Nutrition

“Let food be your Medicine and Medicine be your Good” – a quote form Hippocrates the father of modern medicine. Although modern medicine seems to have forgotten this quote. When was the last time you had a conversation with your doctor about your nutrition? Most likely you would have been referred to a nutritionist or be told just eat what you think is healthy. But what is healthy food and how should you eat. This is very much dependent on how well your body works and if there are any health concerns. Frantic life can often lead to wrong food choices. Howe many times have we pasty the convenient store not far form the tram, train or bus station and thought it is a sandwich nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong! Essentially, we are what we eat. Cliché? No.

Food is transformed in our body through the liver, intestine, pancreas and kidneys that work to create energy that expands throughout our body. Carbohydrates in the diet contribute to what is called the Krebs cycle. Let us examine that. Pasta is a carbohydrate food. The body breaks the carbohydrate molecule into glucose which chemically is a simple sugar. The body modifies the glucose to from pyruvate, a molecule that starts the Krebs cycle, helping the cells in the body to harness chemical energy driving the metabolism. This is only one part of a well-oiled cell machinery that drives our energy household. A varied diet rich in fresh produce, whole grains, lean meats, nuts and legumes is beneficial for many people. These types of foods provide essential vitamins and minerals and provide the carbohydrates, fats and proteins needed for the Krebs cycle. So, this should be good for everyone right? Wrong!

Our modern world is more complicated than that. Allergies, food intolerances, upset stomachs, bad bowel habits are all diseases of our times.

The key to all of this lies in the gut. Over a century ago. Ilyich Metchnikoff theorized that health could be enhanced, and senility delayed by manipulating the intestinal microbiome with host-friendly bacteria found in yoghurt. His theory was embraced at the time and with so many other ideas drifted to the fringe of medical practice almost forgotten. Medical science has finally caught up and rediscovered that the Gut, the “second brain” is of the utmost importance. Metchnikoff also predicted the existence of bacterial translocation and anticipated theories linking chronic inflammation with the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and other disorders [1].

Today, clinical trials have shown that by enhancing the gut with good bacteria early onset Alzheimer’s can be reversed [2]. Akbari et al., (2016) already showed in 2016 that probiotic supplementation improved cognitive function and the metabolic status in Alzheimer’s disease [3]. Yet most doctor’s are silent and will not recommend to take a probiotic in neurodegenerative diseases, most of the time not even when a patient needed to take an antibiotic. The knowledge about antibiotic and the gut among the medical profession is extraordinary poor. Often patients are advised to take a probiotic while taking an antibiotic. The function of an antibiotic is to kill dangerous bacteria. However, the antibiotic is not intelligent it does not discriminate between good and bad bacteria, hence kills all. Therefore, a probiotic has to be taken after the course of antibiotic has finished. What constitutes a good and bad bacteria is a discussion for another time.