Bacterial overgrowth and yeast infections are thought to be one of the triggers that cause fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. As the standard American diets (SAD) have grown increasingly focused on processed foods, sugars and refined grains, and our environment is full of chemicals and pollution, this has led to a substantial increase in harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract for many of us.
When there is an overgrowth of too much bacteria, yeast, fungus, and/or parasites inside the gastrointestinal tract (GI) the intestinal lining becomes damaged and weakened. This permits undigested food particles, disease-causing bacteria, and potentially toxic molecules, to pass directly through the weakened cell membranes and quickly spread throughout the rest of the body. When this happens, toxins pass through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream and are carried to the liver. The liver becomes over-worked in an effort to detoxify this increased load of toxins. To make matters worse, these toxins which are circulating in our blood stream activate antibodies and cause irritation and inflammation throughout other parts of the body plus a host of other distressing symptoms. In addition, it causes oxidative damage which speeds up the aging process. It becomes what is more commonly called leaky gut syndrome. Symptoms associated with leaky gut syndrome include: abdominal pain, chronic joint and muscle pain, gas, indigestion, brain fog, confusion, mood swings, nervousness, skin rashes, extreme fatigue, bloating, constipation, shortness of breath, diarrhea, aggression, and poor memory, to name a few.
Here is just a partial list of symptoms that can often result from an imbalance of bacteria in the GI tract:
Restoring Gastro Intestinal Tract Health
Understanding the relationship between the bacteria living in our gastrointestinal tract and how this affects our health is vital. Seventy percent of your immune system is located within your GI tract. Depending on the kind of bacteria your body contains in the largest numbers determines how healthy you are. You have a total of one hundred trillion bacteria living together in your GI tract, which is more than the number of cells living in your body. For example, some of the bacteria are known as “friendly” or good bacteria while some is “harmful” or bad bacteria. Friendly bacteria keep the immune system strong and the digestive system functioning smoothly. The wrong bacteria or the harmful variety set the scene for disease. Ideally, beneficial bacteria should make up about 85 percent of the intestinal tract, and harmful bacteria about 15 percent. However, most Americans have the inverse ratio of 15 percent good bacteria to 85 percent bad. This can seriously compromise the immune and digestive systems, leading to a number of chronic conditions and disorders like fibromyalgia. In addition, many fibromyalgia sufferers have gastrointestinal problems from the many drugs that are often prescribed. These drugs alter the levels of beneficial bacteria in the gut. For this reason, a person who has FM should take probiotics, including the lactobacillus group of beneficial bacteria, to restore gastrointestinal function.
Lactobacillus Acidophilus and bifidobacterium are the two predominant beneficial bacteria in our intestinal tract and we need both if we are to have GI tract health. These friendly bacteria are called intestinal flora, pro-biotics, or eubiotics—the last two terms mean “healthful to life”. We use the term “pro-biotics” to refer to supplemental use of these bacteria in powder or capsule form. Lactobacillus acidophilus is the bacteria most people are familiar with however; bifidobacterium appears to be equally important beneficial bacteria in the GI tract. Lactobacillus is particularly helpful in treating Candida albicans, a fungus which causes infections in nails and eyes, thrush, and “yeast infections”. It is thought that Candida albicans yeast overgrowth is prevalent in many fibromyalgia sufferers.
Friendly flora in our GI tract is also responsible for manufacturing many vitamins including the B-complex vitamins. The B-complex vitamins are our stress fighting vitamins and we can only make them by eating the right foods. It’s been said that our gut is our second brain and when we fully appreciate that 70 percent of our immune system is located there, it’s no wonder. We want to keep our GI tract in good order and our friendly flora in abundant supply and the way we do this is through our nutrition and diets. We can also supplement with pro-biotics and this may be necessary when we have had several doses of anti-biotics throughout our lives. One dose of anti-biotics will kill not only the harmful bacteria but all the bacteria living in our GI tract, including the friendly. It can take us up to one year to build back the friendly bacteria in our gut unless we eat those foods which contain it.
Foods that enhance GI flora
Most cultured and fermented foods commonly increase the bacterial content making them a rich source of friendly flora. There are many cultures around the world that have long recognized the benefits of fermented foods. While some indigenous peoples may not have known the science behind their use, they easily noticed the healthful benefits. For example, sauerkraut, a traditional European food, has a long history of use by people with ulcers and digestive problems. Asian cultures traditionally use pickles and fermented foods, such as kimchee, as condiments. Here is a list of some of the foods you may eat that contain either Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidobacterium, or both.
· Yogurt
· Sauerkraut
· Cottage cheese
· Tofu
· Miso
· Natto
· Tamari
· Shoyu
· Tempeh
· Kimchee
Chinese green tea and ginseng also increase friendly flora. Green tea contains Polyphenols which are believed to be the enhancing substance while ginseng extract was found to increase beneficial flora.
Deirdre Rawlings, ND, PhD advises clients in her local area of Atlanta, Georgia, USA in person as well as remotely, both individuals and groups/corporations. While she has a focus on advising those with fibromyalgia or developing symptoms with a focus on nutrition as solution for wellness, her expertise is global and 'wholistic'. Her complete information can be found at http://www.foodsforfibromyalgia.com/ [1]. She is the author of "Foods that Help Win the Battle Against Fibromyalgia"; check out Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobel.
Links:
[1] http://www.foodsforfibromyalgia.com/
[2] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/link-between-fibromyalgia-beneficial-bacteria-probiotics#comment-441
[3] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/link-between-fibromyalgia-beneficial-bacteria-probiotics#top
[4] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/login?destination=node/269%23comment-form
[5] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/register?destination=node/269%23comment-form
[6] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/link-between-fibromyalgia-beneficial-bacteria-probiotics#comment-442
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Comments
Awesome article!
I have a quick question. As a result of some research I have done, there have been studies that explain that some of the yogurts you buy in food stores that claim to have the pro-biotics, etc to gain a healthier GI tract actually do not have the right ones - or just claim to have them when they really don't. Do you recommend a particular brand of yogurt? Or do you believe each brand has these necessities?
Faith Young is the pseudonym used by one of Lumigrate's longest content providers, as she began writing at the age of 24 in Lumigrate's FIRST year on the Internet! In real life, this young woman who has been living with FMS for many years received her Bachelors degree in Health Education from Montclair State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude. To further her career, she is currently working on two Masters degrees, one in Counseling from Seton Hall University. Since she is a 6th grade health teacher working to educate students on the importance of being physically and emotionally healthy, we found it best to provider her with a pseudonym of her choice and "Faith Young" is what resonated. In the long run, this very real young woman has faith and hopes be able to use health education in counseling and provide up to date information at Lumigrate which will appeal to the younger people 'out there' and bring them 'in here' to Lumigrate in addition to our more mature adults. In addition, she is a LumiLiaison for Lumigrate.com and helps facilitate Lumigrate FMS fan pages on facebook. Search on Lumigrate and Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia and join us related to general and/or FMS specific information; Like us and those #s count with our advertisers and supporters and also allow YOU to keep up with what we're up to!
This was kind of neat for me, because I simply copied the link for this page and asked my sister to print it out and give it to my Dad, which really streamlined MY time in getting the information to them that I wanted them to have about probiotics. I'll let Deirdre know that there's a question here, Candace. I know that in the past at least, and that was before Activia, etc.,, that there really wasn't enough probiotic in the yogurts. Really, if you look at the amount that is in, say "Pearls", which is what I believe Dr. Lepisto suggests as one brand people can easily obtain (Walgreens carries it, for instance) and compare it with what's in a food product, that might be a common sense way of looking at it, but I'll certainly defer to the guru Deirdre and look forward to learning here! (And having it where I can look it up when I can't remember the details, LOL) ~~ Mardy
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [7] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!