A Trip Down The Alimentary Canal

In Episode 211 we visited with the lovely and talented Olesia Farberov, Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist and discussed the internal environment of our digestive tract. It is there that that we find a host of friendly bacteria and yeasts, which are responsible for a surprising number of health benefits.

Comrade Bulgaricus

The original observation of the positive role played by certain bacteria was first introduced by Russian Scientist and Nobel Prize winner, Ellie Metchinkoff.


In the beginning of the 20th century, he suggested that it would be possible to modify the gut flora and to replace harmful microbes by useful microbes. He showed that phagocytes (white blood cells) destroy harmful bacterial in our bodies. The study of beneficial bacteria led the microbiologist to start drinking fermented milk and yogurt because he observed that they were helping to maintain balance in our digestive tract.

He studied the phenomenon of lots of people in Bulgaria living to be over 100. He attributed their health and longevity to a microbe in the widely eaten Bulgarian yogurt and he dubbed the yogurt culturing microbe- Lactobacillus Bulgaricus-after the Bulgarians. It is just one of the many microbes that have been shown to be beneficial to our health.

The Earth Element

One of the important insights of Chinese medicine is the understanding of balance with all the body's systems and the belief that we are truly a living ecosystem.


The earth element or Spleen system controls our assimilation of food and ideas and is recognized as the seat of immunity, in fact many herbs that tonify what we call spleen qi are immunostimulants like astragalus, ginseng, codonopsis, etc.

Its also interesting to note that great Western thinkers also realized this, Claude Bernard, the father of modern physiology said:


"Illnesses, hover constantly above us, their seed blown by the winds, but they do not set in the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them."---Claude Bernard.

He believed in concept he called milieu interieur, which we know as homeostasis. Its the body's natural tendency to balance itself. Arguably the most important part of our internal terrain is our digestive tract where all our nutrients are absorbed and where 70-80% of our immune system lives. And one area that is often overlooked when we discuss our digest tract is the good bacteria or "probiotics" that live in harmony with us.

Probiotics, the Original Pro-Life Movement

Probiotics mean " for life" and there are over 500 species living in our bodies. These are our friends, and in a very real way, we are their descendants. Many scientists belive that the mitochondria which produce ATP energy in all our cells are actually bacteria that became permanently part of us. They are 1.8 billion years old and evolved into photosythesizing cells in plants and into cells that convert sugar into energy in animals.There are trillions of microorganisms in your gut, these are collectively called your gut flora, micro flora or beneficial bacteria and are estimated to make up about 3 pounds of your body weight.

These beneficial bacteria perform an enormous number of beneficial tasks. They manufacture B vitamins (specifically folate & B-12) and vitamin K.They also break down otherwise indigestible carbohydrates into simple sugars, providing us with energy and nutrients. They digest proteins into more absorbable amino acids. Basically chew our food for us!


In addition, some help normalize cholesterol & triglyceride levels by targeting the digestion and storage of fat.They also help absorb minerals and herbs. And if that's not enough for you, here's what else they do:

• Increase the natural resistance to infections from bacteria, yeast, and viruses
• Prevent traveler's diarrhea
• Speed healing from diarrheal diseases and relapsing colitis
• Improve digestion
• Relieve constipation
• Stimulate the immune system
• Lessen symptoms of inflammatory arthritis
• Suppress cancer development and growth by releasing lactic acid that kills these cells
• Reduce sex hormones
• Reduce cholesterol and triglycerides

The Invasion Begins At Birth

Before birth the gastrointestinal tract of a normal fetus is sterile. During the birth process the newborn is inoculated, by passage through the birth canal, with organisms from the mother's vagina and bowel. Benefits to the infant begin immediately with this natural defense barrier of "friendly" bacteria. The importance of this early invasion should not be underestimated.

This initial inoculation makes a permanent impression on our immune systems, thereby affecting a person's well-being throughout his or her life. Newborns delivered by cesarean section do not get a healthy dose of mother's bacteria. Born through the abdomen, much of their initial bacteria come from the unhygienic environment of a hospital. But don't worry, this can be remedied by breast feeding after birth and helped by the addition of infant probiotics.

In Praise of Breast (Feeding)

Breast feeding encourages the growth of "friendly" bacteria known as Bifidobacterium infantis.

These vital organisms protect the baby from gastrointestinal infections that can result in severe illness. Mother's milk contains sugars (galacto-oligosaccharides) which encourage the growth of these friendly bacteria. By the fourth day of life, Bifidobacterium represent 48% of the bacteria in breast-fed infants as opposed to 15% in bottle-fed infants. Eventually, over 95% of the bacteria become Bifidobacterium bacteria in an exclusively breast-fed baby. After weaning from breast milk the child's flora become similar to an adult's.

The Modern World Is Not So Good To Our Little Friends

We evolved into the internet TV loving freaks that we are in a microbe rich environment where we were constantly exposed to these good microbes in our everyday lives. Found in the soil and in the trees where we hung out, there was never a shortage of microbial squatters.

Nowadays chlorinated tap water, pasteurization and sterilization of foods and added preservatives have been used in removing all the microbes both good and bad from the food supply. This effects our ability to maintain a healthy balanced microbial population.

In addition, antibiotics are often over prescribed. (90% of upper respiratory symptoms are viral, antibiotics do nothing). This creates antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Meat that is not organic has loads of antibiotics, in fact chicken is soaked in an antibiotic solution before its sent to market.

Antibiotics lower the immune system and destroy essential intestinal flora. Without intestinal flora to suppress fungus, the fungus begins to grow within the body. Even though the antibiotic may kill the bacteria, it supports detrimental fungal overgrowth that causes numerous ailments such as; ear infections, itchy skin, intestinal gas, bloated abdomen, rash, furry tongue, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, etc.

Steroids are often used to treat inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, IBS, IBD. Yet they end up killing the beneficial bacteria that is responsible for a healthy digestive tract. This is why these treatments can often make matters worse.

Other chemicals that kill beneficial bacteria include:

Birth control pills: They affect the chemical and hormonal balance of our gut.

Synthetic hormones: These can cause candida overgrowth.

Antacids: These affect Ph levels, disturbing the ecosystem.

Radiation /chemotherapy: This kills most of our intestinal flora.

Diets high in refined sugar: These can cause overgrowth of candida by creating a very acidic environment.

Refined processed carbs: Broken down to simple sugars, these feed the bad bacteria in the gut.

Soda: Phosphoric acid wreaks havoc with the Ph balance, aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde in the digestive tract, this also kills the flora.

Help Is On the Way

Fortunately there is lots you can do. Firstly, we recommend taking a probiotic supplement, preferrably one with lots of different species.There are several on the market. Lactobacillus & Bifidobacterium are the most widely used probiotic bacteria.

Secondly, it is important to incorporate dietary practices that feed our little friends. For example, a diet of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains will provide an abundance of healthy food for beneficial bacteria because they prefer to dine on plant-food remnants, and conversely, bad bacteria and yeasts tend to thrive when the diet is low in plant foods and high in meat and other "junk-food."

Therefore, what we choose to eat determines the bacteria species that will live in our gut. By changing from a diet based on animal and highly processed-foods to whole plant-foods, you can suppress the growth of harmful bacteria and stimulate those that are beneficial.




Bacteria enjoy the parts of the plant foods that we don't use. Undigestible complex carbohydrates, known as dietary fiber, and other smaller undigestible sugars, called oligosaccharides, provide the bulk of the food for them. Only plants contain these complex and simple carbohydrates (except for milk as mentioned above). The undigestible simple sugars are abundant in artichokes, garlic, onions, leeks, chicory, and to a lesser extent, cereals. Beans, peas, and lentils contain the oligosaccharides, raffinose and stachyose, that feed our bowel bacteria and, quite noticeably, form the infamous fartus. Some "high-fiber breads" are manufactured with pure wood cellulose but this is not broken down by the microflora.

In addition, Live yogurt, Japanese miso, tempeh have a probiotic action in the gut.


Finally, a number of Chinese herbs are helpful for regulating intestinal flora: Bai zhu (radix angelicae), he shou wu (polygoni multiflori), lian qiao (fructus forsythia), zi su ye (perillae fructescentis), bo he (mint), and wu mei (pruni mume).

That's all the solution we have time for. Before you go to bed tonight give thanks to your inner ecosystem and tell all that gut microflora how much you care.

Be well, don't work so much and have fun people!

Marc