The Longevity Series - Episode 2

[Heloise]

EPISODE 2

THE GUT & IMMUNE SYSTEM:

How Microbes Keep You Free Of Disease

humanlongevityfilm.com/epis...

[Heloise]

This is so well done as it stops to insert descriptions of terms we are not familiar with, i.e. microbiota v. microbiome, They have been weaving in the comments of older people noting the diversity of bacteria they did not avoid and in fact used goat manure to stop bleeding from their wounds. She stressed it was DRIED manure They also used herbs to treat malaria or other serious diseases. Our overuse of antibiotics have destroyed much of the diversity and there are no new antibiotics being developed. C. Diff kills 39,000 people per year in the U.S. These experts are from all over the world and if the accents are difficult they caption their reports. It's a serious picture of today's health.

[wellness1 in reply to Heloise]

Interesting stuff, Heloise. There is a section that includes interviews with Kiran Krishnan and Datis Kharazzian taking on the tendency to divide bacteria into 'good' and 'bad'. They suggest it's more complicated than that. For example, Krishnan spoke about H. pylori, an important bacteria that he says is actually commensal to the stomach and upper GI tract, but that can lead to ulcers. When it shows up on a test, we hit it with antibiotics but now there are studies showing systematic elimination of H. pylori increases the risk for gastro-esophageal cancer. He argues we should think of ourselves as an 'ecology', with these microorganisms playing a role in maintaining homeostasis. The ecology of our bodies is extremely complex and our precision attacks on microbes can create more problems than solutions, like the example of C. Diff you mentioned. Kharazzian said even E. Coli and Candida are not necessarily 'bad'. You have to look at in the context of symbiosis. Whether they become pathogenic or not depends on variables, including the bacteria in your gut at a given time, how they communicate and work together.

Kiran Krishnan: "We don't know what we don't know."

[Heloise in reply to wellness1]

Good summary, wellness. It seems that we have a world inside out bodies that we know very little about yet our microbiome is well aware of and disseminates the messages from the mitochondria and acts accordingly. This is amazing information and even if WE don't quite get it, these generous teachers do and are willing to explain.

[Gillybean1]

Thank you Heloise,so so important. G

[Heloise]

Some wonderful concepts outlined in this session. Your microbiome weighs about four pounds and is made up of microbes that line your intestines. Those microbes determine what you have eaten and if they are friendly or unfriendly. The unfriendly bacteria brings an immune reaction. Allergic reactions didn't come about until the industrial age. My thought was that was the beginning of pollution. Dr. Kharazzian noted that you cannot have an immune reaction to amino acids (which are the end result of digestion) it reacts to proteins SOoo if you really digest all your food you will not get yourself in trouble. We already know that gluten is impossible to digest completely. Even if we can't get the details, they are painting a fascinating expose of how the body's microbial system works.