Today's article is an article that expands the scope of understanding, increases our knowledge, and enables us to have a deeper understanding of life.
The reason for writing this article is because a good brother of mine started his own business and the company went public in just a few years, but because of too much hard work, he has been in poor health, fatigued, and suffered from depression. I So I prescribed a prescription for him, but the effect was mediocre. He was still insomnia and depressed. Seeing his state, I was very worried.
However, recently he received a very cutting-edge treatment called fecal microbiota transplantation, which is to purify the feces of very healthy people, preserve the bacteria in them, and then transplant them into his intestines through colonoscopy and other methods. As a result, I saw this brother again. He was very energetic and told me very happily that after the transplant, his depression disappeared in a few days. Now he said that he is very happy, his heart is full of joy, and he is full of energy He was very vigorous and in good condition. When we met that day, he was eager to tell me these contents because of his excitement. He chatted with me until 12 o'clock at night. He was full of energy and made me sleepy and hard to persist. He said that he often had unshaped stools before, but now he has standard yellow strips of stool every day. In short, the curative effect is excellent.
I have been paying attention to this therapy, but the curative effect is so good, I really did not expect it, so I started to learn more, and felt that this method is really amazing. Although the cost is very high now, I hope it can be popularized to the common people in the future!
Therefore, our theme is that stool can cure diseases!
People would say, "Oh my god, how dirty is this?!"
In fact, when we eat delicious food, we all eat it with gusto, but if we walk around in our stomach, it turns into poop that suffocates our noses. Is our stomach so dirty?
What I want to say is that this is all an illusion. In fact, there is something hidden in our stomachs! The feces in our stomach can also cure diseases!
So why do you say that? If you want to answer this question, you have to mention the human intestinal flora.
In our intestines, there are an astonishing number of microorganisms, more than 99% of which are bacteria, and the number of living organisms is about 100 trillion! There are 500 to 1000 different species. The total amount of microorganisms in the intestinal tract of a healthy adult is about 1-1.5 kg, and the number of intestinal microorganisms is 10 times the number of human cells! Moreover, the number of coding genes is more than 100 times that of the human body's own genes, and it is the "second genome" that controls human health. One-third of the dry weight of feces excreted by the human body every day is composed of bacteria, most of which are intestinal bacteria.
Many people will say: "My God! It's so dirty! What should I do?" Haha, after reading the following content, you may not think so.
So, what is the purpose of so many intestinal bacteria? Why doesn't our body kill them?
The answer is, not only can't kill them, our body also needs them very much! Even now, scholars say that they are an "organ" of our body!
These large numbers of gut microbes and our body have been integrated into an inseparable part through long-term co-evolution, and play an important role in maintaining the healthy balance of the body.
So what do they do?
First of all, we need to look at the bacteria in our intestines. In fact, these huge numbers of bacteria can be roughly divided into three categories: beneficial bacteria, harmful bacteria and neutral bacteria.
The health of the human body is closely related to the structure of the probiotic flora in the intestine. In the long-term evolution process of the intestinal flora, through individual adaptation and natural selection, an interdependent and interdependent relationship between different species in the flora, between the flora and the host, between the flora, the host, and the environment has finally formed. Therefore, under normal conditions, the human body has a relatively stable flora structure, beneficial bacteria dominate, harmful bacteria are controlled in a small range, and neutral bacteria are in a state of swinging from side to side. Once the normal environment is destroyed, harmful bacteria will increase and beneficial bacteria will decrease, which will cause the body to get sick.
Studies have pointed out that the proportion of beneficial bacteria in the intestines of healthy people reaches 70%, and that of ordinary people is 25%, while the proportion of beneficial bacteria in the intestines of cancer patients is only 10%.
Specifically, the beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract have a great impact on our body's physiological activities. Based on the information I have read, I will sort out some for you to let friends know.
01Promote digestion and nutrient absorption
Gut flora can secrete a series of enzymes to assist humans in digesting cellulose and hemicellulose polysaccharides in plants to provide energy for the body. The intestinal flora can also produce short-chain fatty acids and a variety of vitamins for the body to use through fermentation, such as vitamin B family, K family, biotin, niacin and folic acid, etc. These flora actively participate in the digestion and absorption of food, It can even be said that without these flora, our human body is completely unable to complete the task of digestion. It can even be said that if all these flora are killed, people will basically not be able to survive. Therefore, from this perspective, the function of the flora is an important part of the function of the "spleen" in traditional Chinese medicine. This is a new perspective on traditional Chinese medicine from another perspective.
02 Immunity
Studies have shown that the gut flora has a complex relationship with our immune system, which helps beneficial bacteria grow. At the same time, a large number of studies have shown that beneficial bacteria can enhance our immunity. For example, intestinal mucosal lymphoid tissue is an important immune cell group in humans, and the number of immune active cells contained in it accounts for about 70% of the total number of human immune cells. The beneficial bacteria in the intestinal flora can activate these immune cell groups.
03 Growth, development and aging
The composition of gut microbiota changes with age and, in turn, affects human growth, development and aging. For example, in healthy infants, bifidobacteria account for 98% of the intestinal flora, mainly Bifidobacterium infantis; in healthy adults, the number of bifidobacteria decreases and the species changes to Bifidobacterium adolescentis; after entering old age, The number of bifidobacteria is further reduced, even undetectable, the process of intestinal corruption is accelerated, and the aging process is accelerated after harmful substances are absorbed.
In addition, intestinal flora also has anti-tumor effects, protects the body from pathogenic bacteria, regulates blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. We still don’t understand many of these effects, but what we now know is that intestinal flora has an important effect on us. The body is too important, without them, our body will collapse.
Therefore, we can draw such a shocking conclusion, that is, our human body is a combination of our body and a huge flora system. We are symbiotic, and our body nourishes these flora. And these flora have also done irreplaceable work for us.
Therefore, some scholars describe it this way, saying that many of our characteristics are actually determined by the flora. For example, what we like to eat, some people like greasy food, and some like to eat noodles. These are all the flora in your intestines. When the flora of what kind of food you like has the upper hand, your eating habits will have a corresponding preference.
Some scholars say, why do couples become more and more alike after being together for a long time? Because you live together, the flora will tend to be the same. Every time you kiss, tens of millions of bacteria will be exchanged with each other, so the flora will eventually bring you closer and closer.
So, does that make sense? In fact, it makes sense. For example, a study led by Zhao Liping from the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, showed that obesity may be caused by bacterial infection, rather than overeating, too little exercise, or genetic factors.
Professor Zhao Liping said: "This is a very important phenomenon. This is the last previously missing evidence that bacteria cause obesity." Scientists found human bacteria related to obesity and fed them to mice to increase their weight compared to mice that were not fed the bacteria. Although the latter were fed a high-fat diet and prevented from exercising, they did not develop symptoms of obesity.
This research can also be used to explain why some people report that they gain weight even if they drink cold water without eating anything rich and sweet, while some people do not gain weight no matter how much they eat.
From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, this is related to whether a person's vitality is sufficient and whether he can "melt" food. However, from another perspective, it is possible that whether the flora is normal or not is an expression of vitality. Woolen cloth.
Moreover, what is shocking is that the intestinal flora is also inextricably linked to our emotions!
There are many similar studies. Scholars have found that intestinal flora can modify nerve signals in the vagus nerve, change taste receptors, and release chemicals to make us feel mentally happy or depressed, thereby affecting our behavior and emotions.
For example, there is a substance in our body called serotonin, which is an important neurotransmitter in the brain, but most (about 90%) of the serotonin in the human body is produced in the digestive tract. Enterochromaffin cells in the intestine store these molecules and are used to regulate intestinal motility. However, scholars have discovered that intestinal flora plays a large role in the production of serotonin.
When scholars conducted experiments on mice, they found that the 5-hydroxytryptamine content in the blood of mice with "germ-free" intestines was about 60% lower than that of normal mice. The researchers extracted relevant bacteria from the intestines of healthy mice and humans and transplanted them into "germ-free" mice. They found that the concentrations of serotonin in these mice increased significantly in both the intestines and blood. rise.
Canadian researchers have discovered that a particularly timid strain of mice became more active and curious after transplanting intestinal flora from another strain of mice; the bacteria from depressed patients were Group transplantation into mice can replicate the pathology of depression.
There is a kind of miRNA in our body, that is, microRNA, which is a type of short nucleotide sequence that controls gene expression. If something goes wrong with it, it can cause stress-related mental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Scientists from the APC Institute of Microbiology at the University of Cork in Ireland found in their research that the number of miRNAs in the brains of mice lacking intestinal flora changed significantly, and the behavior of these mice raised in a germ-free environment also changed. He showed abnormal anxiety and depression; his social and cognitive abilities also showed great deficiencies.
Therefore, scholars believe that there is a "gut-brain axis" established by bacteria in the body. In other words, the intestinal flora is likely to affect our brain and behavior. If the intestinal flora is in an unbalanced and disordered state, it may even induce our mental illness.
For these studies, I have only compiled a small part of the information I have seen. In fact, there are a large number of shocking research results that I have not yet written out. Because it is a brief introduction, I have not listed the literature search directory. Researchers who are interested in such topics can search it themselves.
This brings up a new idea, that is, we used to think that our emotions would affect the body. For this point of view, everyone has begun to accept that our emotions will directly affect the function of the digestive system. We guess that it is very likely that, in turn, Will affect the status of intestinal flora. Current research has concluded that the two may influence each other, because a large number of studies have shown that the status of intestinal flora can also directly affect our mood.
This is why, as I told you at the beginning of the article, my friend’s depression was cured within a few days after undergoing intestinal flora transplantation. We have yet to see what the long-term efficacy of my friend's treatment will be, but now domestic and foreign countries are indeed starting to use this method to treat children with autism, and the results are good.
So, since intestinal flora is so important, can everyone now transplant it? Has this become a form of therapy? What other shocking information is there? In our article tomorrow, we will launch the follow-up content!
