by Karen Foster
December 23, 2013
from
PreventDisease Website
Karen
Foster
is a holistic nutritionist, avid blogger, with five
kids and an active lifestyle that keeps her in
pursuit of the healthiest path
towards a life of
balance. |
Researchers have long suggested a
link between the gut - brain axis and neuropsychiatric disorders
such as autism, depression, and eating disorders.
The gut contains microorganisms that
share a structural similarity with the neuropeptides involved in
regulating behavior, mood, and emotion - a phenomenon known as
molecular mimicry. The body can't tell the difference between
the structure of these mimics and its own cells, so antibodies
could end up attacking both, potentially altering the physiology
of the gut - brain axis.
Probiotics offset other intestinal
bacteria that produce putrefactive and carcinogenic
toxins.
If harmful bacteria dominate the
intestines, essential vitamins and enzymes are not produced and
the level of harmful substances rises leading to cancer, liver
and kidney disease, hypertension, arteriosclerosis and abnormal
immunity.
Harmful bacteria can proliferate
under many different circumstances including,
No
Causal Link, But A Correlation Between Autism-Like Symptoms and
Gut Bacteria
“The broader potential of this
research is obviously an analogous probiotic that could
treat subsets of individuals with autism spectrum disorder,”
wrote the commentary authors of the study in Cell,
who also included CU-Boulder Research Associate Dorota
Porazinska and doctoral student Sophie Weiss.
The study not causally link
microorganisms to autism, but rather emphasizes a correlation
between specific bacteria and ongoing symptoms and methods of
addressing a possible reversal in those symptoms.
The study underscores the importance
of the work being undertaken by the newly formed Autism
Microbiome Consortium, which includes Rob Knight as
well as commentary co-authors Jack Gilbert of the
University of Chicago and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown of
Arizona State University.
The interdisciplinary consortium -
which taps experts in a range of disciplines from psychology to
epidemiology - is investigating the autism-gut microbiome link.
For the new
Cell
study, led by Elaine Hsiao
of the California Institute of Technology, the researchers used
a technique called maternal immune activation in pregnant mice
to induce autism-like behavior and neurology in their offspring.
The researchers found that the gut
microbial community of the offspring differed markedly compared
with a control group of mice. When the mice with autism-like
symptoms were fed Bacteriodes fragilis, a microbe known
to bolster the immune system, the aberrant behaviors were
reduced.
It's common knowledge that a mother's milk can help beef up a
baby's immune system. New research indicates that the protective
effects of gut bacteria can be transferred from mother to baby
during breastfeeding.
Work published in
Environmental Microbiology shows that important
gut bacteria travels from mother to child through breast milk to
colonize a child's own gut, helping his or her immune system to
mature.
Scientific evidence is mounting that
the trillions of microbes that call the human body home can
influence our gut-linked health.
But more recently, researchers are
discovering that gut microbes also may affect neurology,
possibly impacting a person’s cognition, emotions and mental
health, said Knight, also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Early Career Scientist and an investigator at CU-Boulder’s
BioFrontiers Institute.
"Research has shown that
children with ASD commonly have GI [gastrointestinal]
symptoms," said Christine Pennesi, medical student at Penn
State College of Medicine.
"Notably, a greater proportion
of our study population reported GI and allergy symptoms
than what is seen in the general pediatric population. Some
experts have suggested that gluten- and casein-derived
peptides cause an immune response in children with ASD, and
others have proposed that the peptides could trigger GI
symptoms and behavioral problems."
The Autism Microbiome Consortium
hopes to broaden this understanding by further studying the
microbial community of autistic people, who tend to suffer from
more gastrointestinal problems than the general public.
People with autism spectrum disorder
who would like to have their gut microbes sequenced can do so
now through the American Gut Project, a crowdfunded research
effort led by Knight.
Benefits of
Probiotics
The following are the most well
documented benefits of taking probiotics regularly:
-
Weaken antibiotic
resistant bacterial strains, attack new types of
pathogens (supergerms) and infections in immuno-compromised
people requiring treatment (i.e. resist
opportunistic infections like candidiasis)
-
Manufacture B vitamins
(biotin, B3, B5, B6, folic acid, B12) and vitamin K
-
Secrete lactase, an
enzyme required to break down lactose in milk
-
Act as anti-cancer
factors (especially for bladder and bowel) by
inhibiting bacteria that convert nitrates into
nitrites
-
Inhibit bacteria that
secrete carcinogens
-
Function as natural
antibiotics against unfriendly bacteria, viruses and
yeast like Candida albicans
-
Enhance bowel function
and elimination; prevent constipation
-
Reverse diarrhea
conditions (Crohn's disease, AIDS, Traveller's)
-
Reduce or eliminate
bloating, gas, straining and abdominal pain due to
any cause
-
Prevent skin problems,
especially acne and other skin infections. (FYI -
most chronic acne conditions in adults are often
improved or eliminated by a good bowel flora
balance).
-
Protect against the
adverse effects of radiation and pollutants
-
Reduce blood levels of
cholesterol and triglycerides
-
Fight stress and food
cravings and thereby prevent or reverse obesity
-
Help eliminate bad
breath
-
Optimize sex hormone
levels, enhance fertility and prevent osteoporosis
-
Produce lactic acid,
improve the digestibility of foods
-
Oppose putrefactive
bacteria like bacteroides associated with a
meat-rich diet
-
Treat eczema, psoriasis,
ulcerative colitis, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel
syndrome, all cancers, gastritis, duodenitis,
diverticulitis, food allergies, lactose intolerance,
environmental allergies, urinary tract infections,
vaginitis, other chronic infections (TB, AIDS,
Herpes, venereal diseases) and autoimmune diseases
(e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica,
ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, lupus, alopecia
areata, scleroderma, thyroiditis, etc.)
Probiotic Sources
Cultured dairy
products like,
-
yogurt
-
acidophilus milk
-
buttermilk
-
sour cream
-
cottage cheese
-
kefir,
...are the best known food
sources of friendly bacteria.
Equally effective
probiotic food sources include
cultured/fermented vegetables
(cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash,
and carrots). Other, lesser known or used food sources
of probiotics are sauerkraut and sourdough breads.
Ideally, one could get
a good supply of probiotics from one or more of these
diverse foodstuffs. If dietary sources are not easily
available, supplemental probiotic powders and capsules
are good alternatives.
Choose a brand that
has at least 3 different strains of friendly bacteria
and between 6 - 15 billion live organisms.
Sources