Guts, symbiosis and ecological disasters

Guts, symbiosis and ecological disasters

We are not alone; we are in a very real sense more alien than we are human, our bodies are phenomenally well colonised by bacteria, something like 10 to the power 12 in every gram so 10 with 11 naughts after it in every one gram of us. Trillions and trillions, in fact most of the cells in our bodies, around 90-95% of all the cells in the human body are bacteria in the large intestine alone. Saying ‘our bodies’ is so far off the mark, we really are not alone.

This symbiotic relationship is central to every function of us, we could not digest our food, move our muscles, feel, think, do almost anything without these relationships.

I have been repeatedly struck by the similarity between our relationship with the bacteria and a trees relationship with bacterial fungus. Again a tree can not live without this relationship, but the fungus needs the tree just as much as the tree needs the fungus, its hard to tell where one function ends and the other begins.

In the case of our relationship with our bugs its impossible to say who colonised who, it's striking but possible that the bugs built a human host to carry them around, now that’s an ego buster if there ever was one. We need them, they need us it’s a fantastic microbial dance that’s been developing for millions of years.

We often seem to have the illusion that because we hold our roots (guts) inside our bodies we are in some way separate from the world. It’s my feeling that this has lead to so many problems with human’s relationships with the planet; this feeling of separateness, and possible superiority from the rest of the eco system has, I feel been at the root (pun deliberate) of the devastating ecological practices we all are aware of.

So what am I saying? I think it would be fantastic to see us have a strong body/mind connection to our own bacteria as a way of realising the total interdependence of us as a species.

Now it’s possible that a compelling motivational factor for deepening this understanding could be living longer, being healthy, strong and not dying of some horrible disease.

It would be great for us to give what is the majority of our bodies some love, care and attention.

Take those pro-biotics, eat pre-biotic foods, get some more sleep (no more than that) try to manage your stress and love those bugs.

Space and ignorance do not allow a full explanation of the role of good bacteria in health; check out the links in the last post and if in the UK listen to this BBC podcast http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z6dvv


An interesting post from Mark Sisson's blog here

We're all 20 times more microbe than we are human.

Guts

Guts

I have been spending some time looking into digestion recently, guts, bacteria, bugs, the whole, food to poo thing.

It’s been a fascinating time and I have learned a lot, I also realise that I have a long way to go with lots and lots more to learn.

The reading has made me realise that we are very good at ignoring what’s on the inside of the body, with the exception of muscle development, which we can see, most of us don’t think about our insides unless they go wrong. The long tube of our digestive tract is an unknown dark place we really don’t want to think about.

I am suggesting that we do, that our guts ability to work properly is the most important aspect of our overall health, that affects every aspects of our lives; from energy, thoughts, moods, our immune system, our long term health, and how (and when) we die.

Shiatsu has a massage practice based on the Hara (the abdomen) which can be fantastically helpful in getting things moving and releasing blockages, whether these are physical, emotional or spiritual.

But we need to do more, we need to heal any gut problems with may have developed through diet and lifestyle.

This blogg and my knowledge don’t allow me to go into great detail here, and there are better sources of information;

 http://robbwolf.com/  Robb Wolf has lots of info on gut health

http://gaps.me/  Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, developed the GAPS diet to assist children with Autism with some amazing results.  

http://chriskresser.com/ The healthy sceptic website, Chris Kresser has lots of info on lots of subjects

A great discussion on Underground Wellness radio with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

So I want to keep this short, just wanted to prompt some reading and thinking. The last thing I wanted to say was an apology to my mother; when she was alive she tried to pass on loads of traditional wisdom from her and her mother she had some very interesting things to say which I, of course completely ignored. Sorry Mum.