This is kind of scattered so bare with me. I didn’t mean for this to turn into an entire article.
I think the NYT covers a super interesting concept but wonder about the 22 folks they studied...Are these results simply due to a reflection of a modern day American diet? Or do they provide scientific evidence for human constitutions and genetic dispositions for particular disease types?
Eco-system I—Bacteroides, Steroids and Estrogens
“Digestive ecosystem I” is high in Bacteroides. (Bacteroides were recently broken into two subspecies of Prevotella, Prevotella melaninogenica and Prevotella intermedia.) I will continue to refer to it as Bacteroides unless otherwise specified for simplicity sake and to prevent confusing myself… Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella melaninogenica (aka Bacteroides) both feeds off of steroids.
Bacteroides are consistently found higher in pregnant women. What do pregnant women, modern tweens' and commercially raised dairy and soy all have in common??? They have raised levels of the steroid, estrogen!
During an interview with Cordon Ireland of Harvard Gazette, Dr. Ganmaa Davaasambuu states, "Among the routes of human exposure to estrogens, we are mostly concerned about cow's milk, which contains considerable amounts of female sex hormones," Ganmaa told her audience. Dairy, she added, accounts for 60 percent to 80 percent of estrogens consumed."
One other source of survival for Bacteroides is from polysaccharides (starch and glycogen) from plants. Though, they can also thrive on simple sugars if they are available… and by the looks of our grocery store shelves and belt buckles… starches and sugars are found aplenty.
I don’t know enough about physiology to explain the connection of blood sugar, fatty liver disease, diabetes and glycogen. Though, I do feel that glucose, carbohydrates, high fructose corn syrup all play a role and plague our country and glycogen is stored in our liver. I am sure it’s somewhere in this video that I watched that a friend recently shared: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Eco-system II—Prevotela, Acidity and Industrial Meat & Corn.
Eco-system Type II is high in Prevotella, which increases with acidity.
According to Wiki, (yeah, I know…) "Prevotella, credited interchangeably with Bacteroides melaninogenica, has been a problem for dentists for years. As a human pathogen known for creating periodontal and tooth problems."
NOTE: A problem for years... Our intake of sugar, corn and high fructose corn syrup, has increased drastically over the past 30 years (Thank you Nixon!). Please take the time to watch the above referred video; it explains the food dilemma very clearly, with graph, charts and numbers.
The standard American diet or modern American diet---call it SAD, I call it MAD… either way it’s alarming. Here is the reality and a little example:
Main course: Highly acidic, industrially raised meat OR
Estrogen inducing soy product (if you are a vegetarian or eating fast food patty*
Topped with yummy cream sauce, also high in estrogen.
Beverage and sides: Something colorful or bubbly with high fructose corn syrup. Remove the fiber on the sides, process it so it’s pretty and white, add some high fructose corn syrup, MSG, vegetable oil, make it crunchy and you’re good to go.
Green Stuff: Single serving of nutrient-deficient veggies-- sprinkled with a dash of pesticides.
*I think the technical term is Smeat ™ and stands for “Something” like meat.
Prevotella in our diets
Prevotella is commonly found in the rumen of cattle, It is used as a preventative for bovine. Bovine occurs due to acidic build up in the rumen of cattle (acidosis).
Industrially farmed cattle are fed corn (acidic). This corn is known to sit in the rumen of the cattle and ferment, causing bovine and other nasty things. Cows that are grass-fed digest their food, therefore no acidosis or bovine.
Wiki: "Rumen acidosis greatly affecst milk production of cattle by disrupting the typical digestive processes of the stomach. This leads to an increased susceptibility to other pathogenic forces which also affect the health of food provided for the cattle. With an estimated twenty percent of all American cattle suffering from some form of acidosis, it has been calculated that the bovine market loses one billion dollars annually (ARS)."
So, are those Prevotella "types" super acidic in general because they are eating a typical acidic and inflammatory American diet? (Fiery)
This research is reflective of the human race or just a modern diet thing? I would like to know where all 22 people tested were from, what kind of diet they ate and what a typical diet their grand mammies and pappies ate!
Bacteroides seem to me more sluggish, slow and kapha like in general.
References:
Bacteria Found in Ecosystems:
Bacteroides: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BacteroidesBacteriodes/Provotella melaninogenicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevotella_melaninogenica
Bacteroides/Prevotella intermedia:
In response to NYT Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/science/21gut.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysaccharide (veggies, polysaccharides, carbs, glycogen)
Hormones, Estrogen, Dairy and Meat from Commercially Raised Cattle
