The New York Post recently published an article on the bacteria’s influence on health. It outlines the research at the American Gut Project, a study that aims to map out the bacteria involved in our digestive system the same way that the Human Genome Project mapped out our genetic code. Some of the things they have uncovered give reason the change the way we think about health:
- There is overwhelmingly positive evidence that fecal transplants can cure C. Difficile infections
- Obese mice that have been transplanted with intestinal flora from thin mice lose weight and vice versa
- Timid mice when transplanted with the flora of braver mice, became more active and adventurous
- Mice injected with flora from malnourished children could not digest food properly
- Breast milk, nature’s most perfect food, contains a carbohydrate, oligosaccharide which for years confused scientists because this carb could not be broken down by the infant. Why would nature include something useless in such a perfect food? It turns out that oligosaccharides are not present to nourish the infant, but rather to nourish a certain class of intestinal bacteria. This is further evidence for the importance of breast feeding and also for the importance of bacterial health.
Click here for the full article.