What The Microorganisms In Our Gut Can Do To The Biochemistry In The Body

They do so many things that we’d just go nuts just thinking about what they do!

Our intestines are long, and they contain a big load of live bacterial microorganisms — approximately 100 trillion of them at any one time.

These microbes comprise a diverse array of strains and species. Collectively, we know it as our gut microbiota, microbiome or microflora.

We have both our small and large intestines. As their environments are markedly different, different strains and species will tend to dominate the populations in those different regions.

For example, Lactobacillus species are predominantly found in the small intestine, while Bifidobacterium species tend to prefer being in the large intestine. Also, different strains and species will possess different adherence capabilities to the mucus linings of our intestines.

The population counts of the bacteria in our guts can influence many different functions in the body, which we may know or not know about. It just so happens that all these bugs are biochemical factories — they take in a certain chemical and biochemically process it (or metabolise it) into some completely new, different chemical, which has the ability to signal or influence how another cell can behave.

Hence, getting a balance of this biochemical factory activity is necessary for balancing out the different chemicals being metabolised and produced, which will then balance out how our body behaves in a biochemical manner.

That affects our digestive health.

These microbes help to break down food particles in our gut. Our digestive system produces lactase enzymes to break down lactose, for one.

When these cells aren’t producing enough lactase enzymes, the bacteria in our gut take over and break down the lactose into methane gas, hydrogen gas and other short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which then results in the development of symptoms associated with lactose intolerance, such as bloating, cramps, flatulence and loose stools.

So when our gut isn’t producing sufficient digestive enzymes to break down the major components of our food, such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats, we’d see that the body attempts to compensate by using some other process to break down those foods — and that will result in symptoms of indigestion appearing. Or a perceived food intolerance.

They affect our immune system functions

Our immune systems consist of a subset of cells known as the T helper (Th) cells. They exist as a balanced population, and newly synthesised Th cells can differentiate into any of the different Th cell types.

When in balance, these T cells produce biochemical signals that protect the body from viruses (Th1), parasites (Th2) and fungi (Th17). Another type of Th cell is the regulatory cell (Treg), which helps to balance out the signalling activities of the Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells.

Of course, when Th cell activity is imbalanced, then problems start to arise.

For example, excessive Th2 signalling activity is implicated in allergic reactions, while excessive Th17 activity gives rise to the development of autoimmune disorders.

The introduction of certain probiotic strains and species into one’s gut does bring about changes in Th cell activity, as evidenced here and here, among many other sources.

These studies would indicate that a change up in one’s gut bacteria does aid in changing up one’s immune system responses — provided the right strains of bacteria are being used.

These studies would also indicate that one’s gut microbiome isn’t that properly balanced, which is why they are experiencing those symptoms of suboptimal immune system function as well.

They affect our mental faculties