By: Alexa Fancett, CSUN Dietetic Intern Cohort 2022-2023
Why Is It Important to Focus on Gut Health?
Just like your fingerprint, your gut microbiome can identify you. The gut is composed of millions of bacteria, from the mouth all the way down to the colon. Many pathways that occur to break down food are conducted by these organisms. This means that the foods that we eat are only partially broken down by our own bodies and the bacteria carry out the rest of the processes. The gut metagenome (complete collection or set of genetic material from multiple organisms) has a higher coding capacity than the human genome (an individual set of genetic material or DNA)!1 The gut microbiota is considered to be a metabolic organ because of its high potential to break down food and provide energy to the body.
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What are probiotics? The definition for probiotics vary, but the one most accepted by the scientific community is that they are “live microorganisms, that when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host” (FAO 2001, as revised by Hill et al. 2014).