Gut Bacteria

I confess to any readers, I believe in the Primal perspective on eating. I am not necessarily very good at following the tenets, but the theory resonates with me. I particularly like the Friday posts when folks write in about their success stories. I believe them. I mean, not everyone can make up such wonderful stories, can they? It amazes me about people who get to get off their medicines after eating Primaly. (A friend just confessed last night that she has been diagnosed as diabetic and now she is taking medicine for that. It breaks my heart.)

The reason I mention Primal Eating is because Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple recently published a blog post about Gut Bacteria. Gut bacteria fascinates me. I heard a podcast several years ago (on RadioLab, maybe) about the effects of gut bacteria on our health. It’s amazing. I suppose everyone has heard about it now, it’s been in the press so much. (I also heard about an experiment with sinus infections in children where they did a transfusion of healthy sinus bacteria into those children who suffered multiple sinus infections and how it worked relative wonders for the children.) I am ensnared by the idea of ‘TransPOOsions’ – a Freudian slip made by a patient of the interviewed doctor who was going to give her a fecal transfusion. Can you imagine? Insert the gut bacteria from a healthy individual into that of an ailing individual and have their lives turn around? At the time of the podcast they were speculating that it might help MS, Parkinsons, and other diseases. I will be keeping my focus on the subject.

Anyway, I wanted to share Mark Sisson’s blog post 7 Things You Had No Idea Gut Bacteria Could Do. In summary, they are:
They learn from each other.
They improve our bone mineral density.
They nullify anti-nutrients.
They manufacture vitamins.
They form a large physical barrier against pathogens.
They represent a “second brain.”
They can make us depressed, anxious, obsessive-compulsive, and even autistic.

Obviously, dear reader, you need to read his very detailed post so that you may learn. But, do take a look. It’s good stuff.