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100 Trillion and Me

100 Trillion and Me

Happy Mother's Day to the 8% moms out there!

And, of course, to the moms not part of the 8%. Moms are the best, so go make their day, they deserve it! Also, for all you tardy kids late to the party, we’ve got you covered with a possible momma’s day gift. Head over to our website and enjoy a nice 15% off on the house. 

Before anything else, we are very excited to introduce our new 8% tradition, where you get your moment of fame, much like a Stan Lee cameo. It’s an 8 question poll to break the ice (we’ll publish the results the following week- don’t worry though, the results are anonymous😉). Check it out here

WE ARE NOT ALONE:

Turns out, your the popular kid! There’s about 100 trillion little followers with you at any given moment. So who are these clingy little followers? Let us just say, it’s not just digestion down there, it’s a metropolis where the population includes: bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea and eukaryotes that make up a complex system that is deeply involved in the proper functioning of our bodies. May we present to you, your microbiome

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Let us explain some of the most important functions that we know of yet (Keep in mind research in this field is only now being studied, because you know, its 100 trillion of these little guys).

Ever heard of a chill-pill? Yeah, me neither. But what I and probably you’ve heard about is a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is produced by these little helpers. Serotonin helps control our mood, promoting optimism, pleasure and happiness. 

Some bacteria are even equipped with their own little immune systems- which is either cute or creepy. Now the cool thing is that, on top of fighting off invaders, they are actually in a symbiotic relationship with our gut, as they help form a barrier for pathogens, keeping your digestive tract in tip top shape

Lastly, they help us make certain nutrients like Vitamin K, enzymes and aid in metabolic processes by breaking down any elements of food there were not able to be broken down before (more on that in a bit).

THE PROBLEM:

Okay, so our microbiome is pretty important to say the least. Now, although science still can't prove a causal relationship to prove that the microbiome is a piece of the heath puzzle, they are onto something big. It turns out that the American diet is somewhat, nay, severely lacking in fiber, a crucial carbohydrate.

Fiber isn’t just a snack for your gut bugs, it’s essentially the source of energy for your microbiome. Our body’s can’t break it down, but they can. And it just gets worse… at any given time, 2.5 out of 100 people are taking antibiotics. The rampant and widespread use of these medications means that we are constantly building up and then exterminating our gut microbiomes. 

While antibiotics can work wonders, they have a crucial flaw. They have high precision but low accuracy, meaning they kill bacteria, but the catch is it kills good bacteria too. This is no small detail, the absence of beneficial bacteria can lead to a mayhem down below if you catch our drift.

So... what gives? What happens if you have an unhealthy gut? Let’s go over the most common side effects:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): With little to no defense against pathogens, when they breach your gut and proliferate, they cause chaos on our systemic health, causing seemingly unexplained diarrhea, constipation, etc. 

Sleep troubles: This is a weird one right? And this seemingly unexplainable loss of sleep isn’t because you haven’t bought your mom a gift yet. Rather, since they make the majority of our serotonin, an unhealthy gut is linked to a disturbed sleep cycle, and less effective rest.

Obesity: Studies have linked a strong connection between a gut with reduced diversity (an unhealthy gut) and obesity. It is not clear exactly why this relationship exists, but an unhealthy gut increase ones odds of being overweight by altering energy absorption, fat storage and believe it or not (and this is key) increased appetite

Now our aim isn’t to scare you enough so you have nightmares about gut health, which will then make you revert to a healthy diet (although that would be pretty cool). So let’s see what you can do to make sure your little followers are taken care of.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

By now you are probably running to your fridge to munch on some celery. BUT WAIT! There's more. We’ve established that our gut bacteria need fiber. But like us, to be able to function at an optimal level they require micronutrients as well. The amounts of each vary depending on the strain of bacteria we are referring to, but the general scientific consensus is that calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorous are some of the most important minerals for shaping our microbiome. So, meet the team:

As you know we LOVE our magnesium, so we will give an honorable mention to our mineral bestie. Magnesium supplementation has been shown to improve microbiota richness, both increasing the abundance of Bifidobacterium (the 007 of this story) and decreasing the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae (the bad guys). 

Bifidobacterium is a genus of bacteria is linked to increased immunity, helping digest fiber, preventing infections, and producing important compounds, such as B vitamins and healthy fatty acids

Enterobacteriaceae on the other hand include unwanted guests like E. Choli, Salmonella, Yersinia, etc. These bacterias are some of the most common suspects of foodborne illness. Definitely NOT something you want to be cultivating in your gut.

Aaaand now you can go eat that celery. 

Thanks for sticking around! And now a word from our sponsors:

That’s you by the way! Thank you for your support, and we can’t wait to see how this week's poll goes. Here's the link to the poll, enjoy. Once again, happy Mother’s Day to everyone- and don't forget to check out our website for that juicy sale!

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