Gut Microbiota: Protect Your Heart and Your Hindquarters

This week I attended the Cleveland Clinic's 8th Annual Obesity Summit.   You might wonder why a personal chef would sign up for a seminar geared towards medical care providers.   The short answer is that I craved some real science for a change.  On a weekly basis, I sift through reams of nutritional dogma and fuzzy proclamations about health in an effort to help clients adhere to medically-suggested diets (not just for obesity/weight control, but for a whole host of health-related reasons), and I wanted some hard, empirical data that separates the best dietary habits from old wives' tales and fluff marketing put out by foodservice corporations.  Indeed, my goal was achieved and I certainly did learn some fascinating data about the human body and how it regulates weight.  Since I have copious notes on a great number of topics as they pertain to the subject of weight control, I will have to approach these topics in separate blog posts in the coming weeks.

But today I want to talk about your gut.  Or, gut microbiota, to be more specific.

Most of us are aware that there is bacteria in our gut that helps breakdown food.  For example, yogurt companies market the active cultures in their products as "friendly" bacteria that promotes good digestion.  You've heard of the stuff.

This gut microbiota, apparently, is hugely influential in your overall health. This bacteria influences not only whether you will be fat or thin but also whether your arteries will harden or stay pliable.  That means a significantly overweight person can count calories like crazy and do all the right things and not lose very much weight at all and still be on a path towards cardiovascular disease.  Not only does gut bacteria behave like its own little endocrine system, creating hormones that regulate metabolism,  it also produces products (trimethylamine n-oxide or TMAO) in the breakdown of nutrients that are directly linked to atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries.  Scientist have even found when they insert microbiota from an obese lab rat into a skinny lab rat, the skinny lab rat soon becomes obese, too...with no real change to the formerly-skinny rat's diet or exercise habits.

This is where an overweight individual who is at risk for cardiovascular disease might want to throw up thier hands and say, "I can't win."

Well, yeah,  they can win, actually.

One of the most exciting things I heard at the summit was that long term vegetarian exposure inhibits the gut from forming TMAO, the compound linked to atherosclerosis.  And if they've been a veg-head for an extended period of time and decide they want a Delmonico for old time's sake...they still will not have a spike in their TMAO.  The long-term vegetarian diet effectively changes their gut microbiota!

If they are eating their vegetarian diet and exercising, their body will produce a hormone called irisin, which allows fat to be burned even while at rest.

So the diet books are not far off when they tell you to eat your vegetables and get exercise.  It's not just an empty mantra, it is a real prescription for metabolic change.

Now if someone's gut bacteria is really bad, and they have problems beyond obesity and cardiovascular risk, they can actually have a fecal transplant.  That's not as gross as it sounds.  It just means that the docs get their hands on some good gut microbiota and put it into the troubled digestive tract to effectively crowd out the bad bacteria, again with the promise to affect real metabolic improvement as well as improvement in overall health.

If you are not obese, but maybe are concerned about your overall wellness as it relates to your gut, what can you do?  Lay off the steaks and chops for one thing. (I know it's a disappointment, but the science is REAL), eat some hearty whole grains (these seem to produce good bacteria), have some yogurt with active cultures, get more exercise to make some irisin, and talk to your care provider about probiotics or prebiotics to see if they are right for your situation.

I find it fascinating that something so small..some little bugs in our digestive system...can matter so much for our cardiovascular health, our metabolic output, and our weight.  And I find it encouraging that there is action we can take to make real, positive change.  Getting our gut microbiota in line really can help protect our hearts and our hindquarters!