ABC of Gut Health 🔤🧬 Healthy Longevity Report
A weekend read
Hello 👋 and welcome to Curation for Longevity by Laura Minquini. I am the founder of MYKIGAI - a new type of community to experience longevity.
This is our first report with actionable insights to transform your healthy longevity. Prepared by Girish Harinath, Geroscientist in residence. 👨🏽🔬
ABC of Gut Health 🔤🧬
In recent years, the gut microbiome has been a “hot topic” as scientists are revealing the profound influence our microbiome has on our health and wellness . And this is all for good reason. Studying the intricate interactions between a human being and its microbial inhabitants has led to the concept of the “holobiont”, meaning the biological entity of a host and its associated microorganisms. Accordingly, we can think of our body as an ecosystem highly affected by dynamic interactions between our “human selves and our microbial selves”. In fact, in terms of sheer number of cells and genetic content, we are more microbe than we are human. In this sense, we are a ‘superorganism’ rather than a single human individual. We are still in the infancy of understanding the contents and role of the microbial ecosystem within our body. What we do know is that our microbiome influences literally every aspect of our physiology and has everything to do with how we age. In fact, evidence suggests that the process of aging is mediated by an integrative chain of events driven by an ongoing conversation between our “microbial-selves” and our “human-selves”.
Emerging scientific research suggests that understanding this cross-talk and influencing its discussion holds promise to significantly improve healthy longevity.
At least half of all the molecules coursing through our blood are made by (or modulated by) our gut microbiome. This includes micronutrients (several B vitamins), hormones (cortisol and estrogen) and factors important for brain health like serotonin and dopamine. Through these interactions our gut microbiome influences the health of every organ in our body. Mental health and brain aging, immune health and chronic inflammation, metabolic health and sugar disposal, and of course . . . the health of our guts. Thousands of years ago, it was Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) that said “death begins in the gut”. The scientific community is only now revealing the deep truth in his words. By focusing on improving the health of our gut and its microbiome, we can have an immeasurable impact on delaying the onset of a wide range of chronic diseases and improve the quality of our lives (i.e. healthspan). The problem that exists today is that there is information overload and it is hard to know what to believe. This is compounded by the fact that there is no single healthy gut microbiome signature. Each individual's microbiome is as unique as their finger print, and needs to be recognized as such. What this means is that cultivating a healthy microbiome is largely in your hands.
On this report we establish:
A) How do I know if my gut microbiome is healthy or unhealthy? (Establish your Baseline)
B) How can I cultivate a gut environment that supports a healthy microbial ecosystem? (Establish healthy habits so the right microbes can survive and thrive)
C) What probiotic regimen is optimal for me? (Establish a personalized protocol/system that maintains your microbial ecosystem like the “super-agers”)