There are 10 times more bacterial cells (100 trillion) in our body than human cells (10 trillion) but being much tinier weigh a total of only about 2 to 2 1/2 kgs. Of the entire micro biome that lives on and within us, 99 percent are our in gut, mostly in our large intestine. Not because they are so few outside, but because there are simply so inconceivably many in the gut. For the most part these bacteria help us, improving and training our immune system, providing vitamins and preventing other harmful bacteria from infecting us. They work by producing more than 200 unique hormones that act to control our metabolism and our eating behaviour and regulate how we harvest energy from our food and thus slim us down or fatten us up. By breaking down toxins and medications and also by releasing metabolites and waste molecules that act not only on our Digestive System but also on our Nervous System, they also alter receptors that respond to taste, mood, pleasure and pain and thus have considerable effect on our diet preferences and even our feelings and behaviour. Antibiotics can disrupt such Gut Micro Flora and hence must be taken with care. (See – ‘Glossary and Explanation of Terms – Antibiotics’).

Of the thousands of species of bacteria that live in our gut, it is probable that more than 90 percent come from less than 50 species. Skewed proportions of different bacteria in the Gut have been detected in those suffering from obesity, malnutrition, nervous diseases, depression and chronic digestive problems. In addition to bacteria, the Gut is also home to a minority populations of viruses, fungi, yeasts and various other single-celled organisms but little is yet known about their activities. Some work alone, others are effective in combination with other bacterial families. Each person’s inner world is unique to him/her.

The relationship between gut micro flora and the human host is not merely commensal (a non-harmful coexistance) but rather often is a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship. Changes in the composition of gut micro flora can have important health effects. Just as they are only a few major blood types, so also they are only a few types of gut microbe populations. These types are not related to age, gender, nationality or diet. Though their relative population can be affected by changes in life style, diet and age. Perhaps the first microbes they are exposed to as their immune system is developing determines the type.

A person’s gut type might help to determine whether people can eat all they like and yet remain slim. Whether they will experience more gut pain than others when they get sick or even how they will metabolize a particular drug. Factors that disrupt the microflora populations of the large intestine include, anti-biotics, stress, parasites and severe illness.

If these organisms within us can change our immunity, to keep us healthy or cause illness, change our appearance, mood, mental stability and behaviour, then they aren’t just part of us – in a way they are also us.

Researcher Daniel Wolpert tells us that the purpose of the brain is to create perfect movement. The aim of the movement being to motivate us to bring about an effect, to formulate a response to our environment and to do something to change our situation constantly toward a healthy equilibrium – say from cold to warm or from sad to happy, or from tired to alert and so on. The more information we gather, the clearer and more effective the movements we make. Also as researcher A D Craig has noted, human self awareness originates in the insular cortex, which receives information from various sensory organs of the body, of which it is now recognized that the Gut is an important one sending information via the vagus nerve. The insula then creates a picture of the entire body which the brain embellishes and refreshes about every forty seconds to continuously create the film of self, of our life. Our Gut is thus really our second brain.

Very few bacteria reside in the small intestine, where we break down our food for ourselves and absorb the nutrients from it. The large intestine, where the digestive process is almost finished and all that remains are for the undigested remnants to be transported away, is the real home of our gut microflora where the highest concentration of bacteria (over 90 percent) is found. The further one travels from the small intestine toward the final exit from the gut, the more bacteria there will be per sq. cm of gut membrane. If this equilibrium is disturbed and large numbers of bacteria migrate to the small intestine we have a case of ‘bacterial overgrowth’. This can cause symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain, joint pain, gastro-intestinal infections, as well as nutrient deficiencies and anemia. Bacteria produce nutrients that are so tiny that we can absorb them directly into the cells of our gut. They can also perform such beneficial services outside the gut. Yoghurt is nothing other than milk pre-digested by the bacteria. Much of the sugar in the milk (lactose) has already been broken down and transformed into lactic acid (lactate) and smaller sugar molecules. The newly formed lactic acid causes the milk protein to curdle, giving the yoghurt its characteristic thick consistency. That is why it is both sweeter and sourer than milk.

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