Microbiome Microbiologist Explains How The Mucosal Layer Can Be Damaged By Probiotics
One of the most famous microbiome microbiologists of all time has recently expressed concern over taking high levels of certain probiotics as they can damage the flora balance of the digestive tract. Billions of colony forming units may not necessarily be the best thing when it comes to balancing a damaged microbiome. Many people shop for probiotics by looking for the highest level of colony forming units and they take them aggressively. This can potentially cause damage to the balanced flora.
“Eighty to ninety percent of Americans have an overgrowth of pathogens in their gut. If we’re not dealing with specific issues within the gut, the microbial ecology, we can’t necessarily achieve all of the health and wellness that we want,” says Kiran Krishnan in his talk “Healing Leaky Gut.”
Krishnan is a research microbiologist specializing in molecular medicine and the microbiome, the flora that makes up the intestinal tract. He has conducted over 30 studies on gut commensal spore bacteria, bacillus strains. His studies also cover reversing Glyphosate damage to the microbiome, IBS, weight loss, periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, liver disease, and the vaginal microbiome.
Krishnan has found the use of spore bacteria shows a 42% reduction in gut enteropothy within a 30 day period. “The microbiome is a very complex system. There are trillions of bacteria in there. There are millions of genes. They’re producing millions of proteins every minute of every day. The interaction between all of the various microbes lead to consequences within the system, whether good or bad.”
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Each individual has their own unique structure of microbes. Krishnan says, “If you have diabetes, if you have an autoimmune condition, or you’re dealing with Hashimoto’s or other autoimmune drivers, or you’re dealing with anxiety or depression – all of those are driven by something wrong with your gut. You know that there is dysbiosis.”
Your gut is lined with a layer of epithelial, he says, “Whether it’s the small bowel or the large bowel. On top of it sits a mucosal layer, where the microbes, for the most part exist. The top part of the mucous layer is an area called mucin one, it’s a more watery layer, more liquid-like. The microbes all live up there. Their inner part of the mucous layer is called mucin two, the inner sanctum. That’s probably the most sterile part of your body. There are very few microbes that live in that inner part of the mucous layer. As it turns out we’ve got about a thousand bacteria per milliliter of blood. The mucosal layer is the largest surface in the body. We used to think (it was) our skin as being the biggest barrier.”
It used to be known that the skin was the biggest organ in the body. Krishnan’s studies have found differently. He says the mucosal layer is 50 times larger than the surface area of the skin. Everything that enters the body passes through the mucosal layer before it enters the blood. This makes the mucosal system the most valuable system when it comes to our reactions to viruses, allergies and other responses. Krishnan says, “Most chronic illnesses can be tied back to something going wrong in this area.”
Krishnan has been studying microbiome flora for over eight years, “The first thing that maintains the integrity of the structure is high diversity and certain strains. Your microbes produce post biotics. This mucosal layer is how your body decides to respond to the work, it’s also the start of most chronic illnesses. If this inner sanctum is breached, that’s where we see disease. This can happen in any layer of your small or large intestine.”
One small one-inch portion or your small intestines could have experienced damage at one time in your early youth. If the area wasn’t supported for repair, it could have a negative effect on the neighboring sections of the tract, and so on and so forth. The longer it is left without support, more damage occurs. Many, if not most diseases, are many years in the making as the dysbiosis develops.
The good news is, the gut is the fastest part of the body to repair. “Your entire mucosal system can turn over in 72 hours. You can have an entirely new system in 72 hours. There are about 12 keystone strains that affect the rest of the structure: Akkermansia, Faecalibacterium, Bifido Longum, Bifido Adolescentis.”
One research study done at Princeton showed no matter which antibiotic was used, within two to three hours of exposure, all of the microbes died. Krishnan says, “When you bring in something like an antibiotic, or pesticide, or gluten, GMOs and all of these things, they disrupt the micorbiome, that community structure, and they start to fall apart. That ecology is quite sensitive because it’s a living dynamic system. One of the important things of dysbiosis is having low levels of these keystone strains. The second thing is having low diversity. Low keystone strains and low diversity is the definition of dysbiosis.”
Krishnan adds one concerning aspect is the use of probiotics which contain billions upon billions of colony forming units, which can possibly damage the mucosal layer. He says this causes great concern as you continually feed certain strains of microbes, creating imbalance.
Krishnan says, “When you start losing diversity, when you lose uniformity, you start getting overgrowth of microbes that are normal to be in the gut, but they get overgrown. When they get overgrown they start doing some sinister-like things. For example, there’s a lot of microbes that eat the inner part of the mucous layer. You start to get a degredation of this mucous. When you have low keystone strains, the repair part can’t happen. That’s why you get a net damage. You start getting an influx into this sterile area, with a new microbiome. This is a disruptive mucosa system.”
For the spore probiotic Krishnan talks about, that he says builds the keystone strains, click here. For the other food support probiotics that he says does the same, click here.
*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She is a Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor, through The American Naturopathic Medical Association and works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. She serves on the GAPS Board of Directors and has recently been named “The GAPS Expert” by Dr. Natasha and will serve teaching other Certified GAPS Practitioners proper use of the GAPS protocol. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com
“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.
