The Gut Connection

First published on May 01, 2022
Text by Anju Venkat
 

What's this got to do with me?

Billions of microbial organisms found within the soil (a teaspoon of soil contains at least 50,000 microbes) work, fight, share, divide, talk and generally become aware of each other’s presence, in a battle for supremacy, in a complex web of interaction which scientists refer to as the “soil microbiome”. Soil is our earth’s gut! 

In us humans, the gut is the gastrointestinal tract- the G.I -- the long tube that begins at the mouth and ends at the back passage, the anus. Every morsel of food that we eat is like taking a bite from the gut of Earth- from the Soil, as that is where all food, all living forms begin their journey. Our gut is where food goes after we eat it, to get broken down into nutrients and waste. There are trillions of microbes inside our intestines which play an important role in the digestion and absorption of food in our body… apart from a host of other functions.
 
Our gut microbiome forms just as we are being born. At birth, the gut is sterile and uncolonised by these microbes. We are first exposed to these microbes when we pass through our mother’s birth canal and then through breastfeeding. As we grow, our gut microbiome also grows with many different species of microbes. It takes three years for the diversity of the bacteria and microorganisms in the gut to grow and stabilise. Our gut is like a forest – with different species of microbes growing right inside of us- quite amazing really! 
 

The garden in your gut

Our gut microbiome contains both the helpful and good guys (bacteria) and the not-so-good guys. Together, they are known as the “human gut flora”. The good bacteria feed on plant fibres -- the soluble and insoluble fibres found in fresh whole foods. While the bad guys feed on fast foods -- all that has sugars and is processed and refined, with no plant fibre in them. 

Eating local, regional and seasonally available foods creates a diverse range of microbes, which in turn creates a healthy microbiome. The more sugar, meat, refined flour we eat, the more processed foods which are high in artificial chemicals we buy, the faster we topple this internal balance, creating more bad bacteria.  An imbalance in this microbiome leads to consequences on our health. Which means that a diverse gut flora, with a balance between the good guys and bad, is what keeps our body healthy.

Soil is the gut of the earth. Photo: Dylan de Jong/ Public domain

A gut feeling

The phrase “a gut feeling” comes from our Gut, also known as the “second brain”, from which we get signals. When you feel happy, it’s because a chemical messenger which makes you feel so, is produced in your gut. This is the “happy hormone” – serotonin. And more than 90 per cent of serotonin is produced right here in your gut. Serotonin regulates our mood, social behaviour, sleep, memory and learning. So, the way we think and feel is affected by what lies in our gut, which in turn is affected by the way we digest food -- and vice-versa.

Our gut microbiome is also responsible for creating an inner army – our immune system, the main line of defence of our body. About 70 percentper cent of our immune system resides in the gut. Our gut microbiome teaches our immune cells to distinguish between friends and foe and empowers them to fight against pathogens that attack our body. The more biodiversity we have in our gut, the more resilience we create against potential attackers (disease). Lesser diversity makes our immune system weaker, making us prone to more diseases. 

Like soil, like gut

The increasing use of pesticides, fertilisers, globalisation, industrial ways of growing food, mono-cropping, along with the overproduction of single ingredients such as corn, sugar, wheat, soya, etc. (mostly used in the processed/fast food industry), is steadily depleting the nutrients in the soil. This in turn decreases the microbial diversity of the soil, and hence creates less healthy plants - which means less healthy food. Biodiversity is decreasing not just on our planet, but also right inside our gut, due to the kinds of food we are being led to choose and eat. It is the soil microbiome that fuels our gut microbiome, which creates (or destroys) health in our bodies.

Nothing in nature exists in isolation. The health of our body and the planet depends on collective and individual choices. As the Earth gets more depleted and destroyed, the internal forest in the gut too suffers, creating more illness and disease. 

Playing in the dirt


Exposure to soil microbes is good for us. Photo: Chris Yang

When we play with soil, when we garden, when we touch soil, there are actual microorganisms in the soil which affect our well being (mycobacterium vaccae to name one). They act like anti-depressants, and activate and release not only the happy hormone serotonin, but also dopamine, another chemical that keeps our immune system healthy. Together these two chemicals get activated and flourish when we garden, or simply even see plants or nature in her glory – it impacts our body and helps us heal. 

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