2024-10-11 12:48:00
We home people microbes on all internal and external surfaces of our body, with the highest concentration in the small intestine and colon. These microorganisms, consisting mainly of bacteria, viruses and fungi, make up the so-called microbiota, which, together, weighs about one kilogram. Its strength, however, seems so extraordinary that it is speculated that it may even influence behavior, even as a child.
This is precisely what a group of researchers from Italian Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pediatric Nutrition (SIGENP), which reviewed 631 publications and 22 original scientific studies conducted around the world. The review is still underway and the definitive results will be published in a few months in an international scientific journal, but the first data were anticipated during the XXXI SIGENP Congress, recently held in Palermo.
“A frequent association is emerging between dysbiosis, i.e. a state of imbalance of the intestinal microbiota, characterized by the reduction of some strains of microorganisms (in particular Faecalibacterium and Prevotella) and the increase in bacteroides, and disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety states and the autistic spectrum”, he explains Silvia Salvatoreassociate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Insubria, Varese, and member of the study group on intestinal microbiota of the European Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pediatric Nutrition.
The microbiota regulates various functions: intestinal, metabolic, inflammatory and immunological. Furthermore, it can produce substances such as neuromodulators and neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine, or cytokines, which regulate inflammation, intestinal permeability and can cross the blood brain barrier, thus reaching the brain.
Hence the possibility that the microbiota influences our response to stress and pain and behaviors such as anxiety, depression and irritability. There is continuous and two-way communication, a sort of WhatsApp that is always active, between the brain and the intestinewhich in fact, due to its wealth of cells and nerve fibres, is also called the “second brain”.
“The alteration of the microbiota can be temporary and reversible. The best way to maintain a healthy and balanced microbiota is to follow a varied and balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet”, concludes the expert.
So, how to have a healthy microbiota? Silvia Salvatore offers some keys. «Therefore, limit ultra-processed industrial foods, packaged products, refined carbohydrates, simple sugars and fried foods, favoring fruit and vegetables, preferably in season, legumes, whole grains, dried fruit, fish and white meat. The second piece of advice is to avoid the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, taking them only when prescribed by your doctor. The third suggestion is to be cautious with the proposed interventions (exclusion diets, microbiota identification tests and choice of probiotics) also because, to date, they demonstrate their effectiveness on behavior. and the identity of the optimal microbiota has not yet been fully clarified.”
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