Our microbiome has been linked to everything from obesity to autism, cancer to autoimmune and allergic disorders and even heart disease and diabetes. Our gut flora also serves a vital purpose in stimulating the body’s immune system, especially immunoglobulin A (Secretory IgA), representing the first line of immune defence. Sec IgA accounts for approximately 80% of our total immunity, keeping us healthy by suppressing or warding off bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral pathogens (germs) and toxins, and preventing them from spreading or penetrating through the gut wall to cause infection or disease. Beneficial flora further plays a part in the digestion and absorption of food and nutrients, such as fermenting soluble fibre into short-chain fatty acids, synthesising B vitamins, and so on.
Human health, digestion, immune function and metabolic balance depend upon maintaining colonies of good bacteria. Some people consider the gut flora to constitute an “organ” in its own right. An imbalance in the gut flora leading to the overgrowth of harmful bacteria and yeast in the gut is known as dysbiosis. Many people believe that dysbiosis lies at the root of many serious health complaints such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue, eczema, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and depression, and other mental disorders, and this is common among individuals with autism. It is vital that gut integrity, health and function are optimized for the brain to remain protected and allow it to function to it’s full capacity.
A biofilm is a thin mucous membrane, secreted by often detrimental microorganisms, to protect them from being detected by the host and is much like plaque on your teeth. It protects detrimental organisms from being cleared from the gut by the immune system and anti-bacterial agents in food and drugs, causes inflammation and lowers nutrient absorption.
People with dysbiosis typically have several of the following symptoms:
So the functioning of the gut is linked with the food you eat, the stress you’re under, the efficiency of your immune system and, the balance of gut flora. Anything that seems out of the ordinary means that something is awry and should be investigated by a qualified professional. Inflammation and damage to the lining of the gut may create leaky gut syndrome resulting in increased intestinal permeability and a thicker biofilm, lining the surface of the gut.
The critical discovery of our microbiome and its implications for influencing many of the diseases of the 21st century provides novel treatments involving changing our diets and the use of pre-and probiotics to shift the gut ecosystem into a health-promoting balance.
At TACGA we specialize in treating a range of conditions associated with the gut flora, including IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut, SIBO, dysbiosis, chronic illnesses and autism. For more information on these, please see the various sections on our website.
We are only as healthy as our gut bacteria.
