Epidemic of absence actually means an epidemic of absence of Good bacteria in our intestine. Good bacteria refers to the bacteria which are helpful to us. They play an important role in digestion of food and also help build our immunity. Absence of good bacteria in large intestine is the root cause for a majority of diseases in the world.
On an average, the large intestine of humans contains almost (
100 trillion) bacteria
i.e.
100,000,000,000,000 bacterias.
In short, Human Intestines contains 10 times more number of bacteria than total number of cells in our body. And the total weight of these intestinal bacteria is approximately
2kg.
There are 3 types of bacteria present in the large intestine of humans,
- GOOD BACTERIAS ( Bacteroidis)
- BAD BACTERIAS ( Fermicutes)
- INNOCENT BACTERIAS
Approximately the Human body has 30000 genes, whereas the total number of genes of the gut bacteria are more than 3000000.
Now let’s move on to see the effects of the Bad bacteria on our body;
- 1.Bad bacteria cause a greater absorption of fats from our diet into our blood stream hence causing obesity and increased lipids in the blood.
- 2.Bad bacteria generate Hormones and Enzymes in excess amounts thus causing an imbalance of such chemicals in the body.
- Bad bacteria compromise our immunity and make us prone to developing many major diseases.
Now we will look at effects of presence of Good bacteria in our body:
- Good bacteria produce good chemicals (Hormones and Enzymes) which keep our body Healthy and keep us fit and fine.
- Good bacteria augment our immune system and so help our body to fight against any disease.
- Good bacteria generate chemicals which influence our thought process, our stamina, our personality and our overall life in a positive and good way by causing many changes in the hormone levels of our body.
The composition of Bacterial Flora of the intestines of a healthy individual and an obese individual is different with more number of good bacteria present in the gut of Lean and healthy individuals and and more number of bad bacteria in the intestine of Obese individuals.
The reasons for increase in number of Bad bacteria in our intestines and death of Good bacteria are:
- Excessive use of pain Killers.
- Excess use of Antibiotics.
- Taking Oral contraceptive pills for long duration.
- Food toxins from Grains and Legumes.
- Excess intake of Fructose. Fructose is a good source of energy for the bad bacteria and thus causes an imbalance in the gut flora with bad bacteria growing more than the good bacteria.
- Excess consumption of food containing Omega-6 fatty acids.
- Stress
- Lack of sleep or Oversleeping.
- Repeated intestinal Infections.
- Drinking of Unboiled milk– Unboiled milk is contaminated with bacteria that are present on the udder of cow/buffalo. Boiling destroys these bad bacteria.
- Unclean hands– Unclean hands transfer outside bad bacteria to the food we eat.
- Sweets kept in the open– Rapid growth of bad bacteria occurs in sweets when kept open for long time.
- Excessive fasting can increase number of bad bacteria.
How can we increase number of Good bacteria in our intestines?
The answer is easy only we have to make certain changes in our diet and take certain precautions.
- Reduce the intake of food toxins like Fructose and Omega-6 which are known to be harmful for good gut bacteria.
- Reduce Mental stress.
- Take proper treatment for intestinal infections.
- Regular intake of Probiotic food ( food which contains a lot of good bacteria) like,
- Curd
- Yogurt
- Kim-chi(cabbage preparation which gives 1000times more good bacterias).
- Kefir
- Brine ( Cucumber kept in salt water)
- Amla kept in salt water.
- Over ripe Banana
- Regular eating of fermented food like,
- Idli- Idli batter should be freshly made and should not be kept for more than 2-3 days.
- Dosa- with minimum butter or minimum oil.
- Khaman and Dhokala.
- Ambil- Ambil is a treasure of good bacterias.
- Home made Curd
- Increase intake of high fibre food. Food fibres are of two types
- soluble fibre (absorbs water)
- insoluble fibre (Do not absorb water)
According to American journal of Clinical Nutrition, A diet rich in fibre if taken for longer period can cause change in Intestinal bacteria from Bad to good and also helps in weight loss.
Now let’s see the food stuff which can give us a lot of fibre which is a boon for growth of Good bacteria in our intestines.
- Foodstuff with Soluble fibres,
- Apples ( seeds should be avoided as it contains traces of Cyanide)
- Oat meal
- Oat cereals
- Oranges
- Pears
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Nuts
- Beans
- Dried peas.
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Foodstuff with Insoluble fibre,
- Whole wheat
- Barley (Satu flour)
- Zucchini
- Celery
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Brinjals
- Dark leafy vegetables
- Skin of fruits and root vegetables
- Amaranth ( Rajgira)
- Carrot and Cucumber
Research suggests that Gut bacteria have capacity to modify our mind. How it is possible? Let’s see,
Our intestines are connected to the base of our brain by 100 million nerve cell fibres, in short we have nervous system connections that connect our intestines to our brain. Intestinal bacteria produce various chemicals which has effect on these nerve cells and in short on our brain.
Good bacteria produce good chemicals such as enzymes and hormones whereas Bad bacteria produce bad chemicals and thus they influence our thoughts i.e. Either Good or Bad.
Certain Types of bad bacteria produce chemicals which increase Anxiety in.
But How much time does the process of changing the Gut Flora from Bad to good take in our intestine?
The answer is from Minimum of 3 days to Maximum of 7 days. Yes it is strange but true.
Within week our intestinal bacteria can change from bad to good.
Many of the diseases mentioned earlier in this article can be avoided or their severity can be reduced if our intestines have more number of good bacteria.
Since the good Gut bacteria is our biggest weapon as well as protective shield of our body, the Doctors now a days are calling it as
“THE FORGOTTEN ORGAN” And our Bapu (Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi) has given it a name as
“LAXMIPRASAD”
The Prasad for every human being from our Mother Chandika i.e. “AAROGYALAXMI”.