health Archives -

Surprise! “Waste” From Your Gut Bacteria Can Improve Your Gut Health

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 07:40:48 +0000

The Buyt Desk

A healthy gut is prime for complete wellness. Here is a glimpse of the status of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in India. According to a survey by Abbott, 22% of the population suffers from constipation. Approximately 1.5 million Indians suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). With changing lifestyles and environmental conditions, India is witnessing an increase in gut problems. It is high time to pay attention to your gut.

What are prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics?

You may be familiar with terms like prebiotics or probiotics. Recent research, however, has brought to the limelight postbiotics. The difference between these terms is simple. Probiotics are essentially the good bacteria in your gut. Prebiotics are supplements or foods that establish or strengthen the population of good bacteria in your stomach. They are food that probiotics consume.

Postbiotics are compounds that good gut bacteria release after consuming and metabolizing prebiotics. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA), cell surface proteins, vitamins K and B, amino acids, organic acids, peptides, and exopolysaccharides (EPS) are postbiotics. Though waste from your gut bacteria, postbiotics have many benefits. They strengthen the immune system, prevent inflammation, improve skin and hair quality, cure obesity, lower cholesterol, etc. In the following section, you can understand the positive effects of postbiotics on the digestive tract.

How Do Postbiotics Improve Your Gut Health?

Fixing the leaky gut

The origin of most of the FGIDs is a leaky gut. When the gut lining becomes permeable, inflammation and infections begin in the body. The most frightening result is cancer. Dr. Naveen Polavarapu, Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist at Apollo Hospital, labels leaky gut as a misdiagnosed silent killer. Butyrate, an SCFA, can heal the increased permeability of the gut. It is the feed of the intestinal cells. Hence, treatment with butyrate strengthens the gut lining.

Preventing diabetes

One in six diabetic patients in the world belongs to India. Managing Life with diabetes is challenging. Diabetes can have grave consequences. Insulin resistance causes diabetes. A postbiotic bacterial fragment, muramyl dipeptide, can increase insulin sensitivity and restore glucose metabolism. It shows promise in treating pre-diabetic patients. Also, the influence of postbiotics in restoring glucose balance can prevent obesity.

Treating diarrhea

More good bacteria in the gut, better the gut health. Postbiotics do not have a direct mechanism to treat diarrhea. Instead, their modulation of the bacterial population in the stomach plays a role. EPS postbiotic, from lactic acid bacteria, promotes the growth of good bacteria in the gut. Consequently, diarrhea stops.

Reducing Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease has become a concern with more cases among 22-40 years old young adults. Around 20 to 50% of consultations with gut specialist doctors relate to IBD. SCFAs like butyrate improves the symptoms of IBD. It activates the immune cells that reduce inflammation.

Most fermented foods contain postbiotics. Yogurt, sauerkraut, miso soup, kefir, soft cheeses, buttermilk, pickles, and sourdough bread are sources of postbiotics. Add them to your diet and experience a healthier gut.

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‘SLEEP WELL’ to Make Your Dreams Come True!

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 11:57:39 +0000

Bhavna Malhotra

Consultant – Nutrition & Lifestyle

Email: bhavna.nutritionqueries@hotmail.com

Sleep is the most underrated healing and growth process of the body. With our lives revolving around mobiles, TV, laptops, we are mentally engaged not only during the day but late into the night. As a result, we are mentally tired but physically not ready to call it a day. Sleeping hours are being compromised to squeeze maximum benefits out of a 24-hour day. However, we forget that to reap maximum benefits; we need to have a healthy, rested body and sleep is ‘the’ healing mechanism for our body. It prepares us to face the day with more energy and vigour. Eating right, exercising, keeping active throughout the day have always been considered the essentials of maintaining a healthy body and rightly so but with an increase in the metabolic disorders and mental health issues we need to pay attention to this neglected aspect our lives – SLEEP!

Before going any further, let us first understand how do we fall asleep. We all live by a circadian rhythm which is a 24-hour cycle. Our bodies are designed to be sensitive to the light and dark periods of the day. There is a build of some neurochemicals like adenosine throughout the day in parts of the brain, and when this reaches a particular threshold, you feel the need to sleep and get it cleared from your system. Another chemical called melatonin increases in your brain as the sun goes down. This makes you drowsy and prepares you for sleep. Neurochemicals like cortisol and norepinephrine keep you alert during the day. Now that it is amply clear that our circadian rhythms are ‘sunlight sensitive’ we need to ensure that we keep it aligned for good quality sleep.

Why is it important to get good quality sleep? During deep sleep, our mind and body perform a variety of functions for us –

consolidate our memories
processes emotions and learning
physical recovery
balancing blood sugar levels and metabolism
the immune system is energized
the brain detoxifies (adenosine clearing as mentioned above)

Without deep sleep, these functions cannot take place, and the symptoms of sleep deprivation kick in. Studies have proved that sleep deprivation can have many side effects like poor concentration, memory troubles, mood swings, weakened immunity, obesity, high blood pressure, risk of diabetes, lowered libido, depression/ anxiety and even early ageing.

So what do we do to improve our sleep quality? By following some ‘sleep hygiene’ rules:

Have a light and early dinner (3 hours before bedtime)
Stop using screens/ gadgets at least an hour before bedtime. Blue light emitted from the screens keep you alert.
Try to sleep at the same time daily.
Sleep in a dark, cool room
Exercise daily to get physically tired
Practice deep breathing and meditation to manage stress

7-9 hours of sleep is essential for adults to maintain good metabolic and mental health. Children need more sleep than adults at different stages of life. From 16 hours a day during infancy, 9-12 hours during school age to 8-10 hours during teenage years. That said we need to be mindful of the fact that too much sleep on a regular basis is also linked to depression, obesity and heart ailments. Hence ‘balance’ is the key. Sleep well during the night to make your dreams come to life during the day!

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