I am tasked with brainstorming a list of behaviors one could engage in that would change one’s gut microbiome. From this list, I will then pick three behaviors, discuss what effect they would have on the microbiome, and whether that impact would be good, bad, or neutral for the host.

Behaviors

• Taking an antibiotic, such as a sulfa drug or penicillin
• Taking a probiotic pill, drinking a probiotic drink, or eating a probiotic food
• Changing one’s diet, i.e., from predominantly meat to a vegetarian diet
• Increasing one’s fiber in one’s diet

Taking an antibiotic, such as a sulfa drug or penicillin

Antibiotics kill bacteria within the body, both good and bad. If you were to take an antibiotic for an infection, for instance, you would also drastically reduce your gut flora. This would have a detrimental impact on that individual’s health concerning their gut microbiome. Our gut microbiome is essential in digesting the food we eat and breaking it down into smaller molecules that we can absorb into our bloodstream. When an individual’s gut population is reduced in this way, they may experience lower absorption from eating and gastric distress.

Taking a probiotic pill, drinking a probiotic drink, or eating a probiotic food

Probiotic pills, such as Acidophilus, are becoming increasingly common in today’s health culture. Other probiotics do not come in pill form, however. Many options, such as kombucha and the more well-known yogurt, are food and beverage options that tout live, ingestible cultures. While it depends on the situation, research agrees that probiotics can have positive health effects on specific health conditions, such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and type-2 diabetes (1). In diseases that cause disequilibrium of the gut microbiome, ingesting probiotics can have a positive effect on the host by repopulating their gut microbiome.

Increasing one’s fiber in one’s diet

Fiber is a vital component of the human diet that is not digested. Fiber helps keep the digestive system, specifically the process of forming of feces and defecation, regular. Research suggests that fiber can also have an important impact on our gut microbiome. In individuals who do not consume enough fiber, gut inflammation caused by dysregulation and overgrowth of microbial communities is more common (1). If someone with previously poor fiber consumption were to increase their fiber consumption, this would decrease the amount of microbia in their gut, which would have a positive effect, in theory. The increase in fiber would allow for better regulation of microbial communities in the gut, reducing inflammation in the host.

References

1. Hasan N, Yang H. 2019. Factors affecting the composition of the gut microbiota, and its modulation. PeerJ 7:e7502.