The topic of Matsumi Ladies Clinic Mita English blog in June is about digestion.

In the final part, I create an article about bacteria in the digestive system.

 

Do you think that bacteria are harmful?

Many people tend to associate bacteria and microbes with disease.

However, many of these play an essential role in keeping us healthy.

 

To be surprised, trillions of microbes live in our body.

Primarily, your gut has the densest population of them.

The ones in your abdomen help you digest food and strengthen immunity.

Such bacteria work all over your body and affect your physical and mental conditions.

 

Good bacteria fight against bad bacteria, which get into your gut.

When many harmful bacteria survive there, you will get sick.

Therefore, it is necessary to keep an adequate balance of bacteria for your healthy life.

If harmful bacteria grow too much, you are reported to be more likely to have Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome(IBS).

 

Also, bad bacteria in the gut may link to high cholesterol in the serum.

They produce Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), which leads to develop plaque on the blood vessel wall.

Excessive plaque causes heart diseases.

 

The unbalance of bacteria in the gut may produce bad effects on your brain functions.

Therefore, bad bacteria may trigger some mental diseases, such as autism, anxiety, depression and spectrum disorder.

Also, the bad ones may cause obesity as it affects the pituitary gland, which sends signals regulating appetite.

To keep a good balance of bacteria, you need to eat preferable food for the gut, such as live yoghurt and Kimchi(fermented pickles).

 

The best way is to eat both sources of probiotics and prebiotics.

Probiotics exemplified with yoghurt and cheese can add more good bacteria to your gut.

Similarly, prebiotics helps the growth of beneficial bacteria.

The generally recommended foods are whole wheat, banana, onions, garlic, leeks, and soybeans, etc.