A Dynamic Duo for Good Gut Health
Over 2000 years ago, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, stated that “All disease begins in the gut.” While this may not be 100% true, your gut bacteria and the integrity of your gut lining strongly affects your health. Good digestive health is essential for many things, including:
Bacterial diversity is important to a healthy gut, and diet has a major impact on determining which microbes take up residence in our guts long-term. A Western diet, high in fat and refined sugars but low in fibre, is thought to reduce microbial diversity.[6]
In a 2016 study, when mice were fed a low-fibre diet for 4 weeks, the levels of 60 percent of microbial species decreased significantly. About half of these returned to normal levels when the mice were switched back to a high-fibre diet but even a short burst of such an unhealthful diet left long-lasting effects, or “scars,” on the microbial diversity. More importantly, the loss of diversity became permanently established within four generations when the mice continued to consume a low-fibre diet.[7]
A high fibre diet supports bowel health but can also provide other health benefits as well, such as helping to maintain a healthy weight and lowering your risk of diabetes and heart disease.[8]
Fibre is not absorbed in the large intestine but acts as food for probiotics. It is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains and while it contains no calories, vitamins or minerals, it is very important to your health. Fibre not only feeds your good bacteria, but it also helps to keep our digestive tract working optimally by promoting and maintaining regularity.[9]
When it’s difficult to get enough fibre and probiotics into your diet, Renew Life® can help.
Ultimate Flora® Critical Care is a daily multi-strain probiotic blend that provides 50 billion live bacterial cultures in a convenient once daily capsule. It contains diverse strains of live bacteria to help support intestinal and gastrointestinal health. It is contained in specialized acid-resistant vegetarian capsules to help protect the live bacteria from harsh stomach acids and is available in both refrigerated and shelf stable formats.
FibreSMART® comes in both capsules and powder. The powder is an easy-to-mix flax-based dietary fibre supplement that can be added to water or juice to help support daily bowel health. It contains both soluble and insoluble fibre and has additional ingredients for the intestinal tract such as Marshmallow Root and Slippery Elm Bark. It contains no nuts, gluten, dairy and soy.
By Caroline Farquhar, RHN, EMP, BA – National Training Manager at Renew Life®
References:
[1] Krajmalnik-Brown R, Ilhan ZE, Kang DW, DiBaise JK. Effects of gut microbes on nutrient absorption and energy regulation. Nutr Clin Pract. 2012;27(2):201-214. doi:10.1177/0884533611436116
[2] Wu HJ, Wu E. The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity. Gut Microbes. 2012;3(1):4-14. doi:10.4161/gmic.19320
[3] Claus, S., Guillou, H. & Ellero-Simatos, S. The gut microbiota: a major player in the toxicity of environmental pollutants?. npj Biofilms Microbiomes 2, 16003 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/npjbiofilms.2016.3
[4] Rosenfeld, C. (2017). Gut Dysbiosis in Animals Due to Environmental Chemical Exposures. Available: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00396/full. Last accessed 27 Oct 20.
[5] Gerard Clarke, Roman M. Stilling, Paul J. Kennedy, Catherine Stanton, John F. Cryan, Timothy G. Dinan, Minireview: Gut Microbiota: The Neglected Endocrine Organ, Molecular Endocrinology, Volume 28, Issue 8, 1 August 2014, Pages 1221–1238, https://doi.org/10.1210/me.2014-1108
[6] Hewings-Martin, Y. (2017). Loss of microbial gut diversity a threat to health? Available: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319161. Last accessed 3 Nov 20.
[7] Sonnenburg, Erica D et al. “Diet-induced extinctions in the gut microbiota compound over generations.” Nature vol. 529,7585 (2016): 212-5. doi:10.1038/nature16504
[8] Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet. Available: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-andhealthy- eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983. Last accessed 20 Apr 20.
[9] Yang, J., Wang, H. P., Zhou, L., & Xu, C. F. (2012). Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: a meta analysis. World journal of gastroenterology, 18(48), 7378–7383. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378
About the Author: Caroline Farquhar R.H.N., E.M.P., B.A.
Specializing in digestive care and cleansing, Caroline has been educating audiences through seminars, TV and radio appearances across the country on the topic of how to achieve better health naturally. Caroline has written and published articles for magazines and websites, has created educational programs and taught at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Learn more about Caroline at renewlife.ca.