Your intestines and stomach, these often overlooked, workaday organs that thanklessly digest your food, may house unique forms of life, never before discovered by science. While not yet proven, researchers in Paris believe that hidden among our mostly uncatalogued gut flora are microbes with highly unusual DNA that may actually be a whole new category of life form. That’s like discovering a brand-new mammal in your backyard.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that scientists around the world keep making discoveries about the microscopic dramas unfolding in our bellies and how important a healthy gut biome is to whole-body health. Here are three recent discoveries.
Gut Flora Plays a Huge Role in Antioxidant Activities
Your gut flora regulates glutathione, an antioxidant found in every cell of the body. Glutathione also governs nitric oxide, plays a role in DNA synthesis and repair and is critical for metabolizing iron. Some believe it is the most powerful antioxidant in the body, definitely important for warding off oxidative stress.
Source: Chalmers University of Technology
Your Gut Microbiome Can Make Weight Loss Easier or Harder
Another study out of Sweden found that gut-flora balance may contribute to the regulation of blood sugar. And that this might be the key to why some weight loss treatments are effective for some people but not others. In the future, weight loss programs may be tailored to individuals based on their gut biome.
Source: University of Gothenburg
A Link to Type 2 Diabetes
Scientists in Russia have found that certain bacteria in the gut may be associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. Three types of microbiota were named as possible signs of diabetes: Blautia, Serratia and Akkermansia. Although healthy people’s guts contain these bacteria, folks who suffer from either diabetes or pre-diabetes have a significantly larger quantity of them.
Source: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
FloraFood, The Building Blocks of a Healthier Gut
Let AIM’s FloraFood provide you with the building blocks of a healthier gut. It contains a special blend of three powerful friendly bacteria – L. gasseri, B. bifidum and B. longum. These bacteria promote the production of B vitamins, break down and rebuild hormones, protect the body from environmental toxins and help to maintain healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels. AIM’s special formula requires no refrigeration.
The AIM Companies 