How a Healthy Gut Means Healthy Bones (& What To Do If Yours Isn’t)

Your gut is home to trillions of intestinal bacteria. Over 100 trillion to be exact!

These bacteria help you digest food, remove waste and circulate essential elements. It might be hard to believe, but we have more “creatures” living inside our bodies than there are stars in our galaxy!

But don’t let that scare you. Research has shown that this living system, also known as your gut microbiome, can lower your risk of inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, diabetes and even osteoporosis, when healthy. 

Factors That Affect Your Gut Microbiome

Unfortunately, not all organisms are gut-friendly. Some are good and others are bad.

The key is keeping your gut flora ‘balanced’.

You see your gut flora is extremely sensitive, which means there are plenty of factors that can affect your gut microbiome. Some of them are:

• Birthplace


• Age


• Diet


• Personal hygiene


• Antibiotics and prescription medication


• Environment

Even small differences in the makeup of your microbiome can have real effects on your health. These include your risk for cardiac issues, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity. 

And the latest research has added osteopenia and osteoporosis to the list.

How Your Gut Health Affects Your Bones

Inflammation in the gut can lead to damage of your tissues, organs, and gut flora.

Anything that promotes chronic inflammation also promotes osteoclasts. These are known as the ‘bone-dissolving cells’ and when triggered, can affect the bone-remodeling process.

Inflammation also inhibits absorption of important bone-building minerals like calcium and magnesium, making it more difficult for you to give your bones the nutrients they need.

But there are ways to combat this inflammation…

Probiotics Combat Inflammation And Protect Your Bones

Probiotics have been studied and shown to be beneficial for an array of health problems such as immune function, diarrhea, cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. 

In particular, they have been shown to reduce systemic inflammation.

Probiotic rich foods include:

• Yogurt


• Kefir


• Sauerkraut


• Kombucha


• Miso


• Microalgae


• Pickles


• Tempeh


• Kimchi

Studies that test how probiotics and prebiotics affect bone health are in the works. Probiotics are live microbes that help move food through your gut. Prebiotics – found in such foods as raw garlic and leeks – help stimulate useful bacteria.

In animal tests probiotics improve bone mass and prebiotics increase bone density.

What do these studies reveal?

Researchers know that when you regulate the microbiome, you regulate bone health. 

Take Home Message

A healthy gut is a happy, healthy you.

To maintain and restore a healthy gut, include more probiotic-rich foods in your diet such as sauerkraut and yogurt to stimulate healthful bacteria.

Not only will your gut thank you, but your bones will too.

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Sources:

1. Jun Sun, Eugene B. Chang. Exploring gut microbes in human health and disease: Pushing the envelope. Genes & Diseases. Volume 1, Issue 2, December 2014, Pages 132–139


2. Inna Sekirov, Shannon L. Russell, L. Caetano M. Antunes, B. Brett Finlay. Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease. Physiological Reviews Published 1 July 2010 Vol. 90 no. 3, 859–904 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00045.2009


3. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Reza_Darsanaki/publication/236963823_Probiotics_and_Health/links/0deec51a78ed71c361000000.pdf


4. Ritchie ML, Romanuk TN. A meta-analysis of probiotic efficacy for gastrointestinal diseases.PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34938. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034938. Epub 2012 Apr 18.

How a Healthy Gut Means Healthy Bones (& What To Do If Yours Isn’t)