ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Your gut microbiome is made of trillions of microbes such as bacteria, viruses, yeast, and fungi. In the past 10 to 15 years researchers have made big breakthroughs on how much your gut microbiome affects your overall health. Ivanhoe explains how keeping these colon-dwelling tenants happy can keep you healthy.
If you think “having a gut feeling” is a metaphor, think again.
Karen Corbin, PhD, RD, Associate Investigator and Obesity Program Lead at AdventHealth Translational Research Institute says, “That might actually be real because the microbes are actually making the neurotransmitters that do change what you’re thinking.”
Corbin has been a dietitian for nearly 30 years, and now is a researcher studying how your gut microbiome affects your overall health.
“It’s reacting to what we breathe, what we sense, what we eat,” explains Corbin.
But you don’t need to be a scientist to know what’s going on. You can just ask yourself if your bathroom habits are regular.
Corbin says, “I know that sounds so basic, but it turns out something like constipation is a risk factor or even a sign and symptom of diseases like kidney disease and even Parkinson’s disease.”
And getting bloating, cramps, or belly pain means your gut community isn’t happy. You can help by shifting your eating habits starting today.
Corbin told Ivanhoe, “Ask yourself one simple question ‘have I fed my gut microbiome today?’ and if the answer is no, at the very next meal you can make simple upgrades to the foods you already like to make them more accessible to the microbiome.”
If you’re having a sandwich, swap your white bread, which has less than one gram of fiber, for whole grain bread, which has two to four grams. Add in a salad with vegetables & chickpeas, and Corbin says you’ve supersized your fiber content.
“Put beans on everything. Everything you can think of. I’m telling you, you’ll thank me later,” states Corbin.
Think of it as keeping you and your gut happy!
Corbin says another way to guarantee you’re feeding your gut is to substitute more whole foods: eat a whole apple instead of applesauce, or nuts instead of nut butter. The bigger the pieces and less processed the pieces, the more likely your gut microbiome will get it.
Contributors to this news report include: Marcy Wilder, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Source:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?contenttypeid=76&contentid=18069-5
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?contenttypeid=76&contentid=18076-2
* For More Information, Contact:
Medical and Clinical Research Organization /
AdventHealth Research Institute
https://www.adventhealth.com/institutes/research
And
April Starinsky, External Communications Sr. Mgr. AdventHealth
