Improving GI Health
The April issue of the Fibromyalgia Network Journal featured an article: “Irritable Bowel Got You Down? New Science & Probiotic Therapy.” It’s about how the number of microorganisms or microbiota that reside in your gastrointestinal (GI) system is staggering, but altering this ecological environment with the use of friendly microbiota (probiotics) should lead to improved health. When the article was initially conceived, a two-page spread in the Journal was deemed appropriate. In hindsight, more space could have been allocated to this topic and the three short briefs below contain the information that was cut from the article.
Dietary Effects on GI Bugs
One of the most common questions that fibromyalgia (FM) patients ask: “Is there a specific diet that I should be on for reducing my symptoms?” While there are certain vitamins and minerals that make sense based on what is known about FM, a fibro-friendly diet has not been identified. But new research is beginning to show that what you eat does have an important impact on the types of microbiota or bugs that grow in your GI system.
Two types of beneficial microbiota are dominant in the human gut, the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes. The GI tract of people who are overweight tends to have an abundance of the Firmicutes and deficiency of the Bacteroidetes when compared to lean people.* A research team in St. Louis, MO, placed 12 overweight people on one of two calorie-restricted diets to determine if this could decrease the Firmicutes and increase the Bacteroidetes. One diet was fat-restricted and the other diet was carbohydrate-restricted. Subjects remained on the diet for one year while stool samples were taken at the onset and at three-month intervals to determine the relative population ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes.
Both diets produced a significant change in body weight, with the fat-restricted diet being superior. People with the greatest weight reduction also showed the largest increase in the Bacteroidetes-type of microbiota. In fact, at the end of the year-long diet, the ratio of the two major classes of bugs was the same as that observed for lean people.
One of the roles of the microbiota is to help break down food. The Firmicutes have an increased capacity to convert undigested foodstuffs into products that humans can use, providing additional calories to the human host and contributing to weight gain. However, it is not just a simple matter of people sticking to a diet to reduce weight. The authors speculate that the gut in overweight people has certain properties that tip the balance toward the growth of the Firmicutes. This means that manipulating the gut microbiota could lead to another approach for weight loss programs.
* Ley RE, et al. Nature 444(7122):1022-1023, 2006.
How Can Probiotics Help FM?
Probiotics, or the introduction of friendly microbiota, may improve the way your GI system works and this can lead to reduced symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). One probiotic on the market that has been proven in clinical trials to effectively treat IBS is Align, made by Procter and Gamble (see www.aligngi.com). It contains the freeze-dried bacterium Bifidobacterium infantis (B infantis). In one study that tested the effectiveness of this probiotic in IBS patients, blood samples were taken to determine the concentration of various cytokine substances produced by the immune system.
Some cytokines are known to cause inflammation and are thought to be involved in the pain-amplification process of FM. Other cytokines work as anti-inflammatory agents to fight inflammation and potentially reduce pain. These substances may enter the bloodstream through the gut lining, and can have a wide-ranging effect on your overall health as well as your FM symptoms.
People with IBS have been found to have higher ratio of inflammatory to anti-inflammatory cytokines in their blood. Similar reports have been published for FM patients. In one eight-week study testing the effects of the probiotic in Align (B infantis) in IBS patients, the blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines dropped while the concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines increased.* A corresponding improvement in IBS symptoms occurred, suggesting an immune-modulating role of the organism in this condition. Given that FM patients have a similar cytokine imbalance, the probiotic may not only relieve IBS-related discomfort—it has the potential to reduce the widespread symptoms of FM through its effect on cytokines.
* O’Mahony LO, et al. Gastroenterology 128:541-551, 2005.
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