Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Married to our bacteria

What better way to break the Better Babies Blog drought than with a post on one of my favourite topics...the gut microbiota. Katrina Ray, Acting Chief Editor of Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology poses the question “are we more microbe than man?” then answers that while we are outnumbered 10:1 on a cellular level by microorganisms, the microbial and human cells actually work intimately together to foster optimal physical and mental health! Ray also emphasises the vital part that the mother plays in establishing a healthy gut population in her infant. She suggests this process actually begins in utero, which confirms my recommendation that the mother must ensure her own gut health well before conception. Only then can she hope to establish the healthiest possible gut population in her child, which should be healthily well-established by age 2-3 years. It also makes sense that the best probiotic for the job is one that contains multiple human strains, and that those strains are the most fragile ones, those most easily destroyed by modern diets and lifestyles. Progurt ... for the whole family, 15 billion good bacteria in one teaspoonful of a yoghurt you simply make at home.

No comments: