Whats Your Gut Type?

The human body is an endless study of discovery and miracles. With each new scientific revelation come insights into how we can more accurately diagnose and treat disease. Recently, a study done by Dr. Peer Bork and a team of researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), found three distinct types of intestinal ecosystems known as enterotypes. Dusko Ehrlich, one of the senior researchers of the paper published recently in Nature claims that, This is important. Say you want to compare ill people and healthy people; you better match them properly [by gut type].The human body is made up of 100 trillion microbes that inhabit our body, but reside mostly in our intestines. Alternative practitioners encourage taking good bacteria in the form of acidophilus, cultured vegetables and other probiotics, to keep the intestinal ecology in balance. Looking to understand how the microbes in our intestines work Dr Bork and his team set out to categorize them by testing a variety of people from different ethnic backgrounds. According to Bork what they found was that the microbes in the human intestine isnt random, our gut flora can settle into three different types of communitythree different ecosystems, if you like.Why is this discovery so important? Gut microbes are symbiotic bacteria that populate our intestines helping to break down food and create needed vitamins for our system to function properly. According to Jeroen Raes, a bioinformatician at Vrije University in Brussels and coauthor of the new study, The three gut types can explain why the uptake of medicines and nutrients varies from person to person.In other words, by knowing your gut type diagnosing, prescribing and treating an illness can be tailored to the individual. The fact that there are bacterial genes associated with traits like age and weight indicates that there may also be markers for traits like obesity or diseases like colo-rectal cancer, Dr. Bork says, which could have implications for diagnosis and prognosis.And! this is just the beginning of the research. As reported in the New York Times, Dr. Bork speculated that doctors might be able to use enterotypes to find alternatives to antibiotics, which are becoming increasingly ineffective. Instead of trying to wipe out disease-causing bacteria that have disrupted the ecological balance of the gut, they could try to provide reinforcements for the good bacteria. Youd try to restore the type you had before, he said.What is not yet known is just what causes the three enterotypes, named Bacteroides, Prevotella and Ruminococcus by the research team. Bork explained that since Bacteroides are known to break down carbohydrates people of this type may be prone to obesity, while Prevotella tends to degrade slimy mucus in the gut causing intestinal pain in this type of individual; and since Ruminococcus assists cells in the absorption of sugars it could lead to weight gain in this type of person.However, it is too soon to know the full impact this study will have on our health, and more testing is needed; but the recognition of the importance gut-microbes play in our health is significant in itself. With 80 percent of our immune system located in our intestines knowing your gut type will one day be as important as knowing your blood type.Related Links:
Trust Your Guts Guidance About Food
The Scoop on Poop and Probiotics

Delia Quigley is the Director of StillPoint Schoolhouse, where she teaches a holistic lifestyle based on her 28 years of study, experience and practice. She is the creator of the Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, Cooking the Basics, and Broken Bodies Yoga. Delia's credentials include author, holistic health counselor, natural foods chef, yoga instructor, energy therapist and public speaker. Follow Delia's blogs: brcleanse.blogspot.com and brokenbodiesyoga.wordpress.com. To view her website go to www.deliaquigley.com