Following Your Gut – Eating for 100 Trillion
Development of the fetal microbiome can be influenced by a countless number of factors. I began this field study expecting to explore those factors and eventually focus on one that I found exceptionally interesting, but instead I kept finding more influences and research that was absolutely fascinating. Some examples include breastfeeding versus formula use, whether skin to skin contact occurred after birth, where the birth took place (at home, in a birth center, in a hospital), whether or not the mother or fetus was treated with antibiotics and at what stage, and caesarean section or vaginal birth. Of course, a large focus of mine was the maternal diet before and during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. That is where I also explored access to food as it relates to socioeconomic standing and the stresses surrounding finding and preparing healthy and nutritious whole foods.
For this post, I’m going to outline some of the research I’ve come across describing the impact maternal dietary habits have on the long-term health of the fetus. A poor diet during pregnancy has already been linked to obesity, raised levels of cholesterol and blood sugar (Bayol et al.) as well as coronary heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes (Godfrey et al.). I first came across this research while dealing with a possible gluten-intolerance. I found research detailing the plethora of ailments (ie. ADHD, anxiety, depression, dental issues, hormonal imbalances) that may all be the product of an intolerance of wheat in some people
What we eat also changes the way we think (see gut-brain connection). Depression and anxiety have been linked to nutritional imbalances in the gut (Foster et al.) You can read an introduction to the microbiome and the gut brain connection in my post “It Takes Guts”. There is incredible research suggesting that changes in the maternal gut microbiota can impact the gut composition of the fetus (Thum et al.), that the placenta is an integral part of developing a diverse fetal microbiome (Cao et al.), and that gut bacteria may predict asthma and seasonal allergies in young children (Williams, S. C. P.).
There is very young research on the effect probiotic supplements have on the microbiome, which I will detail in a future post. One topic I am very curious about is the impact of the consumption of probiotic rich foods versus that of probiotic supplements. I’d hypothesize that probiotic rich foods are more affective and readily absorbed by the body because the food may provide the other pieces the body needs to properly break down nutrients. I can also imagine there may be some benefits to consuming very specific strains of yeasts and/or bacteria in concentrated doses.
Over the last five weeks, I have had to remind myself that this research is just the beginning of what I will be doing for years to come; there is no way that I could have learned everything there is to know about nutritional modulation of the maternal and fetal microbiome in a month, but I have learned that this topic brings me alive.
