Beneficial Bowel Bacteria – Our Neglected Friends

My guess is the welfare of the bacteria living in our colons was not a topic for discussion at your last social gathering – but that may change. Within our intestines live trillions of organisms that are so important to our health and survival that they should be thought of as a vital organ – just like our livers or kidneys.  The gut microflora is the name we give to this living factory, whose beneficial functions include: completing the digestion of our foods through fermentation, protecting us against disease-causing microbes, synthesizing water soluble vitamins, and stimulating development and function of our immune systems.¹ 

Most people think of bacteria as dangerous and dirty.  In truth, the vast majority of organisms living in this microscopic world is helpful, or at least not harmful, to our lives.  Our intestinal tracts contain a complex and diverse society of disease-causing (pathogenic) and “friendly” bacteria.   Rule number one is simple: dominance by the “good guys” will crowd out and leave no room in our intestines for the harmful ones.  In addition to digesting remnants of our meals and synthesizing vitamins, the helpful bacteria play an important role in the development of the immune system by maintaining a constant dialog with our internal bodies through the surface of the gut. Our microflora also influences many of our hormones.  The health consequences from an imbalance of our sex hormones can lead to precocious puberty, fibrocystic breast disease, PMS, uterine fibroids, prostate enlargement, and breast, uterine, and prostate cancer.  When our bowel bacteria really get out of control severe forms of colitis and colon cancer can be the consequences.

The Microbial Factory

Bacteria are not distributed randomly throughout the intestinal tract, but are found in different numbers and kinds in different regions of the gut. The mouth provides a fertile garden for millions of bacteria; but the stomach, because of the acid, and small intestine contain very low numbers.  The final five feet of the intestine, known as the large intestine or colon, works as a microbial factory with more than 500 different species of bacteria living in a 3 pound (1.5 Kg) mass of partially digested matter.  Within the colon the concentration of bacteria reaches 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) organisms per gram (1/30^th of an ounce) of feces.  Bacteria make up about 60% of the weight of the feces.  The microflora are so important to our well-being that after a person’s colon is surgically removed (colectomy), the last part of the small intestine (ilium) takes over this vital role and becomes colonized with a similar biomass of bacteria.²

The health of the flora can become impaired by temperature, illnesses, antibiotics and other drug treatments, and changes in our diets.  The effects of antibiotic therapy can be profound and persistent, even causing a life-threatening infection with overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria (called Clostridium difficile).

Colonization Begins with the Newborn

Before birth the gastrointestinal tract of a normal fetus is sterile.  During the birth process the newborn is inoculated, by passage through the birth canal, with organisms from the mother’s vagina and bowel.³  Benefits to the infant begin immediately with this natural defense barrier of “friendly” bacteria standing against harmful microbes that will enter later on with touching, suckling, kissing, and caressing.  The importance of this early invasion should not be underestimated.  This initial invasion makes a permanent impression on our immune systems, thereby affecting a person’s well-being throughout his or her life.  Newborns delivered by cesarean section do not get a healthy dose of mother’s bacteria.  Born through the abdomen, much of their initial bacteria come from the unhygienic environment of a hospital.   However, this setback can be remedied by the initiation of proper infant feeding after birth – and helped by the addition of infant probiotics (see below).

Breast feeding encourages the growth of “friendly” bacteria known as Bifidobacterium.  These vital organisms protect the baby from gastrointestinal infections that can result in illnesses severe enough to require hospitalization, and sometimes cause death.  Mother’s milk contains sugars (galacto-oligosaccharides) which encourage the growth of these friendly bacteria. By the fourth day of life, Bifidobacterium represent 48% of the bacteria in breast-fed infants as opposed to 15% in bottle-fed infants.⁴ Eventually, over 95% of the bacteria become Bifidobacterium bacteria in an exclusively breast-fed baby.  Introduction of small amounts of formula to a breast-fed baby will result in shifts from a breast-fed to a formula-fed pattern of the microflora.  After weaning from breast milk – ideally after the age of 2 years – the child’s flora become similar to an adult’s.

Change the Diet – Change the Microflora

The partially digested remnants of our meals, after arrival in our large intestines, become the foods for our microflora.  Each species of bacteria survives best on specific kinds of nutrients. In short, “friendly” bacteria prefer to dine on plant-food remnants, and pathogens thrive when the diet is low in plant foods and high in meat and other “junk-food.”  Therefore, what we choose to eat determines the predominance of the bacteria species that will live in our gut.  By changing from a diet based on animal- and highly processed-foods to whole plant-foods, you can suppress the growth of harmful bacteria and stimulate those that are beneficial.   Major alterations in the microflora take place within one to two weeks of changing a person’s diet.⁵

Bacteria enjoy the parts of the plant foods that we don’t use.  Undigestible complex carbohydrates, known as dietary fiber, and other smaller undigestible sugars, called oligosaccharides, provide the bulk of the food for our bowel bacteria.  Only plants contain these complex and simple carbohydrates (except for milk as above).  The undigestible simple sugars are abundant in artichokes, onions, chicory, garlic, leeks, and to a lesser extent, cereals.  Beans, peas, and lentils contain the oligosaccharides, raffinose and stachyose, that feed our bowel bacteria and, quite noticeably, form the infamous flatus.  Purified wood cellulose, which has been used to manufacture some “high-fiber breads,” is not broken down by the microflora.  Because only plants contain these microflora-nourishing sugars, strict vegetarians (vegans) have been found to harbor much higher counts of “friendly” bacteria than do meat eaters.^6,7

Manipulating Our Microflora with Probiotic Supplements

Purposefully adding particular species of bacteria has the potential of rebalancing the intestines and thereby improving a person’s health.  Probiotics are used for this purpose and are sold as foods and pills (supplements) that contain millions of friendly bacteria, and sometimes yeast.   Probiotics can be purchased in the natural food stores – they are usually found in the refrigerated section; some are labeled as “newborn formulas” and others are sold for improving the flora of a child or adult.  Probiotics have no toxic effects.  Scientific research has discovered specific species of bacteria must be used in order to achieve specific benefits when treating health problems.
 

Prebiotics and Synbiotics

Prebiotics are nondigestible simple sugars (oligosaccharides) sold as pills and liquids that stimulate the growth and/or activity of “friendly” bacteria already present in our intestines.  Prebiotics are very effective for relieving constipation, and hold some promise for the prevention of gallstones and for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.   Examples of undigestible sugars used as prebiotics are: FOS (fructooligosaccharides), GOS (galactooligosaccharides), inulin (not insulin), lactulose, and lactitol.  Two prebiotics prescribed by doctors, lactulose and lactitol, have been effectively used to treat patients with liver failure (hepatic encephalopathy).⁵  They may also be helpful in the prevention of colon cancer.^13,14

These commercial products have no toxic effects.  They can act as a mild laxative in small amounts, but may produce flatulence when consumed in large amounts. Combining probiotics (the bacteria) with prebiotics (the bacteria’s food) results in a logical partnership, called synbiotics. You will most often find synbiotic products sold as mixtures of bacteria with FOS. Because the McDougall diet is made of starches, vegetables and fruits which contain a wide variety of undigestible sugars that feed and stimulate the growth of “friendly” bacteria, people consuming such a diet require no additional prebiotics to obtain optimal health benefits form their microflora (natural or enhanced by probiotics).

Who Should Alter Their Gut Bacteria?

Everyone should encourage the growth of a healthy microflora by eating the right foods, and avoiding antibiotics, whenever possible.  This means a “breast milk diet” for infants and a healthy pure vegetarian diet (like the McDougall diet) for children and adults.  Newborns, delivered by cesarean section, and bottle-fed babies may benefit from probiotics specifically designed for infant use.  Probiotics may be warranted after a course of prescribed antibiotics in order to help reestablish a healthy gut flora.  Lastly, if, after doing all you can for yourself with a healthy diet and lifestyle, you still suffer from unresolved problems, such as irregular bowel movements, indigestion, elevated cholesterol, or arthritis, then you may want to try enhancing the activity of your microflora with these kinds of supplements.  You have little to lose – there are no undesirable side effects and the costs are minimal.  You have everything to gain with the probability of improved health thanks to your always working factory of “friendly” microflora.

References:
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2) Christl SU, Scheppach W.  Metabolic consequences of total colectomy. Scand J  Gastroenterol Suppl. 1997;222:20-4.

3) Mackie RI, Sghir A, Gaskins HR.  Developmental microbial ecology of the neonatal gastrointestinal tract.  Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):1035S-1045S.

4) Rubaltelli FF, Biadaioli R, Pecile P, Nicoletti P.  Intestinal flora in breast- and bottle-fed infants. J Perinat Med. 1998;26(3):186-91.

5) Peltonen R, Ling WH, Hanninen O, Eerola E. An uncooked vegan diet shifts the profile of human fecal microflora: computerized analysis of direct stool sample gas-liquid chromatography profiles of bacterial cellular fatty acids.  Appl Environ Microbiol. 1992 Nov;58(11):3660-6.

6) Reddy BS, Weisburger JH, Wynder EL.  Effects of high risk and low risk diets for colon carcinogenesis on fecal microflora and steroids in man. J Nutr. 1975 Jul;105(7):878-84.

7) Toivanen P, Eerola E.  A vegan diet changes the intestinal flora. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2002 Aug;41(8):950-1.

8) Montrose DC, Floch MH. Probiotics used in human studies. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2005 Jul;39(6):469-84.

9) Fedorak RN, Madsen KL.  Probiotics and prebiotics in gastrointestinal disorders.  Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2004 Mar;20(2)146-55.

10)  Salminen SJ, Gueimonde M, Isolauri E.  Probiotics that modify disease risk. J Nutr. 2005 May;135(5):1294-8.

11) Sartor RB. Probiotic therapy of intestinal inflammation and infections. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2005 Jan;21(1):44-50.

12) Peltonen R, Nenonen M, Helve T, Hanninen O, Toivanen P, Eerola E.  Faecal microbial flora and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis during a vegan diet. Br J Rheumatol. 1997 Jan;36(1):64-8.

13)  Reddy BS. Prevention of colon cancer by pre- and probiotics: evidence from laboratory studies. Br J Nutr. 1998 Oct;80(4):S219-23.

14)  Buddington RK, Williams CH, Chen SC, Witherly SA.  Dietary supplement of neosugar alters the fecal flora and decreases activities of some reductive enzymes in human subjects.  Am J Clin Nutr. 1996 May;63(5):709-16.

15) Adolfsson O, Meydani SN, Russell RM. Yogurt and gut function.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Aug;80(2):245-56.

16) Wheeler JG, Shema SJ, Bogle ML, Shirrell MA, Burks AW, Pittler A, Helm RM. Immune and clinical impact of Lactobacillus acidophilus on asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1997 Sep;79(3):229-33.