When talking about bacteria in the past, people's first reactions were mostly negative. Because the early popular science propaganda liked to call bacteria "germs", implying that they would bring diseases. But now people don't see it that way, because with the joint efforts of scientists and science workers, more and more people realize that bacteria are good or bad. A good intestinal flora can not only help the host digest some difficult-to-digest foods, but also decompose harmful substances in the food, and even "squeeze out" bacteria that are harmful to the human body through competition, without giving these bad bacteria a living space. .
So, where do good bacteria come from? The answer is our ancestors. Studies have shown that most of the intestinal flora has lived with humans for millions of years, and they have evolved together with us. In fact, because the ancients had poor sanitary conditions and no antibiotics were available, the types of intestinal flora of the ancients were far more abundant than that of modern people, and there were naturally more good intestinal flora.
Aleksandar Kostic, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School in the United States, published a paper in the journal Nature published on May 12, 2021. DNA analysis of the stool samples below revealed that the intestinal flora in ancient people was 1/3 more than that in modern people. For example, a kind of Treponema bacteria existed in all 8 ancient samples he analyzed, but even today's hunter-gatherers can hardly find this kind of bacteria. They are likely to have disappeared from the earth. .
Kostich believes that this result shows that in the past 1,000 years, the human intestinal flora has experienced a mass extinction event, and it is very likely that humans will never return to the past.
For living individuals, 1,000 years seems to be a long time, but for biological evolution, 1,000 years is very short. Our gut microbiota has lost 1/3 of its biodiversity in the past 1,000 years, and our body has no time to adapt to this change. Perhaps this is the reason why the proportion of modern people suffering from various chronic diseases is increasing.
We often say that to protect biodiversity, intestinal flora should also be included. In this case, how should we cultivate and protect good intestinal flora? There are currently three known methods that can help us do this.
First of all, the whole body of the baby is sterile in the mother's womb, but it will be quickly "conquered" by the bacteria in the environment as soon as it is born. If it is natural production, the first "occupation" of the baby's digestive tract is almost all the flora from the mother's birth canal, which is good bacteria in most cases. But if it is a cesarean section, it depends on the good fortune of the child. Because whether it is a bed sheet or medical equipment, as well as the hands and arms of doctors and nurses, there must be a lot of bacteria. As long as they come into contact with the baby, these bacteria will quickly "occupy" the baby's entire body, because the newborn's immune system is not yet fully developed, and immunity is almost non-existent.
In other words, if possible, pregnant women should try their best to choose natural childbirth and pass their intestinal flora to their children in this way. If you must choose a cesarean section, you should find a way to make the newborn baby quickly contact the mother's intestinal flora, so as not to give the bad bacteria in the environment a chance.
In addition, breast milk also contains a lot of intestinal flora from the mother, so breastfeeding is healthier than milk powder, especially in the first few weeks of birth, it is best to use breastfeeding.
Secondly, any broad-spectrum antibiotic will kill a large number of good bacteria, which applies to both newborns and adults. Good intestinal flora can inhibit the reproduction of bad bacteria, which is why adults often have diarrhea after taking broad-spectrum antibiotics.
For babies, the side effects of antibiotics are even greater. Because in the first two years after the baby is born, the immune system will be "trained" to learn how to distinguish good bacteria. If antibiotics are taken at this time, this training program will be disrupted, causing the child's immune system to fail to distinguish between enemy and friend when he grows up, and he will attack good bacteria at will. The result is habitual diarrhea and intestinal inflammation. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, antibiotics should be avoided to newborns as much as possible.
Finally, if an adult has frequent diarrhea and intestinal inflammation, it means that his immune system has a problem and he is starting to attack good bacteria. Is there any way to control this overactive immune system? The answer is to increase the activity of Paneth Cells. This cell is located in the epithelial tissue of the digestive tract, and its main function is to regulate the activity of the immune system and protect bacteria.
Previous studies have shown that people with a larger body mass index (BMI) have less healthy Paneth cells in their digestive tract. But Dr. Thaddeus Stappenbeck, director of the Department of Inflammation and Immunity of the Cleveland Clinic in the United States, used a special strain of mice to conduct experiments and found that the body mass index and the health of Paneth cells did not Direct relationship. These mice were all overweight because they couldn't control their appetite, but the Paneth cells in their intestines were normal and their functions were fine.
Next, the researchers changed a new recipe, 40% of its calories come from fat and sugar. After two months of feeding, these mice also became obese, but this time the Paneth cells in the mice became abnormal. This shows that obesity alone is not enough to change the intestinal flora of mice, and the food structure is the culprit.
The researchers wrote the experimental results into a paper and published it in the journal "Cell Host & Microbe" (Cell Host & Microbe) published on May 18, 2021. The author believes that the problematic new recipes are very similar to the typical Western diet, and they are both high in sugar and fat. This result explains well why Westerners are more likely to suffer from digestive tract inflammation. They ate too much fat and sugar, destroying Paneth cells in the digestive tract, leading to disorders of immune function.
The good news is that the researchers switched back to the normal diet halfway through. As a result, it only took 4 weeks for the Paneth cells in the mice to return to normal. This shows that the healthy state of the intestinal flora can be restored by changing the diet. As long as you eat a little more mixed, don't eat so much fat and sugar.
In short, we must learn to grow together with good intestinal flora. The method is to start small, adhere to a healthy diet, and reduce the use of antibiotics.
