Rama Lama Lama Ka Dinga Da Dinga Dong

We go together
Like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong…

Are you a Grease fan?  Yes? No? Undecided? It really doesn’t matter because from here on in what I’m going to focus on has nothing to do with one of the all-time best movies EVER!  Except for one stolen line from a song.

And in this space what goes together are food sources that contains both prebiotics and probiotics.

Here is a simple equation that I want you to put into memory:

Prebiotic Food + Probiotic Food = Symbiotic Food

And here is why.  If you want to improve your gut health or maintain the good gut health you already have, there are two things you must do. Consume probiotic foods and consume prebiotics foods. And for the biggest bang for your buck consume them together.

Probiotic foods contain beneficial organisms that help our gut perform its duties.  They have amazing health benefits for us.

Examples of probiotic foods are sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt, kefir, miso, natto, pure apple cider vinegar (with the mother in it) and true balsamic vinegar.

As a side note here, in order to deliver the beneficial organisms from fermented foods to the gut, as well as the enzymes these foods also contain, do not heated past a temperature of 118 degrees F (48 C).

Prebiotics are types of fibre like inulin, resistant starch, GOS and FOS that help feed our good bacteria. Prebiotics also enhance the absorption of calcium and magnesium and are involved in appetite regulation as well as lipid metabolism.

Examples of prebiotic foods are Jerusalem artichokes, chicory, garlic, onions, beans, lentil, citrus fruits, pears, apples, bananas, berries, almonds broccoli which contains soluble fibres like inulin and FOS.

Resistant starch (starch that escapes from digestion in the small intestine) is found in foods like legumes, potatoes, wheat, corn, rye, barley, rice, spelt, kamut, and other grains.

GOS is found in dairy products.

We have two types of bacteria strains in our gut: residential and transient.

Residential bacteria strains are the bacteria that live in our gut naturally and we must re-populate them to stay healthy. We need prebiotics to help us feed and increase our residential bacteria.

Transient strains of bacteria pass through us (usually within 3 days) but while they are there, they help the gut do its work and keep us healthy. Probiotic foods contain transient bacteria.

Knowing this, it’s easy to understand why consuming both prebiotic and probiotic foods on a regular basis is essential.  It nourishes our gut microbiome and helps to establish new colonies of microorganisms.

Symbiotic Eating

Back to this equation:

Prebiotic Food + Probiotic Food = Symbiotic Food

Symbiotic food combines the characteristics of probiotic food and prebiotic food.  Specific foods that are symbiotic are tofu, sauerkraut and tempeh.

Eating symbiotically by combining foods can be as simple as mixing banana slices into your yogurt or serving sauerkraut with a meal that contains garlic and onions.

Research is continuing to discover how fascinating these substances in food are and how together, with our good bacteria, they are involved in a complex relationship to help us be healthy.


References:

“The benefits of symbiotic foods” SHA Wellness Clinic

Inulin-Type Fructans: Functional Food Ingredients1,2 Marcel B. Roberfroid, 2007 American Society for Nutrition

Health effects of probiotics and prebiotics A literature review on human studies, Henrik Andersson, Nils-Georg Asp, Åke Bruce, Stefan Roos, Torkel Wadström, Agnes E. Wold, Food and Nutrition Research, Vol 45, 2001

Probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics: approaches for modulating the microbial ecology of the gut 1,2M David Collins and Glenn R Gibson, 1999 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Lowbush Wild Blueberries have the Potential to Modify Gut Microbiota and Xenobiotic Metabolism in the Rat Colon

Alison Lacombe,Robert W. Li,Dorothy Klimis-Zacas,Aleksandra S. Kristo, Shravani Tadepalli,Emily Krauss, Ryan Young,Vivian C. H. Wu mail Published: June 28, 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.006749

A Systematic Screening of Total Antioxidants in Dietary Plants1, Bente L. Halvorsen et al, Institute for Nutrition Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo; Akershus University College, Bekkestua, Norway; †Agricultural University of Norway, Ås, Norway; and the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota

Current knowledge of the health benefits and disadvantages of wine consumption, John F. Tomera, Trends in Food Science & Technology – TRENDS FOOD SCI TECHNOL 01/1999; 10(4):129-138. DOI: 10.1016/S0924-2244(99)00035-7

 

 

This Week On The Health Hub…Linking the Microbiome To Autism with Dr. James Adams

James B. Adams, Ph.D., is the Director of the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the medical causes of autism and how to treat and prevent it including the areas of nutrition (vitamins/minerals, essential fatty acids, carnitine, digestive enzymes, special diets), oxidative stress, gut problems, gut bacteria, toxic metals, and seizures.   He has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including over 40 related to autism.  He is also the President of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, the President of the Autism Nutrition Research Center, the co-leader of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Autism Research Institute, and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Neurological Health Foundation.  He has an adult daughter with autism.

Learning Points:

  • What are key prenatal nutrients that moms need to be aware of to minimize the risk of having a child with autism?
  • What is Microbiota transplant?
  • How is this improving the health of children with autism?

Social Media


Listen live or catch the podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud!

Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada.   Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.


TheHealthHub is now on iTunes!

Subscribe and don’t miss a single episode!


Follow us on Social Media

We are @thehealthhubrmc on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook


How To Listen Live

Visit our website and learn how to listen live to our show each week. http://www.radiomaria.ca/how-to-listen

Let us know!


If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!

Here is our email.  We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca

 

 

Microbiome Testing: Another Marker Of Your Health

Guest Post Article By:

Richard Lin
Founder / CEO
www.thryveinside.com

 

As our “Father of Medicine,” Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.” Yet, the precursor to all disease is inflammation. Since our immune system is responsible for inflammation, there must be a tie between our gut health and our immune system. Well, there is! In fact, up to 80% of our immune cells reside in our gut. That’s why the key to a strong immune system is to improve your gut health!

What Causes Chronic Inflammation?

There are many triggers that set off an immune response in our system. Perhaps none are greater than our food sources. Many of the foods we eat are deficient in nutrients. They are fried in unhealthy fats, preserved with artificial ingredients, and sweetened with refined sugars. 

Many of these foods are made of ingredients that our healthy bacteria don’t enjoy. Therefore, solid food particles and artificial molecules remain in the body. So, our immune system kicks in to eliminate these potential hazards by causing inflammation. Once the threat is eliminated from the system, inflammation ceases. All is merry again.

Unfortunately, our round-the-clock diets have evolved to include a lot of inflammatory foods. From GMOs to increased sensitivity towards allergens to the use of pesticides, our food supplies set us up for a lifetime of inflammation. 

How Chronic Inflammation Ruins Gut Health

Our body is composed of trillions of microbes that range from bacteria to fungi to viruses. We depend on our gut bacteria to help keep a lot of these other microbes in check. All the while, we also depend on our gut bacteria to break down food, help create energy, and boost nutrient absorption. That’s a lot of burdens!

For our gut bacteria to work optimally, we must feed them a diet rich in fiber. Unfortunately, a vast majority of us don’t get enough fiber. So, over the course of this lifetime, we end up starving out our healthy bacteria.

Even worse, the immune system doesn’t have an ally that can help modulate inflammation. In turn, inflammation becomes chronic. As a result, immune cells and beneficial gut bacteria start to die off. 

Without healthy gut bacteria, the body is susceptible to viral, bacterial, and fungal attacks. When this happens, we can develop a litany of life-threatening illnesses, including cancer. 

How to Improve Gut Health and Immune System

Everyone’s body is different. Therefore, we all have different ratios of gut bacteria in the body. The key to fixing your gut health and immune system is to get a gut health test kit.

Microbiome testing company, Thryve, sends you everything you need to collect a sample from your toilet paper safely and mail it to their laboratory. Their specialists will analyze your DNA and give you an in-depth report of bacteria living in your gut.

Even better, they offer custom probiotics to help bring balance to your system. In turn, your immune system will have the backup necessary to help control chronic inflammation that can cause many chronic life-threatening conditions, including cancer. 

 

This Week on The Health Hub…The Impact of Exercise on Intestinal Health with Dr. Sara Campbell

Dr. Campbell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health. She received her BS and MS from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and PhD from Florida State University. Following her PhD she completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship supported by the USDA. Currently, the Campbell research focuses on two lines of inquiry related to exercise and the intestine. The first includes how exercise impacts the gut microbiome. The microbiome is an expanding area of research focused on how high-fat diets alter the gut microbiome and how this impacts systemic health. Their second line of inquiry is focused on providing an understanding for how changes in the microbiome impact intestinal health and ultimately disease state.


Learning Points:

  • What is research telling us about the effects of high fat diets on microbes?
  • How does exercise modify gut microbes?
  • What types of exercise have the best benefit on gut microbes?

Social Media

Email: saracamp@kines.rutgers.edu

 


Listen live or catch the podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud!

Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada.   Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.


TheHealthHub is now on iTunes!

Subscribe and don’t miss a single episode!


Follow us on Social Media

We are @thehealthhubrmc on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook


How To Listen Live

Visit our website and learn how to listen live to our show each week. http://www.radiomaria.ca/how-to-listen

Let us know!


If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!

Here is our email.  We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca

 

 

Your Oral Biome and Its Link to Cancer Prevention

Let’s bring some awareness to the health of our mouth and how it can impact our overall health. Just as we have a gut microbiome (and several other biomes for that matter) that needs tending to, we also have an oral microbiome that requires care.

Without proper oral hygiene, the balance of good to bad bacteria can become skewed leading to tooth decay and gum disease.

Several studies have shown links between poor oral health and various illnesses including cardio vascular disease and bacterial pneumonia.

But why does this matter when we speak of a cancer? It’s because poor oral hygiene can lead to chronic inflammation. And chronic inflammation can underpin many diseases including cancer.  Note this excerpt from the abstract entitled: Poor periodontal health: A cancer risk?

Periodontitis (a chronic infection that affects the gums and the bones that support the teeth), characterized by epithelial proliferation and migration, results in a chronic release of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, prostaglandins, and enzymes, all of which are associated with cancer development

The pathway, in fact, is fairly straight-forward. C-reative proteins are released by the liver when toxic oral bacteria enter our circulatory system. This ignites the inflammatory response and if left unattended percolates as chronic inflammation.

Now not all inflammation is bad. In fact, inflammation is a necessary part of our immune system.(I have written a blog about the inflammatory response called “5 Foods that Help Fight Chronic Inflammation. You can read it here.) But chronic inflammation does us no good.

So achieving oral health is an extremely important part of prevention and is very important during active cancer.  And it’s all about promoting balance among the bacteria in your mouth.

5 Tips for achieving a healthy oral biome

Avoid Anti-Bacterial mouth washes

Anti-bacterial mouth washes throw the baby out with the bath water by killing both the good and bad bacteria in your mouth.  Want to freshen your breath?  Chew on some parsley.

Brush your teeth twice daily

Brushing your teeth twice a day helps to remove plaque, avoid cavities and prevent tooth and gum disease.

Floss daily

Flossing gets in to those hard to reach places that your tooth brush can’t.  As with tooth brushing, flossing helps to remove plaque, avoid cavities and prevent tooth and gum disease.

Have your teeth cleaned and checked regularly

Your dentist and hygienist are the batman and robin of oral health.  See them regularly!

Eat a healthy diet

Your mouth benefits as much as anywhere else by eating a healthy diet that full of fruits & vegetables and imited in processed foods & sugars.  Without a healthy diet your teeth and gums are susceptible to disease.

 


References:

Low-grade inflammation in chronic infectious diseases: paradigm of periodontal infections.

Systemic Diseases Caused by Oral Infection

Poor periodontal health: A cancer risk?

Chronic inflammation and cancer: The role of the mitochondria

Feeling the heat – the link between inflammation and cancer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chronic inflammation can increase risk for cancer

Tips for caring for your oral biome

Avoid antibacterial mouth washes

Brush your teeth twice daily

Floss daily

Have your teeth cleaned regularly

Consider Oral Probiotics