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Why just taking a probiotic is unlikely to “fix” gut dysbiosis

Your gut is pitch dark, so gut bacteria, depend on you, to tell time – when your time signals are scrambled, they’re clueless and so they misbehave

Gut dysbiosis…………..

It’s a common feature of many health problems.

Why are the “good” guys missing ?

The first response is, they never made it in. We have a very long list of lifestyle experiences, that compromise our exposure to THE GOOD GUYS.

Antibiotics and other medications
Living in “sterile” environments
Processed foods
C-sections and formula feeding etc.

So, the “fix” is often, send in the GOOD guys – one way or another.

For many, this involves swallowing an expensive probiotic. I prefer more natural approaches, because probiotics, are not without issues.

Arrivals versus residency

But, who is there, is only partly determined, by who arrives.

Who stays is controlled.

By who is already there
By YOU

We know genes and diet, influence your bacterial profile……..

How does this happen ?

Through body chemistry. The bacteria respond to chemical signals….

So BAD BODY CHEMISTRY begets BAD BUGS.

when your gut hotel is a dump

Not BAD BUGS beget BAD BODY CHEMISTRY.

when your gut hotel is the ritz

NOTE : This is clearly NOT always true, just ask someone who has picked up a bad bug. Biology is ALWAYS complicated.

Dysbiosis in perspective

The idea that bad body chemistry is behind dysbiosis, rather than the bad bugs – is a subtle difference, but an important one, because it gives us, a whole new set of tools, to tackle THE DYSBIOSIS.

Let me give you a concrete example, taken from a recently published journal article…….it’s in diabetic mice.

NOTE : The principle is likely to apply, to the majority of conditions, that have been associated with changes in gut flora, not just type 2 diabetes.

Figuring out the who

The mice were diabetic, thanks to a genetic problem, NOT diet. They and there, normal cousins, grew up on ordinary mouse chow, in the same lab – but by 10 months, they were seriously overweight and considered diabetic.

Now our team, was interested in what was going on in the gut, but instead of taking a poop sample, first thing in the morning, they camped out in the lab and collected poop samples, ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT.

scientist camping out in lab

They ended up with 6 poop samples, taken at 4 hour intervals.

So what did they find ?

The who is time based

Who is there, is fluctuating across time.

poop samples across 24 hours

This, in and of itself, is NOT a big surprise. Conditions in the gut are different, across the day.

At night, when mice are out and about, food is dropping in and the gut residents, take advantage, sharing in the spoils, the mice have “collected”. During the day, when mice, “hit the sack”, the supply from above, dries up.

So gut residents, make a plan….

A bug makes a plan

Some bacteria take stock, upgrading their biology, for the next, round feeding. Others, MAKE A PLAN……. switching to host generated molecules, to munch on.

Among, their favourite, dining delicacy, is mucin – the protein that lines/protects our gut.

The “surprise”……….. in diabetic mice, the pattern of who was around, was different. Here you can see, the patterns of all the bacterial species, our team tracked.

The red lines, are the diabetic mice, the blue lines are the normal.

Many of the bacteria showed a different pattern….

Sometimes the oscillation was the same, but the overall numbers were different e.g. Lactobacillus – panel E
Sometimes the oscillation was time shifted i.e. the peaks and troughs moved forward/backward by a few hours e.g. Blautia – panel F
Sometimes the oscillation just never happened e.g. Allobaculum – panel J
And sometimes the oscillation was completely back to front e.g. Prevotella – panel O

These changes in bacterial profile, will have knock on effects, on body chemistry.

Our team demonstrated this, using metabolomics.

Good or bad ? It’s hard to say…..

Body chemistry is the key

This research shows…

The gut residents are impacted by YOUR BODY CHEMISTRY.

And timing……………. is EVERYTHING !

In the case of metabolic syndrome………

Insulin levels aren’t oscillating

insulin waking bacteria up in the middle of the night

Insulin is high, morning, noon AND NIGHT !

The high at night, which reflects as fasting hyperinsulinemia, is what characterizes insulin resistance.

At this stage, exactly why insulin, is high at night, is unclear – but reining in insulin, is what you need to work at, if you want to cultivate, the “right” microflora.

Loss of Diurnal Oscillatory Rhythms in Gut Microbiota Correlates with Changes in Circulating Metabolites in Type 2 Diabetic db/db Mice. Nutrients (2019) 11 : 2310. Eleni Beli, Samantha Prabakaran, Preethi Krishnan, Carmella Evans-Molina, Maria B. Grant.