Did you hear that right? It turns out that your intestines also have an age.

Author: Cui Yihui, registered dietitian, master of medicine

Reviewer: Zhu Wenli, Professor and Master Supervisor, Peking University Health Science Center

When I was reading the literature recently, I was shocked by a study result from a Japanese scholar. He found that the intestinal age of teenagers aged 10 to 20 showed a clear aging trend, especially in girls. Some girls in their prime years are already 60 years old if their intestinal age is calculated! This phenomenon is closely related to their bad eating habits and other life factors.

Yes, you heard it right, the human intestine also has an age. The so-called intestinal age refers to the different stages of changes in the intestinal flora of a person as his physiological age increases. In other words, the balance between the intestinal flora is used to judge whether a person's intestines are aging. "Intestinal age" is an indicator of the degree of aging of the body, just like "muscle age", "heart age" and "bone age". From now on, it is not enough to just say: "I am old!" You have to be specific about whether it is the old intestines, the old heart, or the old bones!

The intestine is the largest micro-ecosystem in the human body, with more than 400 species of bacteria stationed in it. The number of bacteria exceeds 100 trillion, which is 10 times more than the total number of human cells (60 trillion to 100 trillion). Such a huge "bacteria" group is "mixed", and beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria "compete secretly" with each other, all wanting to "seize the upper hand". As a "fence-sitter", neutral bacteria are always "watching from the sidelines" and will "join" whichever side is stronger.

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It can be seen that the intestine is not a "quiet place". The game between beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria may destroy the intestinal microecological environment at any time. The intestine is the largest immune organ of the human body, which controls 70% of the human immune function. The intestine is also the largest detoxification organ of the human body. If the intestinal flora is unbalanced, harmful bacteria "gain power", detoxification is blocked, and toxins in the body will be discharged through other channels (such as kidneys, skin, respiratory tract, etc.), causing obesity, body odor, bad breath, dark skin, allergies, spots, etc. Not only that, it may also lead to various digestive tract diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even cancer, which is a fatal trouble.

●Common factors that lead to damage to beneficial intestinal bacteria

❖Age factor : Let’s take the number of bifidobacteria, which is often used by scientists as an important indicator of intestinal age, as an example. The number of bifidobacteria in the intestines of most people begins to decrease sharply after the age of 10. The proportion of bifidobacteria in the intestinal flora of adults has dropped from 40% to about 10%, and then the intestines begin to age. Entering the elderly stage of 55 to 60 years old, the number of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria decreases again, and only 1% to 5% remains after the age of 60, and it almost disappears completely before death, approaching zero.

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In some healthy and long-lived centenarians, beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium can usually be detected in their bodies. It can be seen that the "secret" to longevity should be related to the contribution of probiotics.

❖ Unhealthy dietary factors that destroy beneficial intestinal bacteria : unreasonable dietary structure, low-fiber, high-fat, high-sugar diet; overeating; various additives in food; pesticides and veterinary drugs used in the planting/breeding stage of food raw materials, such as antibiotics and insecticides, etc.

❖ Abuse of antibiotics : Many people take medicine after catching a cold or having a fever, and then suffer from diarrhea. This is often the result of antibiotics causing intestinal flora imbalance. Abuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, hormones, and immunosuppressants will cause the probiotics in the intestine to suffer a "catastrophe" (for example, taking tetracycline for several days can cause the intestinal bifidobacteria to be "annihilated"), and even cause some pathogenic bacteria to develop drug resistance, making these pathogens incurable.

❖Environmental pollution : Polluted water and air are also extremely destructive to the beneficial bacteria in the body.

●How to protect intestinal probiotics and keep the intestines young?

❖ Pay attention to the balance and rationality of dietary structure : The diet for three meals a day should be a combination of coarse and fine, especially eating whole grains, potatoes, beans, vegetables, fruits and other foods rich in dietary fiber. As the old saying goes, "If you want to live long, keep your intestines clean." Dietary fiber can not only promote intestinal peristalsis and accelerate the discharge of feces, but also inhibit the activity of harmful bacteria in the intestine, accelerate the excretion of cholesterol and neutral fat, and is conducive to the stability of the microecological environment in the intestine. In addition, eating at regular times and in fixed quantities, not overeating, not drinking alcohol, and paying attention to food hygiene are all crucial to keeping the intestine young.

❖ Cultivate the habit of "rubbing the abdomen" : Frequently rubbing the abdomen in a clockwise direction (along the direction of the intestines) can help promote intestinal peristalsis, accelerate the excretion of feces, maintain a balance of intestinal flora, and prevent intestinal aging.

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❖ Maintain a happy mood : The intestine is the "second brain" of the human body, and the quality of emotions is related to the health of the intestine. Negative emotions such as excessive tension, anxiety, depression, anger, and sadness can all lead to gastrointestinal physiological disorders and imbalance of the intestinal microecological environment. Therefore, learning to regulate your emotions and keeping a normal mind is of great benefit to maintaining a stable intestinal environment.

❖ Rational use of medicine : Avoid treating minor illnesses with major treatments, taking medicine when there is no illness, and stop abusing antibiotics. The intestines are also a medicine storehouse for the body to heal itself. This is not an exaggeration! A report from a German research institute pointed out that if all substances that can treat diseases are called "medicines", the human body can produce more than 10,000 "medicines" by itself, and more than 70% of these more than 10,000 medicines are in the intestines. General diseases can be cured by these "medicines" alone. It can be seen that the intestines play a very important role in self-healing diseases. As long as the intestines are healthy, why do we need to take so many medicines?

❖ Timely supplementation of probiotics and prebiotics : Think about the study by Japanese scholars at the beginning of this article. A 20-year-old face is like a 60-year-old intestine. Appearance is important as the "face", but if the intestine, as the "inside", ages first, the "face" will probably not look good. Russian microbiologist Mechnikov is the "founder" of probiotics. Remember his famous saying, "People with healthy intestines are truly healthy!"