In 2016 gut health became an increasingly popular topic of discussion throughout the health and wellness world. There is increasing awareness of the value of gut health as it is integral to overall health.

Huffington Post Health Australia published an article last week entitled 6 Things We Learned About Gut Health and the Microbiome in 2016 that sums up this central theme of the year. Because our bodies are populated with a collection of bacteria (aka our “microbiome”), it’s important that we focus on a proper internal balance in order to harness its beneficial abilities.

Researchers are increasingly focused on the influence of bacteria on our bodies. Others suggest that research on bacteria may present the next frontier in modern medicine.

This article summarized six key points about gut health this year:

1. It is related to weight loss. – “Obese people have less diverse microbiomes than healthy people”. King’s College London professor of Genetic Epidemiology Tim Spector told The Huffington Post Australia we were only beginning to understand why.
2. It is related to mental health. – “Research from scientists with New York City’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that altering the gut bacteria in a sick person might help alleviate psychiatric conditions.”
3. It could be related to migraines. – “A study by the University of California San Diego Health Sciences found people who got migraines had significantly more microbes with the ability to break down nitrates in their mouth than the rest of the population.”
4. It may affect sleep and jet lag. – “Research associate Dr Amy Reynolds told HuffPost Australia sleep was mysteriously linked to diabetes, obesity and other chronic health conditions and answers could be found in the microbiome.”
5. Early use of antibiotics could permanently affect the microbiome. – “A University of Helsinki study found early use of antibiotics in children could alter the natural population of microbes in a way that left them at higher risk of weight gain and asthma later in childhood.”
6. It could be used to make medicine. – “Biologists and medical engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are reprogramming gut bacteria to act as “living therapeutics” that can correct the metabolic dysfunctions underlying certain ailments.”

For the full article from HuffPost Australia, please visit this link.

For thousands of years people around the world have found that fermenting certain foods in a controlled way increases digestibility of the raw food and adds health-giving effects, thus improving gut health. Taking Regulat® daily may help to improve gut health and overall balance in the microbiome.