What drives our health & keeps us away from diseases? No brainer right? Workout & Nutrition! However, nutrition is very obscure word & many companies floating around- be it weight loss companies, online fitness companies, gyms, freelancer health coach or nutrition expert have been propagating all obnoxious solutions- popular fad diets– Ketosis, low carb, low fat, Atkins, FODMAP & low gluten/gluten free diets. Among these low carb & calorie deficit/quantified nutrition has been the most common one being pursued by a lot of weight loss companies & aspirants. The fact of the matter is this diet does nothing to meet our weight loss goals, overcome obesity, PCOS or manage diabetes. However, these companies are not at fault. This is what they have been taught for the last 3 decades. The problem is they think shedding weight or managing sugar spikes is a no brainer. If this is the case why do 41 million people die of chronic diseases prematurely every year?
Then came the story that our health is driven by our genes. No Doubt, our genetic insights can tell us the level of risk /predisposition to various diseases. However focussing only on genes is the half journey of your overall holistic health given the fact that our body has only 25,000 human genes while microbes living in our constitute 2 to 20 million genes. Human genes do not change during life. In fact, we all share 99% of genes with each other. However, what we eat changes how these genes are expressed. The shocking part is 99% of genes that are expressed are of microbes not of our own. Therefore our health is driven not by our genes, but biological functions that take place in our body when these microbes release compounds after metabolising food we eat.
We humans have 22K to 25K genes while earthworms have 30K. Therefore these existing healthcare players & new age online health companies make us believe that our human body is not as complex as it seems. This is the reason these healthcare players always recommend these popular standard diet solutions. This is where they have gone wrong. If we go by their theory, Earthworms should be more complex than humans! If our bodies are not that complex why are we not able to solve or overcome chronic diseases? Why 52% of the global adult population suffer from multiple chronic health conditions? Why does 9.3% of the global adult population suffer from diabetes? Why 70% of the global population suffer from digestive issues such as IBD, Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis?
The answer to all these questions lies in learning about the invisible army of microbes living in our gut, 40 trillion of them. Probably these healthcare providers have not been solving the right problem! In fact they have been solving/managing symptoms not curing diseases, since the root cause of the problem is not what we eat but what our body produces from the food we eat. Whether it produces beneficial compounds such as short chain fatty acids or harmful gases such as LPS, Ammonia or Methane.
These microbes digest almost everything we eat & release metabolites as a result of this digestion process. These metabolites can either be beneficial that improves our health & kills chronic inflammation or harmful gases that can inflame our body & make us sick.
The fact is every individual is unique & so is his gut microbiome. Therefore, the composition of your gut microbes would be different from that of your colleague or your spouse. Obviously, this goes back to how you were born, what kind of milk (breast fed or formula fed) you were given as an infant, all things you have done, dietary choices you have adopted for years, your sleeping & exercise pattern, your environment & level of your stress is quite distinctive & different from your next door friend. All these factors are unique to you. The solution to our health worries is not a standard, a solution fits all dietary routines but a hyper personalised nutrition solution unique for your body.
Now, you would have a fair idea why these popular fad diets & those followed by herd is recipe for disaster
If you want to improve your health, prevent your body from being inflamed & keep chronic diseases at bay, you should know which food items should be on your meal plate & which ones should be minimised & avoided. The first step is to learn what is happening inside your body. You can do this by decoding & analysing your microbiome. Sequencing & analysing your gut microbiome- ecosystem of 40 trillion microbes living in your gut which are part best friend, part power converter, part engine, and part pharmacy, can give your following surprising & actionable insights:
- There is nothing called healthy foods: Your doctor, coach or nutritionist may advise you to have green veggies, nuts & seeds since they are said to be healthy & are anti-inflammatory. This may sound shocking when I say that there is nothing called healthy foods. It is not about nutrients these foods have, it is about what compounds or chemicals microbes produce when they digest these foods( we eat). The fact of the matter is green veggies such as Spinach, bran, beets, nuts, and nut butters all contain Oxalate/Oxalic acid. Unless our gut microbes have oxalobacter that can detoxify this acid, consumption of these foods can lead to release of harmful gas, lead to inflammation & even form Kidney stones. Therefore if your gut does not have oxalobacter, these foods will create trouble for your health & it is best to avoid these foods. As such depending upon your gut microbes, foods such as Spinach may be harmful for your body & health.
- When it comes to consumption of Antioxidants, you are at the mercy of your microbes: Like Oxalates, Polyphenol rich foods are said to be healthy. These polyphenol rich foods are healthy & beneficial for us only when our gut has appropriate microbes that can use these polyphenols to release beneficial compounds. Most polyphenol rich foods such as pomegranate juice, berries, raspberries, pecans, olives, coffee, tea, cocoa powder, nuts, flax seeds & vegetables have a substance called as Ellagic acid. Unless microbes in our gut can metabolize Ellagic acid & convert it into Urolithin A, our body will not benefit from anti-inflammatory & antioxidant effects.
- High protein diet: High protein consumption has become normal practice given the fact that many online fitness companies, fitness trainer, coaches & even nutritionists endorse high protein foods in diet for those on weight loss regime. During COVID-19, a lot of doctors have been propagating a high protein diet. No doubt, Protein helps build muscle and provide energy, but if you eat too much, it can cause inflammation and decrease longevity. It depends upon the activities of microbes living in the gut. If you have protein fermenting bacteria in your gut such as Alistipes putredinis and Tannerella forsythia, a high protein diet can be fermented into harmful substances such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, or putrescine. These substances can damage your gut lining & lead to situation of leaky gut.
- Health food- Heart ailment connection: When we talk about protein consumption, we have been given to believe that animal foods are the most rich source of protein. We have also been told that eggs should be part of our daily diet. However the fact of the matter is poultry food- chicken & eggs, red meat, salmon, or steak are high in Carnitine & Choline. These substances can get converted by bacteria into trimethylamine (TMA), which is absorbed into the liver and converted to TMAO. This causes cardiovascular disease & cardiac arrest. However, TMA conversion happens in individuals only when they have the bacteria gammaproteobacteria in their gut (& are active) who do this conversion. Before you decide to go on Paleo, you may want to check if your microbiome is producing TMA with that salmon or egg.
- Iron consumption- Inflammation link: Iron rich foods can, depending upon your gut microbial composition, lead to inflammation & promote the growth of pathogens like Escherichia and Salmonella. Therefore if you have experienced food poisoning after consumption of chicken, do not blame your chicken vendor! It was your toxic microbiome that played spoilsport & made you sick. On the other hand, when you do not have enough iron, you could become anemic, leading to weakness and shortness of breath. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we learn about composition of microbes living in our gut, who are active, what functions they perform & what they produce as a result of digestion of food we eat.
- Mental Health issues: Our gut and brain are connected via the vagus nerve. A large majority of neurotransmitters are either produced or consumed by our microbiome. Surprisingly, 90% of all serotonin is produced by your gut microbiome, not your brain. When your gut is in imbalanced state & experience overgrowth of harmful & toxic microbiome that are releasing toxins like hydrogen sulfide, we end up having leaky gut. Think of this as your gut not having health safety net. When the barrier of the gut breaks down, it has cascading impact, causing low-grade chronic inflammation which has been identified as a potential source of depression and higher levels of anxiety, besides other chronic diseases. To reduce your stress levels, ensure your meal plate has foods that your microbes are hungry for.
- Your Energy powerhouse- Mitochondria is controlled by microbes: Your microbiome is responsible for calorie extraction, or creating energy, through pathways -Tricarboxylic acid cycle. Our bodies depend on the energy that our microbiome produces. How much energy we get from our food depends on how efficient our microbiome is at converting the food into energy. High-performing microbiomes are excellent at converting food into energy, but substandard for those with sedentary lifestyles. For most people having less diverse microbes & imbalance in gut microbiome results in release of harmful gases & high energy harvest where most of the energy is stored as fat & also leads to fat cell creation.
- The Link Between Low Stomach Acid and Chronic Disease: The acid in your stomach protects you from the bacteria in your mouth and the parasites in your food. When you have low stomach acid, bacteria from your mouth makes its way down to your small intestine. This is associated with autoimmune disease and inflammation in the gut. As such low stomach acid is one of the major causes of digestive disorders such as SIBO & low stomach acid is caused by Stress and antacids.
- Carbs Can Be Building Blocks for providing BCAA: So we do not get BCAA by consumption of a lot of high protein foods or BCAA supplements. The surprising part is that carbs we eat are a source of energy for our microbes & depending upon who are folks living in our gut & what functions they perform, they can transform these starches(carbs & fibre) into amino acids which fuel our muscles. Our microbiome comprises around 20% of our Branch Chain Amino Acids & will strive to work to make these BCAAs for our body. However, it entirely depends upon what we feed our microbes with. These microbes take carbon & hydrogen coming from our diet & environment to build these BCAA. Therefore think before you blindly follow your trainer, coach or nutritionist & start taking BCAA supplements.
The Answer to all your health worries be it obesity, diabetes, PCOS, cardiovascular diseases or even mental health issues lies in how you feed your gut microbiome based on your unique biology. We, at Genefitletics helps you decode health of your gut microbiome & provide you personalised dietary & lifestyle recommendations that can prevent inflammation, heal leaky gut & regulate communication between gut & brain, thereby eliminating conditions of chronic disorders be it metabolic, digestive, hormonal imbalances or even mental health. For more details, sign up for a free discovery call here.
