Know your microbes to boost your health

In his mind-blowing book ‘10% Human: How Your Body’s Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness’, biologist and zoologist Dr. Alanna Collen introduces us to the little known but essential role played by the trillions of microbes inhabiting our body. Incidentally, the interest in microbes began when the Human Genome Project came to an end and the scientific community showed its disappointment in the contribution that knowledge of the complete DNA sequence had made to medicine.
However, the DNA-sequencing technology invented during the Human Genome Project enabled the launching of the Human Microbiome Project. Human microbiota consists of trillions of micro organisms inhabiting the human body. The microbiota in a particular environment such as the human body or the gut is referred as a microbiome. The scientific literature on the role of the microbiota in human health is a new field which took off ten years ago but it is revealing far more about our human health than our own genome ever has.
We are no longer threatened by infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles or polio but allergies, autoimmune diseases, digestive troubles particularly the irritable bowel syndrome as well as diabetes, mental health problems and obesity are common nowadays. It has been established that these modern illnesses often arise in the gut and they are associated with the immune system.
Could skin conditions like acne, psoriasis and dermatitis signal disruption to the skin’s normal balance of microbes? Maybe inflammatory bowel disease, cancers of the digestive tract and even obesity are due to shifts in the communities of microbes living in the gut? And could allergies, autoimmune diseases and even mental conditions be caused by a damaged microbiota?
It has been observed that many people began suffering from inflammatory bowel disease after they had taken a course of antibiotics.
“Antibiotics chainsaws and invasive pathogens pull apart the web of life that’s forged a balance through countless subtle interactions. If the destruction is large enough, the system cannot bounce back. Instead it collapses. In the rainforest, this is habitat destruction. In the body, it causes “dysbiosis,” an unhealthy balance of microbiota ... It is this dysbiosis, in whatever form it takes, that sits at the heart of twenty-first-century illnesses, both those that start and end in the gut, like IBS, and those that affect organs and systems all around the body.”
Could the wrong balance of microbes also be the cause of obesity? Microbiologist Ruth Ley attempted to find out if the microbes of obese animals might be different from those in lean animals. She was able to compare the microbiota of obese and lean mice and observed that obese mice had far less Bacteroides than in lean mice. She later discovered the same ratio in the microbiota of obese humans.
“The energy each of us extracts from our food, and the way in which that energy is used and stored, is intricately linked with the particular community of microbes we host. If we really want to get to the heart of the obesity epidemic, we need to look inward to the microbiota and ask what we are doing to alter the dynamic that they established with the human body in its leanest, healthiest form’’ Collen says.
Another key discovery related to human microbiota concerns autism. It was believed until recently that the cause of autism was a genetic one and that children were born with it. Ellen Bolte was able to prove that autism can be caused by antibiotics. Her 25 months old son, Andrew was diagnosed with autism after he was treated for several months with antibiotics. Antibiotics were prescribed for an ear infection when he was 15 months. Ellen Bolte wanted to find out what might have caused this sudden onset of autism in her son. She came across some research on a bacterium called Clostridium tetani. She had a hunch that the antibiotics her son had received had eradicated the protective bacteria living in his gut, allowing C.tetani and the neurotoxin this bacterium produces to reach Andrew’s brain. Her theory has changed the face of autism research and opened a Pandora’s box of medical possibilities. Ellen Bolte’s achievement is testament to her intelligence and determination and most of all to the mother’s will to protect her child.
Regarding the effects of antibiotics on allergies, a study has shown that children who had been given antibiotics before the age of 2 were on average twice as likely to have developed asthma, eczema and hay fever.
Another interesting aspect of the positive role of microbes came to light when a team of scientists at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada discovered that altering the gut microbiota of mice by giving them antibiotics made them less anxious about exploring a new environment.
It is interesting to know that serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, is actually found in the gut. Moreover the vagus nerve which originates in the brain and ends up in the gut informs the brain about what we call “gut feelings.” Under normal circumstances substances such as serotonin, adrenalin produce a tiny electrical spark at the end of a nerve. But these neurotransmitters are not only produced by human cells but also by the microbiota which produce chemicals. These chemicals stimulate the vagus nerve sending electrical impulses which boost our mood.
Unlike the genes we inherit from our parents, the microbes we have are determined by the food we eat, and the medicines we take.
The author enjoins us to eat more plants because it encourages a beneficial microbial balance which provides the basis for good health. Alanna Collen also advises us to make a conscious choice about our use of antibiotics. Antibiotics can harm as well as help and it is necessary to weigh up whether their benefits outweigh their cost. That means we can wait and see if our immune system can deal with an infection on its own.
“The microbiota is an organ, the forgotten organ, the unseen organ within the human body which contributes to our health and happiness just like any other,” concludes Alanna Collen. In this groundbreaking book, the author reveals how our microbes influence our gut, weight and immune system and how they hold the key to many of our modern diseases such as obesity, allergies, gut disorders, autoimmune diseases and even cancer. 10% Human will definitely change the way you look at yourself.

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