Listen to your gut!
As it is aptly said “Always trust your gut; your brain or heart can be fooled, but your gut doesn’t know how to lie!” Most of us listen to our gut, our instincts or intuitions while doing some work or taking any decision.
But here I am talking in a different aspect. There is another form of life that resides in our gut, called as beneficial microbes. So as the name says they are beneficial, that means they are imparting us health benefits and just requires our balanced gut environment to survive.
Now, you must be wondering, why we should listen to them and how we can?
Since, they require our balanced gut environment to survive and their presence maintains symbiosis condition, imparting many health benefits. So, any alteration in the gut microbiota (microbial population in the gut, alternately referred as gut microbiome) would lead to some or the other diseased condition. The other way is also true, any disease condition alters the gut environment and eventually the gut microbiota. Furthermore, consumption of antibiotics to kill infectious microbes that have entered our body, also inhibits some of these beneficial microbes’ population. So, this alteration is like a consequence of one disease as well as cause of another simultaneously and can be used as an indicator of our health system.
Gut microbiota and human health
The gut microbiome and its association with human health and disease is being extensively studied by researchers and has highlighted its role in metabolism, physiology and immune responses. The dysbiosis condition of gut microbiota is not only linked with gastrointestinal conditions but also other disease manifestations like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and atopy. In fact, studies concerning ongoing pandemic- COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV2 viral infection have widely reported gastrointestinal disorders, among its many other clinical manifestations, possibly due to excessive administration of antibacterial and antiviral drugs. This often leads to alterations in gut microbiota in COVID-19 patients creating gastrointestinal dysbiosis and induction of pro-inflammatory responses. Further, it was reported that microbiota is not restored to normal levels even 6-months post recovery.
How can we balance it?
Besides lifestyle and dietary factors, biotics are the major microbiome modulators, which depending upon the diseased condition can be efficiently used for altering or restoring gut microbiota to symbiosis. Studies have suggested use of Biotics for strengthening host immune system in several diseases including COVID-19.
Biotics for gut health
Biotics, the most common household name these days not just because of antibiotics (which technically works against the “bad” bacteria in humans and other animals) but emerging complete range of beneficial biotics which are present most commonly in household curd or available as probiotic curd and often trending in recent times as ready-to-consume food products like yakult. Thus, collectively following classes of biotic work at different level towards restoring the gut health, which is crucial as many studies have reported its role in modulating immunity and treating several human diseases.
· Probiotics: good/beneficial bacteria residing in our gut or consumed in adequate amounts to confer health benefits.
· Prebiotics: biomolecules that acts as substrate for the growth of beneficial microbes inside gut.
· Synbiotics: combination of prebiotics and probiotics which collectively work for improving the survival and growth of beneficial microbes in the host.
· Postbiotics: metabolites produced by microbial metabolic activity and may confer health benefits to the host.
Pro/pre-biotics or their combination i.e., synbiotics are considered as economical and safe alternative for next generation therapeutics, primarily by modulating immune system. Further in immunocompromised patients, postbiotics are a promising candidate which may confer benefit while reducing the risk related to intake of live bacteria. A recent bibliometric study extensively highlighted inclination towards Biotics administration for the prevention/treatment of COVID-19 infection and as probable targets for futuristic investigations to fight against this deadly virus. Such findings are promising and provides a futuristic approach for identification of probiotic strains and relevant prebiotic compounds to make an appropriate combination which may help in strengthening our immune system and treatment of the disease. Further, in regard to vaccination and immunization, immunomodulation activity might help in preventing secondary infection and supplementation before vaccine administration may contribute in restoring intestinal microbiota especially in elderly population or population with some metabolic disease leading to dysbiosis.
“So, it is the need of hour to listen to our gut and strengthen our immune system by using these supplements so as to prevent the adversity of any infection or disease.”
