Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/0rJe-bmI3OA   Every week there is more news that the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract affect not only your body’s metabolism and immune system but also the health of distant organs such as your brain.  A new study from the Baylor College of Medicine shows that you need a healthy diet to spawn healthy bacteria in your gut’s microbiome.   The investigators studied nearly 100 colonoscopy samples from 34 polyp-free subjects and analyzed the bacterial spectrum found in each.  Those subjects with higher so-called Health Eating Index values (HEI) had a preponderance of healthy bacteria.  Those with lower diet scores had fewer healthy and more pathologic bacteria present.   Once again, you are what you eat.  Think about that when you bypass the fruits and veggies in favor of that juicy cheeseburger and a side of fries.   Yanhong Liu, Nadim J Ajami, Hashem B El-Serag, etal. Dietary quality and the colonic mucosa–associated gut microbiome in humans. The American Journal of Clinical Nut