Compliments of Wilbur, a great resource for anyone wanting to know a bit more about the human gut:
Gut Health in Early Life: Significance of the Gut Microbiota and Nutrition for Development and Future Health.
I will be out of town (and off-line!) until Tuesday. There will be a 20 question test when I return.
Takes about 15 minutes to read, if you are a fast reader. Really good explanations about how the gut obtains new bacteria from birth on.
84 pages in 15 minutes ha! ha! But I will have a go at reading it normal speed (May take until Tuesday to get done.
ReplyDeleteJo tB
Thanks Wilbur and Tim! Some light reading for the weekend...
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a thoughtful, thorough, and fair review. A couple of things I thought were especially interesting: They make mental well-being a requirement for having a healthy gut. I like that. Also, they know that bacteria make their way to the mother's milk when breastfeeding, but they don't know how. I'm wondering if one day somebody will discover hat we have a lot of bacteria in unexpected places, like the equivalent of endophytes for humans...
ReplyDeleteThe booklet isn't that specific to infants. Most of it in fact applies to adults too.
Wilbur
Deletein humans (animals), "endophytic" microbes are called "intracellular". See my comment below.
It really is a great read. If I ever wrote a book about gut bugs, I'd want it to look just like this. I know what hard work it is, they did a very good job.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile...it's official. Just finished the last class of my first full year of the biotechnology degree I'm working on!
Total Grade Points: 72.000
GPA : 4.000
And I got "C's" in high school, lol
Congrats! It's amazing what you can do when you have passion. Hope you are having a good break.
DeleteTim, clearly high school was boring. yup. Geared to lowest common denominator. Nothing inspiring about that, is there?
DeleteCongratulations, Tim. 4.0! While working full-time at a demanding job! Wow. Really happy for you (and us, as we benefit from the knowledge).
DeleteDebbie
Printed to read off-line. This is just great! Thanks so much! I have a huge interest in helping moms eat right/feed their kids right. Why not start at the very beginning! Will one day hopefully incorporate this into a blog post/series. Thanks so much, Tim and Wilbur for this, and Tim for the earlier article you sent me! I'm looking forward to seeing, too, if it mentions how the placenta is not sterile and the fetus probably picks up bacterial flora in-utero. This all blows what I learned in med school out of the water! Thanks! Terri F
ReplyDeleteTerri -
DeleteI am glad you found that article useful. There is a companion piece that I forgot to tell Tim about. It was not nearly as "useful" from my perspective. To ,e, it looks like less effort was used, and approaches problems from a more conventional perspective. I realized, though, that might not be true for others. Here is the link
http://www.essentialknowledgebriefings.com/downloads/gut-health-in-early-life-implications-and-management-of-gastrointestinal-disorders/
It is free if you register.
I often mean to post on your blog, but never find the right words. I too went from a "doctor" (PhD in my case) to a stay at home parent. Several of your posts have resonated with me because they assure me that at least one other person has similar experiences and frustrations (and is open and honest about them). I am grateful.
Terri
Deletesome reading for you:
A holobiont birth narrative: the epigenetic transmission of the human microbiome (2014)
"Surprisingly, data suggest that the first colonizing bacteria arise from the mouth and then work their way into the fetus while it is still within the amnion. Molecular studies also indicated that the early colonization of human neonates appears to be accomplished by bacteria originating from the oral cavity (Palmer et al., 2007; Human Microbiome Project Consortium, 2012; Jost et al., 2012; Milisavljevic et al., 2013). According to sequencing data (Stout et al., 2013; Aagaard et al., 2014; Prince et al., 2014), the neonatal gut microbiota do not resemble the maternal vaginal or gut microbiota, but contain populations of bacteria derived from a placental source that stems from the oral cavity. Moreover, specific bacteria that are found normally or pathologically in the oral cavity (and not in the lower gut or vagina) have been isolated from human amniotic fluid (Ernest and Wasilauskas, 1985; Douvier et al., 1999; Bearfield, 2002; and Han et al., 2004). Bacteria were formerly thought to be found in placentae only in those mothers at risk for preterm labor. However, Stout et al. (2013) have questioned this idea by identifying intracellular bacteria in normal term and preterm placentae3.
The mechanism by which oral bacteria can get to the placenta is not yet known. However, one possibility is that dendritic cells of the oral cavity transport bacteria to lymphatic tissue in the placenta (see Donnet-Hughes et al., 2010; Funkhouser and Bordenstein, 2013). The oral mucosa contains numerous populations of dendritic cells, and these cells migrate through the blood and lymphatic vesicles to lymphoid tissues to mediate tolerance or immunogenicity (Hovav, 2014). When reaching the lymphoid tissues, the dendritic cells can diapedese across the endothelial cells into the lymphoid tissues (see de la Rosa et al., 2003; Johnson and Jackson, 2014). In many cases, they transport bacteria or other potential pathogens with them, and they present these microbial cells to the lymphocytes. The uterine decidua has a population of resident lymphocytes, and these cells are essential for normal implantation and the lack of rejection of the fetus (Blois et al., 2004; Juretic et al., 2004; Laskarin et al., 2007; Zarnani et al., 2008). So the oral cavity has a mucosa with associated dendritic cells, and the placenta has a lymphoid region capable of receiving dendritic cells. Recently, it was shown that dendritic cells carrying pathogens in them can migrate to the placenta and enable their parasitic passengers to infect the fetus. The transplacental passage of the intracellular Toxoplasmosis-like parasite Neospora caninum in mice appears to be facilitated by such dendritic cells."
...and the final line (footnote) of this paper, LOL:
"Always be wary of male scientists telling birth narratives."
Gemma, thanks for this article. Back, I don't even remember now how many years ago, maybe 10 - 15 years, an epidemiological study was done here in regards to periodontal disease and premature labour. Of course, there would have been many variables but the data for premature labour was collected prior to for women on welfare/benefits. Then dentists were told to do as many scalings as required during the pregnancy including unlimited preventive appointments for the male partner as well. It made no difference whatsoever on premature labour incidence.
DeleteThe thing is that during pregnancy, hormone levels are very high and connective tissue becomes softer so that the baby can pass through the pelvic arch. But the hormones make periodontal tissues more susceptible to inflammation and when a woman has very poor oral hygiene, tissues become very swollen and bleed easily. Literally hundreds of women across Canada were provided with unlimited preventive care during the study period and for whatever reason, periodontal inflammation did not appear to be causative for premature labour. I would have placed a bet that it does.... I would have lost.
One thing I noticed from the start: Publication of this Essential Knowlege Briefing was suppored by an unresstricted educational grant from Canone Nutrica Research.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that 2 of the authors were Dutch, one from Emma Children's Hospital University of Amsterdam, the other connected with the University of Wageningen (which is in the pocket of the food industry Unilever)
What I have read so far is very illuminating indeed. One thing I am missing is where the children are born. In Holland about 90% of births are home deliveries, whereas in the UK, the USA and Canada births take place in hospitals. So there is ambient influences at play as well. Hospitals and super bugs come to mind. And a lot more people handling the baby in hospital. At home it would be the midwife and the mother. I'm sure that would make a difference in the development of the baby's immune system.
About half way through and reading...
Jo tB
Typo: it should be Danone and not Canone. Danone is the manufacturer of Activa Yoghurt.
DeleteJo tB
While doing a Google search on the first author Raaman Shamir, came across this you tube site
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOq8AgfmRH8
The title: what could be the benefits of supplemented formulas with insuline.
Jo tB
There are some other publications on the gut free to download from this site\
ReplyDeletehttp://www.essentialknowledgebriefings.com/
Jo tB
Hah! That's where to book above is from! As I mentioned above, there is a companion piece, but I didn't like it very much.
DeleteJo, yes, thanks. I watched this and really it is intriguing as to what role high levels of insulin, glucagon and who know what other hormones in human breastmilk play. It just all gets more and more complex, doesn't it.
DeleteAnd then is there insulin etc. in cow milk too? I guess there must be.
Well I finished the book and agree with Wilbur and Tim that it is very thoughtful, and fair review. Not much bias at all, despite the fact that all 4 authors are affiliated with either Nutricia or Danone. Normally you would expect a bias towards their masters (the food company) and manipulate the truth. I couldn't find it here. I am assuming that this research will lead to beter baby/infant formulas with more specific bacteria strains added. If this will increase the newborn's well being and aid in getting its immune system where it should be, then kudo's to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to read it again, and see if I can find anything that I overlooked the first time around.
Jo tB
Slightly off topic: I just began a round of Elixa, and was searching for reviews online, and saw that the founder of the company that makes Elixa is the director of a company that makes "soft drinks." Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteAlso slightly off topic, but relevant: wondering if any of you are familiar with a food product known as rice bran solubles? I have seen references to both rice bran water solubles and rice bran fiber solubles...commercial sites of course tout this as a delicious superfood, other more scientific references mention the impact on blood glucose. Just curious if anywhere here is familiar with this food - supposed to be very tasty, FWIW: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20016147
ReplyDeleteLynn, I hadn't heard of it, so did a Google search and the first one that showed up for me was David Wolfe selling it. I know that David Wolfe is a leading light in the raw community. So it would appeal to vegans as a protein source. As a superfood I think it is on the same level as Chia, Flax and Hemp seeds for supplying plant protein..
DeleteI was trying to find how much protein it contains, when I read on Rob Wolfe's site:
• It does NOT contain the carbohydrate portion of rice, nor does it contain the fiber. Tocotrienols are basically the nutrients of the rice grain without the carbs and the fiber.
Well that's no good for us trying to increase our fiber intake to feed the little critters in our factory.
Jo tB