The Growing Importance of Gut Health and the Big Business Developing Around It

I recently went through a round of stomach illness and much of the reason I was sick was tied to an imbalance of bacteria in my gut. It is not often that we think about what is inside our guts, but there is growing health science to indicate that good gut bacteria or gut flora health is paramount to living a healthy lifestyle. If you think about this another way, your gut bacteria is as vast. It actually numbers trillions. And, collectively they are known as microbiota. These Gut Flora impact everything from your metabolism, sleep regulation, to your mood and the body’s immune system.

"This is a new frontier of medicine, and many are looking at the gut microbiota as an additional organ system," says Dr. Elizabeth Hohmann of the infectious diseases division at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "It's most important to the health of our gastrointestinal system, but may have even more far-reaching effects on our well-being."

What is Gut Flora and What is its Impact on Health

Gut Flora is a scientific term that is used to describe the bacteria (or microorganisms) that exist within the human body in our intestines. These microorganisms which are primarily bacteria populate our digestive track. Science and medical professionals are increasingly examining the link between proper gut flora balance and its direct tie to our health and increasing disease vulnerability.

Science is showing that a person's diet, heritage and other environmental factors (drugs, pesticides, pollutants) link directly to the metabolic performance of the gut flora. This metabolic performance, in turn, impacts your health. Additionally, there are growing animal and human studies that are now shedding light on the impact of the gut flora on human health.

What does Gut Bacteria Do and How does it Affect your Body?

 The gut flora is essential to the proper metabolism in the body and the prevention of disease. More bacteria are living in your body than there are human cells. These 1,000 species of bacteria each play a different role in your body. Think of this regarding their size which is as much as 3 to pounds, or the approximate equivalent to the brain’s weight. They are essential and play the role of another organ and play a huge role in regulating health outcomes.

“Just like any other environment on the planet, our bodies have their own ecosystems -- made up of 100 trillion microorganisms, or microbes, that live in and on our bodies," says Rachael Buck, PhD, Abbott research scientist. "These include bacteria, fungi, viruses and other types of tiny organisms. It’s so large in fact, that the genes of microbes outnumber our body’s genes by 100 to 1."

From our birth, the gut flora begins to affect our body as microbes pass through the mother’s birth canal. As our body ages, the microbiome diversifies and evolve into many different types of species. The larger the diversity of gut flora the better it is generally for your health. And many of our most essential functions are regulated by it including fiber digestion, an active immune system, and brain health. Recent research also highlights that an overabundance of different bad metabolites is a direct link to disease and weight gain.

The Growing Business of Making Drugs from the Gut Flora

Because of the growing link of gut flora and gut health on the body, many established businesses and start-ups are focusing on new therapies based on microbes. As eluded to in the previous section, science and medicine are finding a direct link of good bacteria linking to better health.

One of these companies is Cambridge, MA-based Seres Therapeutics. The company is researching and building a new class of medicines that utilize live bacteria to treat disease. They believe that by focusing on the functional deficiencies in the microbiome, a condition known as dysbiosis, they can pinpoint functional differences and create new Ecobiotic drugs.

According to Roger Pomerantz, CEO of Seres Therapeutics, “The next generation of microbiome medicines will instead be real drugs that are easy to take and safe.”

Another company, Viome, is using technology developed by the Los Alamos National Lab to identify the strains and species of gut flora. They believe there is no one-size-fits-all diet for each person’s good health. Viome offers an in-home kit that collects samples which are analyzed to determine the nutrients and toxins in your body. The company then uses artificial intelligence to recommend the right food mix for an individual based on their specific needs. The goal is to be able to prevent disease through the adoption of a personalized nutritional plan that is based on deep molecular analysis. They are employing a subscription-based service model and they soon will be offering a complete diagnostics service.

“Rather than improve medicine and hospitals that treat people when they get sick, Viome wants to better understand why they get sick in the first place,” Elizabeth Segran, Fast Company.

What the Future Holes for Gut Health

Society is entering a new era where we can increasingly modify health through gut flora. This is done through the food we eat and lifestyle we lead. New science breakthroughs can measure the effects through our gut bacteria.

The adverse effects on the gut flora that are the results of drugs, pesticides, and processed food ingredients are becoming clear. The impact of good bacteria on gut flora health is paramount to a more enriched life.

It is clear that a person can’t take probiotics to halt diabetes or treat mood swings. Leading experts and companies like Viome are providing the research and approaches that need to be accomplished to determine the precise types of microbiomes that lead to specific ailments.

In a not too distant future, there will be a growing number of medications and supplements that are made based on a particular strain of gut flora to reduce your risk of -- or even cure -- certain diseases, improve move, metabolism, and overall health.

This article is reprinted with permission from BOLD BUSINESS