Insight: Gut Feeling (2017)

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Can changing our gut bacteria change us?

According to the Gut Foundation, in the past 12 months around half the Australian population will have complained about some kind of digestive problem.

Following the release of his book on the gut, Dr Michael Mosley returns to Insight for a discussion with fellow experts and ordinary Australians about how the gut can play an integral role in our overall physical and mental health.

We discover that improving the wellbeing of this unglamorous organ can have profound effects – whether you have existing gut issues or not.

Increasingly, research is shedding light on the previously mysterious world of the gut and the 1-2 kilograms of microbes that live there, forming each person’s unique microbiome – the genetic ecosystem of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other organisms that lives inside and on our bodies from birth.

With more public attention to gut conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and autoimmune diseases like Coeliac Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases like Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis scientists are discovering how our microbiome plays an essential role in metabolism, nutrition, immune function and disease prevention. We are also discovering its enemies – antibiotics, a lack of fibre and processed foods, to name a few. And as emerging research examines the link between the gut microbiome and how we metabolise our food, the precision in which we recommend diets could change the way we manage obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Our gut (and microbiome) is also connected to the brain, via over 100 million neurons (as many as you’d find in the brain of a cat) spread all the way from our throat to rectum – giving some credence to the old saying, “gut feeling”. It’s lead researchers to increasingly find links between our gut microbiome and things like our mood and food cravings, potentially spelling massive changes to how we approach treatment for depression and anxiety.

Already previously radical treatments like faecal matter transplants (FMT) are becoming common therapies for certain health issues – as Insight hears from guests who have undergone them.

Meanwhile, the efficacy of other medical aids for our gut – like probiotics – are being questioned we talk to medical researchers that are attempting to make them more effective and tailored to our unique microbiomes.

This week’s Insight tackles the ground-breaking science and personal stories around the gut’s potential to change our lives.

“Probing the world within our guts is changing our understanding of the way our bodies work,” writes Mosley.