diversity of gut bacteria. A right combination of diverse colonies of bacteria can help in healing your body more effectively.

Gut bacteria are the good bacteria known for protecting you from many ailments. Include them wisely in your diet and maintain them to increase its number to get healthy body. Healthy gut would keep you happy and may also affect your day to day body functions positively.