Macrobiotics and the Microbiome
Over the past twenty years there has been a consistent growth in the study of the human gut biome. We are fascinated with the idea that there is a living environment contained within us that may comprise the largest organ of the body. This attraction becomes even more compelling when it has been linked with the potential for the gut biome to have influence on our emotions, our mental functions, and our immune system. It would surprise many to know that the mind gut connection is not a new subject.
My interest in ancient wisdom traditions has shown me one thing. The ancient language of medicine is more poetic than analytical. By this I mean that the healers of the past worked with physical observation, the senses and “feelings” about the body and its functions. They relied on the wisdom taught to them by the generations that came before them. They had a holistic rather than a reductionist point of view. This understanding was ecological in perspective. Focused on the connections that exist within nature between all things.
Back in the 1960's, Michio Kushi, my teacher and colleague who was co-founder of the Kushi Institute with me was presenting on how we grow out of the internal soil that we replace daily when we eat. Macrobiotic teachers often used the phrase by the 17th century philosopher and botanist Kaibara Ekiken, “Soil and man are not separate.” to illustrate the deep connection to our environment through the food we eat.
Furthering that image into the implications of diet for our mental and spiritual life, food was seen as the essential starting point for individual and social health as taught by George Ohsawa. The political activist and feminist writer Hiratsuka Haru encapsulated the macrobiotic view eloquently in the 1950’s. “Eating right is the act of transporting our finite body, with the help of the bridge called food, into the infinite world where we can enjoy freedom, peace and happiness.”
Modern insights into the working of the gut should inspire us to look deeper into the issues of creating a diet that is truly in balance with the environment. This is an act of deep ecology with both physical as well as mental and emotional impact.
Gut Feelings
One of the most fascinating topics to surface in human physiology is the relationship between the microbiome and brain functions. The various parts of the body are intimately connected and in constant communication. A feedback network has been discovered between the gut and the brain that goes far beyond messages about hunger. Those “gut feelings” that we may refer to have a basis. Conditions such as depression, a variety of cognitive disorders, and memory impairment can be a direct response to messages from the gut.
We all know that if we have a cold, a stomach upset, or a headache, we behave differently toward the world around us. That world includes the car that refuses to start or the computer that freezes up with the wheel of death. It also includes people. There is no question that even minor health problems may influence us to become more irritable, short-tempered, or vulnerable.
We know that our physiology is promoting a difference in the way we respond. Many people are aware that when they drink too much coffee, they become twitchy and nervous. But what if we accept that state as “the way I am”? When we experience a particular mind/body state for a prolonged period, it becomes normalized. It is not only simple emotional discomfort but possibly more serious disorders that are being linked to the gut.
It seems that many of our emotional disorders have a direct link to the functions of the gut. These links happen through the gut-brain axis that link the enteric nervous system in the gut with the central nervous system. Disorders in the gut have been shown to contribute to cognitive disorders, hormonal dysfunction, circulatory functions, and sleep problems. These are all linked with anxiety, depression, and several other cognitive functions.
Our habitual way of acting in the world is our own personal “normal.” Rather than accepting a pattern of habits and letting them define us, we can adopt a new perspective to understand the basis of these habits and explore how they may inhibit our growth. If the driving force of a habit is subtle, it may escape us completely. It is in this realm that the relationship between what we eat and how we act is most interesting.
An important aspect of the macrobiotic philosophy is the development of our innate sensitivity to the way that our food (and the condition of our internal environment) is creating these feedback loops with our behaviour. How we eat has direct effects on our sensitivities and can contribute to helping us make better decisions. It is about living up to our full potential.
Microbes in the Gut Biome
Many microbes found in the human body are not bacteria, but they belong to a very old biological domain of single-celled organisms called archaea. They are thought to be the most ancient of creatures on the planet and are extremely adaptable. They inhabit the most hostile environments: hot springs, salt lakes, oceans, and the human gut. They are usually commensals and contribute to other life-forms without harming them. They make up about 20 percent of the Earth’s biomass.
Stanford University microbiologists Erica and Justin Sonnenburg have noted that it is very possible that there are very few Americans who have healthy gut microbiomes. They cite the overuse of antibiotics, sterile living environments, and dramatic changes in our diet as the most possible causes. Central to the dietary issues is the lack of plant fibre in the diet. The biome needs the plant fibre to function. When plant fibre is scarce, the fermentation in the gut is starved of fuel and can’t reduce inflammation.
When my wife, Marlene, and I run residential health programmes, we feed our students well with the kind of diet described in my last book How To Eat Right & Save The Planet. We notice changes in the participants’ health after only about four days. Their moods can improve radically, unhealthy symptoms start to disappear, and skin tones become healthier. Clients and students learn to cook from many of Marlene's books, her last one Go Vegan should be in every kitchen. I noticed the same phenomenon when serving as the director of natural therapies at the SHA Wellness Clinic in Southern Spain where Marlene and I set up programmes and taught there for a period of time.
These observations make sense. A study published in Scientific American noted that with any significant change of diet, the microbe colonies in the gut undergo radical change within three to four days. Lawrence David, assistant professor at Duke University, one of the study’s authors, says, “Within days, we saw not just a variation in the abundance of different kinds of bacteria, but in the kinds of genes they were expressing.”
An interesting side note is that as part of this study, some participants were fed a plant-based diet and some a diet with cheese and meat. The subjects who ate the animal products saw a significant increase in Bilophila wadsworthia, a bacteria known to contribute to colitis and inflammatory bowel disease in mice.
A major function of the gut biome is immunity. In the biome, the immune system can “practice” and develop the resistance to pathogens that may enter the body. Vitamins B and K are created here. It is suspected that even more vitamins are synthesized in the biome that have not been discovered yet. And the biome is essential for the digestion and absorption of nutrients. The metabolism that takes place in the gut helps the body utilize foods that would otherwise not be digested.
Much of what we consume in the modern diet is alien to our evolution. The thousands of new chemicals, the strange new combinations of ingredients, and the eating patterns bear little relationship to our nutritional needs. Homo sapiens have existed for about half a million years.
Imagine putting that whole time on a twenty-four-hour clock. At the first movement of the second hand, a human being looked around and wondered what it was all about. For the intervening twenty-four hours, the family of humankind ate a fairly small range of basic nutrients. Then at less than one second before midnight, the system was flooded with over three thousand chemicals it had never encountered before, and with drastic alterations in even the most common nutrients. The result is a uniquely modern problem: nutritional stress.
Creating Balance
When Ancient wisdom traditions are seen through the lens of scientific study we realize that human intelligence is not only dependent on technology. The brilliant insights of modern inquiry need to be brought into service of the general population. The challenges that are faced in health care best solved by prevention. We need education more than therapies, wholesome food rather than more drugs. So many of the life-threatening diseases that are rampant in society can be prevented and often reversed. We need to make diabetes, heart disease, many cancers, and digestive disorders a thing of the past. It is a huge challenge but one that must be met.
In good health
