It is not the first time that we emphasize the importance of our intestinal health, of the great role that our microbiota has in the general health of our organism. Today we are going to go a little further, and talk about the relationship between the health of the microbiota and mental health, specifically Alzheimer's.
It is known that people who suffer from an intestinal disorder, such as constipation, tend to feel irritated, in a bad mood, etc ... so we already see that it affects our mental state. To have a healthy intestine is key to having good physical and mental health, which provides us with a state of well-being palpable.
Gut health and Alzheimer's, how are they related?
Although there are certain therapies that can improve Alzheimer's, it is a disease that has no cure. However, Recent studies shed some hopeful light on disease prevention rather than cure. These studies speak of the fundamental role of the microbiota.
A high percentage of cases of dementia derive from Alzheimer's and more and more people suffer from this disease. But ... What is it related to our microbiota?
There are an investigation that relates dysbiosis, with the onset of Alzheimer's and its evolution. Dysbiosis is an alteration in the balance of our microbiota.
What is the microbiota for?
The microbiota is a set of microorganisms that coexist in our intestine. It is made up of billions of microorganisms of about a thousand different species that must coexist in balance for our health to be optimal. These microorganisms perform very important functions for the human body such as:
- Metabolic functions: They have an essential role in the digestion and absorption of the nutrients that we ingest through food.
- Defense against pathogens like microbes and toxins. Our immune system depends in a very high percentage on the health of our intestines.
Studies carried out on the relationship between the microbiota and Alzheimer's, concluded that the composition of said microbiota varies depending on age.
This research, carried out in mice, observed that those with Alzheimer's had dysbiosis. Specifically, they had low levels of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid that is essential due to its probiotic and anti-inflammatory function of neurons.
These mice too had amyloid deposits that could be related to the lack of butyrate and contribute to the evolution of Alzheimer's.
As a result of these studies, clinical trials were conducted that demonstrated certain improvements in Alzheimer's patients treated with probiotics. Although the results are slight, no doubt any progress is significant.
The interesting part of this whole study is also finding new ways to prevent the disease or delay its onset.
All this research is very recent but it does not stop highlighting the importance of intestinal health and how taking care of it is a good way to prevent both physical and mental illnesses. So why not improve our gut and microbiota health?
How to improve the health of our digestive system and specifically of our intestine?
There are some changes in our daily routines and in our diet that we can make to achieve good intestinal health.
Take care of our diet
It is not about adding foods that are going to benefit us, but also about removing from our diet those products that affect negatively to our intestines. If we do the first exclusively we will not achieve results, if we do the second we will be able to see changes, which will increase if we add certain beneficial foods.
Avoid the consumption of those inflammatory foods such as those processed, foods that contain gluten, foods that are transformed into glucose in our body (sugars, carbohydrates ...), edibles with additives, dyes and other harmful ingredients. The body is not prepared to extract nutrients from all foods and some, such as those rich in fiber, reach our intestine directly and there it ferments and inflames, this affects our intestine and impairs it. In the same way, the human body is not able to process gluten, although some are affected much more than others. The excess glucose that is currently consumed is also negatively affecting our body, so it must be reduced as much as possible to avoid insulin resistance.
Maybe you might be interested in: Artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners and sugar substitutes in general. What to take?
Incorporate in our diet:
Act quickly. promote those foods that feed our microbiota and foods from which we can extract the maximum of nutrients for our body. Take probiotics and prebiotics like resistant starch.
Must monitor our vitamin D levels since this vitamin helps to keep the walls of our intestine in good condition. Vitamin D, how it affects us and how to keep it at good levels
We can also incorporate collagen into our day to day. Taking hydrolyzed collagen has numerous benefits for our body.
To delve a little deeper into all of the above, we recommend taking a look at the following articles:
- Keeping our intestines healthy is protecting the health of our entire organism
- Resistant starch What is it and what benefits does it have?
- We talk about constipation and fiber: Does taking fiber help?
- How to improve the immune system?
- Why you should include collagen in your daily diet
Other factors that affect our intestinal health:
- We should try to reduce our stress levels. Stress directly affects our digestive system causing not only that we feel uncomfortable but also obviously damaging our intestinal health.
- You have to try move every day: walk, dance, do yoga, whatever you prefer but move. Movement is essential in the health of all animals. Even more so in human beings, whose rhythm of life is often sedentary due to work.
Maybe you might be interested in:
- Medicinal plants to control stress
- Yoga for beginners: exercises to start this very beneficial practice
- What is earthing and why start practicing it when the quarantine situation passes?