A bit "like a" fingerprint, the bacterial flora tells everything about us, identifies us, tells us who we are and where we come from.
In 2009 the very important journal Nature, speaking of the intestinal microbiota, wrote, "each individual is like an" island with its own ecosystem, different from that of other islands ".
But when we talk about bacterial flora or better microbiota what do we mean?
The leading experts in the field agree that the intestinal microbiota is a real virtual organ, disseminated throughout the alimentary canal, from the oral cavity to the anal canal, and made up of perhaps more than 100 trillion bacterial cells, viruses and fungi.
A far higher number than all the cells in our body.
The uniqueness in the composition of the microbiota is determined by the numerous events that occur during the life of each of us in an absolutely unrepeatable script.
From the diet and state of health of the mother during pregnancy to the mode of delivery, from "breastfeeding or formula milk, from the type of weaning to" early exposure to antibiotic or pharmacological therapies ... these are just some of the determining factors in the constitution of our microbiota.
Growing up, the lifestyle, the contact with peers but above all the type of diet will determine grooves as deep as they are complex to modify in the type of microorganisms that will live in our intestine.
, and how this in turn affects our health.One of the clearest and best documented examples is provided by a very interesting Italian study published in the prestigious journal Gut in 2013, which, comparing the dietary habits of Italian children and children of rural populations in Burkina Faso, underlined the profound differences in the composition of the intestinal microbiota ( for the more technical, in the proportions between Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes).
Differences which, however, exposed our own infants, whose diet was particularly rich in simple sugars, animal proteins and saturated fats, as well as low in fiber and vegetable proteins, to an increased risk of overweight, obesity and metabolic pathologies.
In this scenario, to protect the "goodness" of the microbiota, it would be the fibers, the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and the right protein content. To help the intestinal microbiota, the best foods are useful to strengthen the immune system.
from the attack of potentially pathogenic microorganisms, both by supporting the immune system and by producing potentially antibiotic substances;All these activities obviously influence the state of health, preserving it from metabolic and immunological declines.
To date, in fact, alterations of the microbiota, clinically known as dysbiosis, are observed associated with the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammatory diseases, metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, hepatopathies and autoimmune diseases.
"good" by limiting the "bad" ones.
Therefore fibers, whole grains, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids such as those of extra virgin olive oil or dried fruit, antioxidants present in fruit, will nourish the good bacteria and when all this is not enough you can resort to the use of more incisive weapons such as prebiotics, substances or foods capable of inducing the growth of good bacteria or even probiotics, ie bacteria ready for use.
