Your gut is more than just where nutrients are absorbed from your food. Your gut plays a crucial role in your general health and well-being. Our bodies are made upof trillions of bacteria! Many experts consider the brain a part of the gastrointestinal system too due to the constant communication between the two.[i] You will hear things like the gut-brain axis,or the gut called the second brain, it all relates back to the concept of gut health. Optimal gut bacteria is pretty much responsible for several key functions:
Stress/Mental well-being:
Your gut informs your brain of stressors and your brain does the same for your gut. Your gut is filled with nerve cells that receive and send messages to your brain.
Your gut produces 90% of the serotonin, a mood and emotion regulating hormone.
This is why stress can cause flare ups of things like IBS, Crohn’s, general bloating and gastrointestinal discomfort.[ii]
Many believe the future of mental health research could be in our guts.
When I saw the effect the supplements I was giving Nathaniel had on him, I started taking them myself. My breakthroughs were in my overall stress level, mood, and general sense of well-being which I will discuss in a separate post, since I do want to stay on-topic.
Immune System powerhouse!!
It is the control center of the disease fighting systems in your body here’s how:
Food-borne illness protection: the acids in our stomachs sterilize our foods to protect it from infection.
Your small intestine has a permeable barrier to the interior of your body (as in things can selectively pass from your small intestine to the actual inside of your body!).[iii]
It is lined with something called Peyers patches. These are large oval clusters or nodules of lymphoid tissue; these are like small lymph nodes. The surface area covered in this kind of immune tissue is LITERALLY 853-984 feet of surface area!!![iv]
Many pathogens make it into your body through this permeable membrane in your small intestine.
Among other cells in that permeable membrane, are a group of cells called Paneth cells. These cells secrete antibacterial substances that help block pathogens from crossing the permeable membrane into your body and control infections.[v]
Under the Paneth is another layer of connective tissue called lamina propria. There is circulation through this tissue connected with your gut (mesenteric) lymph nodes (we have lymph nodes throughout our bodies).[vi]
Your gut lymph nodes (mesenteric) and gut lymphoid tissue are where immune responses begin in your body.[vii]
Your intestines have the largest mass of lymphoid (immune) tissue in your whole body. These lymphoid tissues contain immune cells, called lymphocytes that attack disease and infection and defendagainst them.[viii]
Each food you eat communicates with immune receptors in the lining of your digestive tract and triggers different hormones and cell types to be released to help with your immune system.[ix]
So what is it that causes things to go wrong and leads to autism, developmental delay, and other psychiatric disorders?
SIBO, or small intestine bacterial overgrowth, is when a disproportionate amount of certain bacteria grows out of control and there is an imbalance. That bacteria starts to grow up from your colon into your small intestine. It is that overgrowing bacteria that starts to produce a substance called propionic acid. Propionic acid has been shown to increase microglia (immune cells that become harmful cells under SIBO conditions, in our brain that can destroy healthy brain cells), increase glutamate, and cause autism-like repetitive behaviors, anti-social behaviors, hyperactivity, and even seizures in rats.[x]
This bacterial overgrowth also harms us by degrading the permeable layer in your small intestine we just discussed, and causes it to be inflamed and too permeable, AKA “Leaky Gut.”
Leaky Gut is when non digested food, bacteria, and their by-products that are harmful enter our bloodstream and trigger an immune response from our body, that doesn’t just stay in our gut, but reaches our brains through something called microglial activation.
The microglial cells are the immune system of our central nervous system and brain and destroy any damaged cells. That sounds like a good think right? Here’s the bad part about it.
Chronic activation of microglial cells in the brain can cause neuronal damage. This is because they release potentially toxic (cytotoxic) molecules such as pro-inflammatory cytokines, reactive oxygen intermediates, proteinases and complement proteins.[xi]
Furthermore, Dr. Nemechek believes the propionic acid created by the overgrowth in bacteria also has a sedative effect in children with autism.
A 2017 study found that in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, by doing a gut microbiome transfer to these children,autistic symptoms improved significantly and the improvement remained for 8 weeks following the therapy.[xii]
This is an emerging field; until now scientists had just been trying to find a link between the gut and brain and understand the mechanics of it, now studies will be increasingly done to find a pathway to treat developmental delays and neurological disorders such as autism/add/adhd etc through our microbiome in our gut. Such an exciting time!
Thank you for listening/ watching my second post! An upcoming post will discuss and have links to the actual supplements I used for Nathaniel that have given us these tremendous bursts of progress speech-wise, socially, as far as stimming behaviors, etc. Stay tuned! If you’ve gut questions, I’ve gut answers!
[i] NYU Department of Medicine. Your gut feeling: a healthier digestive system means a healthier you. https://med.nyu.edu/medicine/gastro/about-us/gastroenterology-news-archive/your-gut-feeling-healthier-digestive-system-means-healthier
[ii] NYU Department of Medicine. Your gut feeling: a healthier digestive system means a healthier you. https://med.nyu.edu/medicine/gastro/about-us/gastroenterology-news-archive/your-gut-feeling-healthier-digestive-system-means-healthier
[iii] Murphy, K. (2011). Janeway’s immunobiology (Immunobiology: The Immune System (Janeway)). Garland Science. ISBN 9780815342434. OCLC 733935898.
[iv] Helander, Herbert F.; Fändriks, Lars (2014-06-01). “Surface area of the digestive tract – revisited”. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 49 (6): 681–689. doi:10.3109/00365521.2014.898326. ISSN 0036-5521.
[v] Wikipedia: Gut associated lymphoid tissue. May 8, 2018.
[vi] Wikipedia: Gut associated lymphoid tissue. May 8, 2018.
[vii] Wikipedia: Gut associated lymphoid tissue. May 8, 2018.
[viii] Wikipedia: Gut associated lymphoid tissue. May 8, 2018.
[ix]NYU Department of Medicine. Your gut feeling: a healthier digestive system means a healthier you. https://med.nyu.edu/medicine/gastro/about-us/gastroenterology-news-archive/your-gut-feeling-healthier-digestive-system-means-healthier
[x] Autism web 2. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). http://www.autismweb2.com/small-intestinal-bacterial-overgrowth-sibo/
[xi]Dheen ST, Kaur C, Ling EA. Microglial activation and its implications in the brain diseases. Curr Med Chem. 2007;14(11):1189-97. Review. PubMed PMID: 17504139. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17504139
[xii] Kang DW, Adams JB, Gregory AC, et al. Microbiota Transfer Therapy alters gut ecosystem and improves gastrointestinal and autism symptoms: an open-label study. Microbiome. 2017;5(1):10. Published 2017 Jan 23. doi:10.1186/s40168-016-0225-7: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5264285/ n(){w.abort(“ti
