Research is continuing to look into a possible link between diabetes and gut bacteria, the microflora living in your digestive tract. You might think that any bacteria living in your gut would be unhealthy, but there are actually good types of bacteria. Not all bacteria is bad.
The intestines are host to both healthy and unhealthy bacteria. The good bacteria will help you digest your food, support your immune system, and even provide your body with vitamins. You obviously want more of these friendly and helpful bacteria living in your intestines.
But, unfortunately, it’s the other type of bacteria, the bad bacteria, that some scientists believe may be linked to the development of diabetes. These bad microflora living in the digestive tract can cause inflammation throughout the entire body.
With trillions of microbes residing in what is mostly the large intestine, they collectively make up what is known as the microbiome. While the good microbes help us stay healthy, the bad bacteria can weaken the gut and cause a host of digestive problems, like irritable bowel disease and ulcers.
But the problems don’t stop there. Since the inflammation caused by the bad bacteria spreads through the entire body, some studies seem to indicate that an unhealthy gut can also lead to fatty liver disease, obesity, acne, and type 2 diabetes.
There is still a lot of work ahead for scientists as they continue to look for more evidence that links the microbiome and the development of type 2 diabetes.
While the research continues, there are still a few things you can do to stack the odds in your favor to ensure that the good bacteria has the upper hand in your digestive tract.
A healthy diet and regular exercise are, of course, the starting the point, but to keep the good bacteria in your gut doing its job, avoid taking antibiotics unless you really need them. Although antibiotics can help the body fight against certain infections, they can also be prescribed and overused to combat infections where they are not very effective. While they can kill of bad bacteria in the microbiome, they can also wipe out the good bacteria.
In addition, if the antibiotics are taken too much, the bad bacteria can eventually develop resistance against them, leaving the body open and vulnerable to future illnesses.
So how do you fill your gut up with good bacteria? There are certain foods that can help. With growing awareness on the importance of the microbiome, you may come across foods that are described as “probiotic.”
These are foods that some researchers believe will deliver healthy microbes into your digestive tract, leading to numerous health benefits such as increasing your immunity to disease and reducing the inflammation throughout your body. Even blood pressure and cholesterol levels may be improved by consuming probiotic foods.
Miso soup, sauerkraut, kimchi, and Kombucha tea are just a few foods and drinks that are known to contain probiotics. But please be aware that there is no consensus yet in the scientific community as to whether or not filling up on these foods will lead to a healthier gut.
Only one thing is clear; we still need to learn a lot more about the composition of our gut flora and how it affects our body’s ability to stay healthy, especially when it comes to combatting type 2 diabetes.
References:
https://bodyecology.com/articles/the-truth-about-diabetes-the-relationship-between-gut-health-and-disease
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2163228-a-high-fibre-diet-helps-treat-diabetes-by-changing-gut-bacteria/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25901889
