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If for some reason I was only able to treat one thing in people to improve their health, it would have to be their gut flora (or the microbiome, as I like to call it when I’m feeling fancy). The balance of your gut bacteria has a huge impact on your health, and treating issues in the gut can make huge improvements in a wide variety of conditions.

There are 10 times the amount of bacteria in our guts than there are cells in our body. This collection of bacteria (microbiome) can be considered its own microbial organ and it weighs 1-1.5kg – wow!

Having the right balance of these bugs is super important because they do a lot of things for our bodies including:

✔modulate our immune system

✔keep the movement and motility of our gut normal

✔help us process and detoxify chemicals and toxins and foreign substances

✔weight management

✔mood management

✔absorb and transport vitamins and minerals and energy from food

Kefir is a fabulous fermented food that helps your gut bacteria to grow and thrive.  If you’re never seen a kefir ‘grain’ before, be warned it looks a little like an alien creature.

A kefir ‘grain’ isn’t actually a grain at all, rather a yeast culture. The grains develop a jelly like substance around them, which is called kefiran.  How much kefiran your grain will produce depends on the strain of the kefir you get, so it will be a bit like a lucky dip.

Some people advise against using metal implements when making kefir, however there is some argument against this.  Read more about that here.

Kefir is a living culture, and after you’ve made a few batches you will observe that your grains have increased.  The more grains you have, the faster your fermentation process.  Once you have ample grains you can start giving them away.  If you need to store the grains, just put them in a glass jar and cover with milk and place them in the fridge, but they will need feeding every 2-3 weeks.

The process

Put the kefir grains into a glass jar.  Fill this with fresh milk or coconut milk until it’s about 1-2 – 2/3 fill, and then put the lid on.

From here you can choose whether you want to do a normal or slow culture time.

For normal culture process leave the jar to stand on the bench at room temperature for between 24-48 hours, depending on your preference.  24 hours will be thinner and less tart, and 48 hours will be thicker and sourer.  Keep in mind that in warmer months your kefir will culture faster.

For the slow culture, place the jar in the fridge. It will take much longer to ferment, in some instances up to a week. If you don’t go through a huge amount of kefir then this option is for you. It’s advisable to occasionally leave the kefir on the bench to allow it to warm up and revitalise.

When the kefir is cultured to your liking, stir the kefir or shake the jar to incorporate the cream back into the milk, and then strain the kefir into a clean jar. I often use a funnel so that it will go directly into the jar, as my strainer doesn’t fit the jars properly.   Have a sample of your kefir and place the rest of it in the fridge. If you wish, you can leave this out for another 12 hours to double ferment before putting it in the fridge.

Place the strained grains straight back into a clean jar (don’t wash them) and then add fresh milk to the batch.

Make sure your hands and implements are very clean when handling kefir, as you don’t want to introduce any unwanted microbes into your culture.

Using different milks

Organic, non-homogenised milk is an excellent option for making kefir, but you can make it out of coconut milk.  The fermentation feeds off the sugar in the milk (lactose) so you may find that you need to add some rice malt syrup (only a tiny amount) to the coconut milk to encourage it to ferment.  The process of using the sugar to ferment explains why the longer fermentation results in a sourer kefir.  If you are avoiding lactose you might be able to tolerate kefir, however try a small amount to begin with to determine how much you can tolerate.

Explosive kefir

It’s not unheard of for some kefir jars that are left on the bench for long periods of time to explode – I’ve never had this happen to me, thankfully.  If you intend to store your kefir for longer than 48 hours on the bench than use a jar with a rubber seal which will allow excess pressure to escape.

The beneficial bacteria and yeasts help to prevent the kefir from spoiling but it gets very sour and fizzy when left to ferment for a very long period.

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The post How I make my kefir appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

When your gut controls your mood: the gut-brain axis

From as early as the 1930’s, scientists were beginning to understand that the health of our digestive system could influence our mood.  The state of our intestinal lining and the balance of bacteria within our digestive system have a major role to play in the production of our neurotransmitters: chemical transmitters that tell our brain whether we should be feeling such ways as happy, sad, agitated, or calm.  But even though the research in this area sky-rocketed in the last decade and continues to grow every day, the concept of our gut-brain connection isn’t very well known.

The gut is linked to the brain

Did you know – When you were just starting to grow in your Mumma’s womb, your brain and your digestive system developed from the same lump of tissue.  During this process of dividing up cells (embryogenesis) this lump of tissue divides and forms our central nervous system and our enteric nervous system (this is the nervous system of our gut – sometimes called the second brain).  These two are connected by an important ‘wire’ – our vagus nerve.  This development can help us understand why there are so many similar chemicals and receptors in both our brain and our digestive system, for instance serotonin.

Gut bugs and your mood

As soon as you’re born, bacterial colonies start to develop in your digestive system.  Within the first few days, the bacteria starts sending messages to the nervous system and can actually determine our nervous system ‘set point’ long term (1).

When the balance of our gut bacteria (collectively referred to as the microbiome) is affected, this can affect your mood.  Studies have found that the microbiome can have a major impact on stress levels and anxiety (2).  In fact, by treating imbalances in our microbiota, it is possible to support a wide range of mental health disorders (3), (4), (5), (6), (7).

The second brain

The nerves in your digestive system are constantly speaking to your central nervous system.  If your gut is irritated for some reason – say you’ve eaten something that you’re intolerant to (like gluten, for example), you’ve generally got a bad diet, there’s an imbalance in your microbiome (that’s your collective gut bacteria, remember) or you’ve got an infection – this can create an inflammatory reaction and will certainly make you irritated as well.  We know that depression is both associated with, and worsened by inflammation.  This inflammation in the brain can be driven by inflammation in the gut, which can be caused by intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and bacterial imbalances (dysbiosis).  Treating leaky gut can help reduce the severity of depression (4), (8), (9), (10), (11).

Neurotransmitters in our gut

Serotonin is produced in large amounts in our digestive system.  In people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) there is too much serotonin in their digestive system.  This is why antidepressants known as SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can improve the symptoms of IBS: these act by reducing the amount of serotonin taken into cells in the rest of our body which allows more to get into the brain.  However anti-depressants can affect the gut negatively as well, because if you weren’t making enough serotonin in the gut in the first place, you’d end up with even lower levels in the digestive tract and so it can become irritated, affectively you’ll get a depressed gut (12), (13).

A vicious cycle

When your gut is upset, you feel upset.  But stress can affect your digestive system just as much as it affects your mood.  It can impair the secretion of digestive acids, slow down the motility of the gut, allows the unfriendly bacteria to grow, reduces your friendly bacteria and exacerbates intestinal permeability (leaky gut) (14), (8).  This is a recipe for an unhappy digestive system, and as you know this can then go on to send more messages to your brain: so you can see how the cycle continues.

People with gut problems are more likely to experience anxiety and depression.  Some studies have found a high proportion of anxiety in those with gut conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS), Crohn’s disease and coeliac disease (15), (16), (17).

Helping the gut-brain axis.

By treating digestive problems, sealing leaky gut and balancing your microbiome it is possible to help with conditions such as anxiety and depression, and there’s even research showing the benefits of treating the gut in conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, schizophrenia and autism (10), (18), (11).  Probiotics are one of your major tools when it comes to treating the gut, but it’s a good idea to consult with a health practitioner to make sure you’re getting the right type, and also to get a good gut healing treatment program to go along with it ⁽¹⁹⁾, (4), (9).

Related articles:

• Probiotic stress busters: http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/probiotic-stress-busters
• Depression starts in the gut?:  http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/depression-begins-in-the-gut
• What is Dysbiosis: http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/what-is-dysbiosis
• Fermented foods (foods to stop bloating and farting): http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/foods-to-stop-bloating-and-farting-fermented-foods
• Enhance your health with probiotics: http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/enhance-your-health-with-probiotics
• The benefits of soaking and sprouting: http://www.naturopathnsw.com.au/the-benefits-of-soaking-and-sprouting-plus-a-sprouted-chickpea-hummus-recipe

Works Cited

The post A Gut Feeling appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.