Gut’s Kingdom
By Eileen C. Comia, MD
The following is an excerpt from a chapter written by Dr. Eileen Comia from the soon to be released book: “Essential Remedies for Women’s Health.” The chapter entitled “Gut’s Kingdom” gives an in-depth look at gastrointestinal function in women.
T
here is no other organ in the body that takes as much notice from us as the stomach. We personify the stomach in our everyday lives, as exemplified by expressions like “butterflies
in my stomach” (anxiety), “can’t stomach the person” (anger), and “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” (love). I therefore argue that the stomach and intestines, collectively called the GUT, are the “seat of emotion,” not the brain. Moreover, the precursors of neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain that can get out of balance and cause mood disorder) originate from the gut. I further fancy that the gut is a “kingdom” that should be supported and venerated. To refresh your memory - The gastrointestinal tract, in layman’s
term the GUT, is comprised of the mouth (oropharynx), throat (phar- ynx), esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines (colon), rectum, anus, liver, and pancreas. The spleen and the rest of GALT (gut associated lymphoid tissue) control the gut’s immune system.
Gut Microbiome – the “people of the kingdom”
Aside from the anatomical structures of the gut, there are the organisms (microbiome) that make up the “people” of the kingdom. The ruler of the kingdom is the beneficial/friendly or resident bacte- ria. It is now believed that resident bacteria maintain a symbiotic re- lationship with the host body (the “kingdom”) where each gain ben- efits from the other. To preserve peace in the kingdom, there should be a predominance of the good bacteria (the “king”) and only a few colonies of the bad bacteria and yeast (the “subordinates”). This is the normal balance of gut flora - lots of good bacteria, less of the bad guys (pathogenic bacteria). At birth, a newborn’s gut is sterile. As the baby passes through the mother’s birth canal, bacteria starts colonizing the baby’s gut
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from oral to anal direction. Preservation of normal gut flora main- tains the integrity of the gastrointestinal lining, protects the host from harmful bacteria, promotes intestinal motility (meaning they make the bowels move normally). “Germ-free “ animals were found to have vitamin deficiencies, increased susceptibility to infectious disease, poorly developed immune system, and lacking of natural immunity to bacterial infection. In fact, studies have shown that by age two, babies born by cesarean section are five times more likely to have allergies to common household allergens than those born naturally. It is also known that the mother’s dietary supplementation of probiotics prevent allergies in allergy-prone babies. Normal gut flora contains about 109 to 1012 microorganisms
per gram of colonic contents; and is comprised of about 500 species of bacteria. There are 3 different kinds of bacteria in terms of oxygen consumption: obligate aerobes need oxygen to survive, obligate anaerobes are poisoned by oxygen, and facultative anaerobes can grow with and without oxygen because they can metabolize energy aerobically and anaerobically. There are other subtypes but for simplification, these are what you need to know. Bacteria from the stomach to jejunum (second part of small intestines) are comprised mostly of aerobes and facultative anaerobes. Bacteria from the ileum (3rd part of small intestines) to cecum (first part of large intestines) are mostly anaerobic (Bacteroides, Lactobacilli, Clostridia) whereas bacteria in the rest of the large intestines are mostly Bacteroides and Bifidobacteria). Yeast (also called fungus) organisms thrive in anaero- bic environment and are considered commensal organisms. Beneficial bacteria in our gut break down undigested polysac-
charides (fiber) into glucose (sugar) and are eventually absorbed into the bloodstream. However, in the presence of low oxygen states, yeast and bacteria ferment glucose producing gas or flatus. This is why people with maldigestion coupled with low friendly bacteria experience a lot of bloating, flatus and abdominal pain called Ir- ritable Bowel Syndrome.
Aside from assisting in digestion, bacteria also synthesize certain vitamins and nutrients: such as Vitamin K2 which is known
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