What is an “optimal gut microbiome”?

The gut microbiome plays an indispensable role in metabolism, immunity, central nervous system function, gastrointestinal diseases and maintaining the integrity of gastrointestinal epithelial cells. The gut microbiome plays a central role in intestinal health.

What is the best gut microbiome?

It can be evaluated from two aspects:

First, direct assessment and testing of the intestinal microbial composition;

Testing the intestinal microbiome can quantitatively evaluate the composition of different flora, how many good bacteria, how many bad bacteria, and whether they are balanced. Looks reliable, right? However, the composition of the intestinal microbiome varies from person to person, and the content of bacteria varies greatly. A normal or healthy intestinal microbiome may be a very wide range. In addition, the reference flora we choose may not be reasonable. Without a fair reference, the test results will be very biased. In addition, at present, health cannot be evaluated based on only a few bacteria. The intestine is a micro-ecosystem, and the balance of various bacteria may be more important than the relative content.

Second, indirectly evaluate and feel whether your intestines are healthy.

Since the composition of intestinal microorganisms varies greatly and is difficult to evaluate, we can ignore the composition of the flora and look at the effects to see whether the intestines are healthy.

Scientists generally believe that intestinal health is manifested by:

1. No digestive tract symptoms, such as abdominal pain or diarrhea

2. No digestive tract diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer

3. There are no other local abnormalities, such as increased intestinal permeability, mucosal inflammation, short-chain fatty acid deficiency or excess, etc.

Therefore, current research has not yet found the optimal microbiome, or this state may not exist. Perhaps the one that suits you best is the optimal one.

Is your gut healthy?

From：Gut health: definitions and determinants