It’s a Jungle In There!

I have been spending a good deal of time over the last few days watching university lectures discussing the medical discoveries being made in the realm of gut microbiomes. To drastically understate the information I’ve gleaned, it has been an “eye-opening” study.

More accurately put, I have been absolutely blown away by some of the data that the professors shared from their field of expertise! I am realizing more and more that what I thought I knew about how bacterial ecosystems interact with my body and affect my everyday health was laughably ignorant and over-simplified.

For example, I had NEVER heard this before:

(For clarification, this is NOT one of the “lectures” I was referring to. This is just a simplified summary of one of the data points that was shared in one of the lectures.)

Isn’t that NUTS?! The types of bacterial cultures that are living in our guts can actually DICTATE whether or not we are able to lose weight!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Scientists are discovering direct correlation/causation between the types of bacterial cultures present in our bodies and a LITANY of other health maladies. Food allergies (& food preferences!), for example, can be the direct result of an imbalanced gut microbiome (Check out this lecture snippet!) 1I would highly recommend this entire lecture as an amazing resource for anyone interested in understanding gut health!

Besides learning about the presence and functions of different bacterial microbiomes in our guts, I have also learned a little bit about the acquisition process of getting those bacterial populations into our bodies.

It turns out that the CURRENT microbiome mixtures residing in our guts are heavily affect by the FIRST microbiomes that our guts are introduced to as children. That’s not to say that the bacterial colonies that first took up residence in your little toddler belly are the only ones taking up space there now, but they definitely affected the introduction of other microbiomes later on.

I saw this concept play out on a macro level when we were living in the jungle in Papua New Guinea. The people group we lived with there ascribed to a “slash and burn” gardening technique.2I’m not a fan of this method, but it is the one that they utilized. They would chop down all the trees and foliage in a new garden site, let all the organic matter dry under the hot tropical sun, and then light it up. They could often get a pretty good inferno going.3I witnessed the closest thing to a “lake of fire” I have ever seen when taking part in one of these culture events The result was a large swath of scorched earth, completely devoid of organic life.

Then, it was a race to get their garden crops planted before the jungle repopulated the space according to ITS desired horticultural whims. Because the harsh reality of nature is that the first organisms that make a claim on a new environment get a SERIOUS advantage. AND those first organisms often play “gatekeeper” to what other organisms are allowed to come in behind them.

If the first seeds allowed to take root and thrive were thorny vines and weeds, then it would be very difficult to get beneficial produce to grow in that space. Actually, even if the good stuff was the first to get in the ground, there would always be the threat of a more aggressive, detrimental species coming in and choking out the helpful, yet less hearty, organisms.

The environment in our gut is almost identical to my tropical jungle experience (to the point that scientists in this field of study refer to gut bacteria as “gut flora”). There is a constant territorial war being waged in our GI tracts between multitudes of microscopic organisms. When the populations of beneficial bacteria are the dominant place-holders, our bodies reap the benefits of balanced hormones, optimal nutritional absorption, and general good health. But when the scales tip the other way…

Lethargy, weight gain, bloating, anxiety, neurological disorders, blood sugar imbalances, high-cholesterol, heart disease, yeast infections, insomnia, depression, immuno-deficiency disorders…the more scientists study this stuff, the more physiological symptoms they are discovering to be directly resulting from the poor gut health of the affected individual. (There are even studies linking poor gut health to autism!)

And this isn’t just limited to what we think of as “sicknesses.” Our gut is one of the main regulatory systems in our body. It is sometimes referred to by the experts as our “second brain.” You know how when you get nervous you feel “butterflies in your stomach?” Or how when you get anxious it can affect your appetite, or cause diarrhea?4I know several people who get hit with a case of “the runs” before every public speaking engagement. Ever noticed how sometimes after a meal you lose all your ambitions?5Think about your post-Thanksgiving dinner outlook on activity. The state of your gut has eliminated your gumption!

This totally makes sense when you realize that our guts are HEAVILY connected to our brains, neurologically. Not only that, but our guts produce almost 50% of the dopamine in our body (the neurotransmitter that makes us “feel good” after a good laugh, or exercise, or accomplishing a goal, etc.) and 95% of our serotonin (the neurotransmitter whose deficiency is highly linked with depression)!

Why is all of this biology relevant, and why did I spend half of my day off geeking out over university lectures online? Well, for me, it totally explains why my health is being revolutionized by my Plexus products! I’m happier, healthier, and experiencing GOBS more energy because my Plexus probiotics,6Beneficial bacteria that improve my body’s ability to function properly. prebiotics,7Nutrients that are specially selected to feed the beneficial bacteria in the probiotics and natural supplements are clearing out the “weeds” in my gut and replacing them with beneficial flora! (And, for those thinking that this same result could be achieved by simply eating yogurt or buying some cheap “probiotics” at Walmart, there are typically over 1,000 species of bacteria residing in a human gut, just a fraction of the many thousands of available options, and they are NOT all equal in value or function.)

Have you “scorched the earth” of your gut microbiome through the use of antibiotics? Have you encouraged an imbalanced growth of negative yeasts and bacteria through your diet (If you are an American, then the answer to this is most definitely Yes.)? Are you constantly fighting a losing battle and routinely experiencing “less than optimal” health?

I would like to encourage you to embrace healing. In the immortal words of Count Rugen to Prince Humperdink in The Princess Bride, “If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.” You can have a healthy gut, and Plexus can help you get it.

[For those who would like to know more about some of the different nutritional supplements Plexus has available, or for those looking for more information about improving gut health, please connect with us on Facebook!]