Wisdom Wednesdays: Anti-aging strategies part 7: Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome

and even accelerated aging. But the good news is that lifestyle choices can significantly influence the health of our gut microbiome, and let's explore how we can nurture these microbial communities. So, first of all, let's understand the gut microboum from a high level. You've heard me talk about it before, I've had numerous podcast guests on But just as a quick refresher, you've got microbiome consists of a bunch of bacteria, viruses,

fungy and other microorganisms that inhabit our intestines. And it turns out that these microbes are essential for a number of different important things in the body. Firstly, digestion, that's the obvious one, and there is important really especially for breaking down complex carbohydrates and fibers to provide what we call short chain fatty acids that are really good for our gut lining and our heart health than our brain health. The next thing that you've got microbiome is really important

for is immune function and protecting against pathogens. So if you think about it, your entire gastro intestinal tract is essentially a tube that is outside the body, and it's a really easy way for pathogens to get in that. That's why we have stomach acid to make it en hospitable for them. But then if the pathogens do make it through the stomach acid, and the easiest way for them to penetrate into the body is particularly through the

gut wall. And when we get what's called dysbiosis or a leaky gut, we know that it can trigger immune reactions in a whole host of autoimmune disorders. And we know that about eighty percent of your immune system resides around that gut wall, so this is a really important barrier. The next thing is our metabolism, So we know that your microbiome play a really important role in synthesizing vitamins and minerals and regulating our energy. And in the last

but less obvious thing is brain health. And we know that there's this tremendous two way communication with the brain via the gut brain axis of what people are now calling the gut brain microba axis, which we know, OHI is hugely important in both our physical and mental health. And a compromise gut brand microbra access contributes to the development of many chronic diseases. So a diverse and this

is important we dive into this. A diverse and balanced microbiome is key to maintaining these functions and and overall health. And these disruptions can lead to this gut this biosis or leaky gut, and this is balance. Then that's associated with a whole host of various health issues. So let's

talk about lifestyle interventions to support a healthy microbiome. So let's start with the most obvious one, which is obviously nutrition and you've probably heard it a million times before, but a fiber rich diet is really important for a healthy microbiome. But the other thing is diversity is key. I know a lot of people who eat healthily, but they eat the same stuff we can we out and their diet is pretty narrow, and that actually is actually not a good thing, and especially as we ea is

because our micro boom starts to become compromised. If you've got a narrow diet, it's definitely not ideal. And we

really should be trying to emulate traditional hunter gatherers. And studies of the Hadza, who I've talked about before in tanzanianies are hunter gatherer tribe whoveing that their microbiome is way more diverse than that of individuals in industrial society, and this diversity is attributed to this diet that is rich in a whole host of various plant fibers and minimally processed foods, and they consume a wide range of foods over the year, and they actually have been identified

as consuming an average of seven hundred and thirty different species have got microbiomes or have got microbes, compared to just two hundred and seventy seven in the average Western individual. Data are some research from the Scientific American So we should be incorporating a variety of plant foods and am to have a wide range of fruits vegetables, lagoons, nuts, and whole greens. And when I say whole grains, they

don't mean breakfast cereals, I mean real whole greens. This variety provides different types of fibers and nutrients that then feed these diverse microbial species and then promote a robust and healthy microbiome. And really important are what we call prebiotics,

not probiotic, but prebiotic foods. So probiotics are basically will help if you have a dodgy gut, if you've been sick, or if you've had antibiotics, but pre biot and what we know is probiotics are kind of transitory, but prebiotics actually are these non digestible fibers that nourish the beneficial gut bacteria. So they actually provide the substrates or the food for these diverse bacteria. And there's a few foods that are real standouts here, so garlic, onions and that

whole family. These are rich in inulin and what's called fruittal oligo saccharides and so really really helpful for feeding our gut microbiome. The only thing to be aware of is if you are sensitive to faud maps foods and garlic and onions really not good for you because of the fruital oligo sacharides in them. But for everybody else who's not faud map sensitive individual, they're wonderful foods for your microbiom as are things like asparagus and leaks. Again,

they contain inulin to support this beneficial bacteria. Then bananas, actually banana at flour bananas, especially when they're slightly green, they got a really high amounts of resistant starch. And also things like pays beans and lentils are good. In these resistant starts, it's resistant to our digestion and then it's fermented by these healthy bacteria. And then whole grains

such as oats and barley are excellent sources. Again not the bloody process breakfast cereals, but we want the real whole grains oats, barley, kinmoa, all of that sort of stuff. Then the next thing is to really minimize our intake of ultra process foods. Again, I've been buyging on about this for quite a while, but we ni know with our the shadow of a doubt that diets that are high in ultra processed foods as we get in many Western countries and negatively impact the gut microbiome, leading to

reduced diversity and increased inflammation. And we've got to realize that these foods often contain addatives such as the multifiers, artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers, and preservatives that hrupped our microbial balance. And a diet rich in ultra processed foods has been linked to adverse effects on brain health and increasing our

susceptibility the mental illness and neurodegenerate diseases. And it's not just the stuff that you're eating and all the bad stuff that's in these ultraprocessed foods, but it's the crowding out of healthy foods. Like I talked about before. If you're eating a lot of shit, you're obviously not eating healthy foods, so you get this double negative wammy when you've got significant amounts of these foods in our diet.

Then let's talk about some targeted supplements. And I'm not going to go through an extensive list, but stuff that we know can be really useful. Look, if you know you have a compromised gut, if you've got a bit of a leaky gut, and el glutamine is an amino acid that really has been shown to resport, resupport the repair and maintenance of your intestinal lining and potentially airing in gut health. And then that's when a whole host

of probiotics can be useful. So supplementing with beneficial bacteria can help restore balance, especially after anti biotic use. And I know all about this having had my microbiome carpet bomb when I went through open heart surgery and I actually got an evidence based a bunch of probiotics that I had to order in from the UK that had actually been shown to restore gut balance in people who'd

had heart surgery. And I took this two weeks before and then two weeks after, and my got actually went back in my biol movement to be delighted to hear and returned after just a couple of days after surgery. And they were actually quite surprised about that in the hospital. So we know that targeted, evidence based and probiotics are really really important and it's not just about just going in and grabbing your cult or something like that from

the chemist. But if you want more information on this one, refer to my recent podcast with doctor Jason Hardrech for more information. It was only a couple of months ago and he did a deep dive into this stuff. Then, the other thing that we know is really useful for your gut is curstin, and that's a polyphenolic flea ofvonoid and founding foods like onions and apples, and studies suggest that curstin, which you can also get as a supplement, but you're better getting it from food. But we know

that carser tin can modulate your got microbiota. It can alleviate this biosis or leaky gut and actually reduce inflammation. So either get yourself a supplement or eight lots of those foods that are high in curser tin. And the next thing is exercise. For once, this hasn't been first off the bat, but we do know that various types of physical activity have been shown over and over again to enhance microbial diversity and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.

And that's probably due to the actions of what we call myokines, these messenger molecules that are released from contracting muscle that have an influence on all your organs, including your gut. And we know that a mixture of aerobic exercises. Typical cardio stuff, but also high intensity interval training and

strength training all are beneficial. So and doing that regular exercise also reduces stress and inflammation partly through the release of these mayakins, and that reduced stress further supports gut health. And then it's about sleep. We know that sleep debt, sleep deprivation, sleep debt can disrupt the gut microbiome, leading

to imbalances. And I have talked about sleep and sleep high before, so I'm not going to go into it in detail, but having a consistent sleep schedule, going to bed and waking up around the same time is really important.

Getting adequate sleep is the most important seven to eight hours a night, but making sure that you got that good sleep hygene as well as the consistent timings of going and waking up, minimizing lights in the evening and stimulation from computers, Netflix, your mobile phone, those sorts of things.

Making sure you're having a wind down routine of thirty to sixty minutes and minimizing coffee and caffeine at particularly after midday is really really important because we know that if you do have good sleep, it actually supports the balance of I've got bacteria and overall got the health and if you have bad sleep, it compromises it. The other thing that compromises is stress, and that's through this

gut brain micro bio to access. We know that chronic psychological stress negatively influences your gut health in your microbiome. So regular stress reducing practices such as exercise which is a natural stress buster, but also mindfulness meditation and just being mindful throughout the day and deep breathing exercises and slow control breathing helps to reduce our stress and activate

the powa sympathetic nervous system. So really enclosing, it is so clear that maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is a really important cornerstone of overall health and well being and healthy aging. And we know that when people age there are changes in their gut microbiome. It becomes much more narrow and it becomes more and balance towards the negative.

But adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes a diverse, fiber rich diet, regular physical activity and sleep, and effective stress management can support your gut health and be a really effective anti aging strategies. And remember it's these small, consistent changes that lead to big improvements over time. So that's it for this week, folks. Next week we'll explore yet

another hallmark of aging and discuss some practical strategies. But from now here's to nurturing your gut for a healthier life. Catch you next time.