WHOLE PLANT EATING? What do you know about the human microbiome, the 100
trillion microbes that inhabit our bodies, creatures that happen to be key to
our health and wellbeing? This topic has
flooded the scientific literature and popular media for quite a few years - and it wakens us to our symbiotic relationship with some of the smallest
creatures on this planet - - creatures we house in our own bodies.
There are multi-dimensional ways a whole food, plant-based
diet helps prevent and reverse most of the chronic diseases
experienced in Western societies today, such as heart disease, diabetes,
strokes, cancer, kidney disease, and osteoporosis. In fact, a whole food,
plant-based diet can also help prevent (and possibly help reverse) many more of
the chronic diseases that have skyrocketed in recent decades, including
allergies, food intolerances, gastrointestinal disorders, and the long list of
devastating autoimmune diseases (such as Crohn’s disease, type I diabetes,
eczema, Grave’s, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, MS, psoriasis, rheumatoid
arthritis, and ulcerative colitis).
The Threat to our Microbiome
By changing our diets, we can change our microbiome. This is
important because our Western lifestyle is seriously threatening the number,
type, and diversity of microbes in our body. Considering that our microbes
are a key link in everything from our digestion, to our metabolism, to our
immune system, to our central nervous system . . . threats to the health of
our microbiome affects every part of our biology. Obviously, we can’t afford to stand idly by
while it is under threat.
Many of the types of useful microbes that used to inhabit
the bodies of our ancestors no longer inhabit our bodies. In other words, we
are losing part of a precious heritage handed down to us from generations
of those who have gone before us. What will be the long-term consequence of
such a loss? We are becoming aware of the unintended consequences of losing
whole populations of creatures and plant life out in the wild, but what about
the unintended consequences of losing whole populations inside our bodies? What
will the consequences be for our children who will inherit our diminished
microbiome? And what about their children?
The symbiotic relationship we have developed with these
creatures has existed from the beginning of humankind. We are so dependent on
these little bugs that our bodies can no longer perform many of the functions
we have delegated to them. These microbes are as important to our body as our
liver, pancreas, thyroid, and other organs. In fact, some researchers are calling the microbiome the “forgotten organ.”
In other words, it is not optional appendage that we can neglect without
consequence.
As our microbiome is threatened, chaos ensues in our body.
If this were irreversible, we’d all be in deep trouble! Fortunately, just as
diet and lifestyle can put these microbes at risk, so diet and lifestyle can
re-establish their health and vitality.
In one study, 20 rural South Africans were put on a
high-fat, high-meat diet (including hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries). At the same time, 20 African-Americans on put
on a high fiber African diet with lots of corn porridge, beans, and fruit.
According to the research— Changes occurred quickly. Inflammation of the colon,
which increases the risk of cancer, decreased in the African-Americans on the
African diet; and it increased in the Africans on the American diet. Production
of the fermentation by-product butyrate, thought to prevent colon cancer,
increased in those eating African fare, and declined in those eating
American-style.
So while the South Africans on a fiber-poor, meat- and
fat-fed microbiome, experienced threats to their microbiomes, the African
Americans on a healthy fiber rich diet actually began to reverse the decades of
dysbiosis in their bodies! This is the
good news! Now, the bad news.
When Temporary Losses May Become Permanent
The obvious bad news is that we see little evidence of
widespread change to rescue the imperiled state of our microbiome. In fact, what
we see is continuing widespread popularity of Atkins, Paleo, Ketogenic, and
other low-carb fads that promote diets that are the exact opposite of
what will nurture a healthy microbiome.
When we pass through the birth canal, we are slathered in
our mother’s microbes, a kind of starter culture for our own community. In this
case, though, pups born to mice on American-type diets—no fiber, lots of sugar—failed
to acquire the full endowment of their mothers’ microbes. Entire groups of
bacteria were lost during transmission. When . . . these second-generation mice
[were put] on a fiber-rich diet, their microbes failed to recover. The mice
couldn’t regrow what they’d never inherited. And when these second-generation
animals went on a fiber-less diet in turn, their offspring inherited even fewer
microbes. The microbial die-outs compounded across generations.
. . . what this experiment suggests is that by failing to
adequately nourish key microbes, the Western diet may also be starving them out
of existence.
It is one thing to know that we in the Western world are
losing the microbial heritage we received from our ancestors, it is another to
realize that we may be giving our
children a permanently diminished heritage. If this continues, the
children of this generation may never be able to recover the microbiome that
protected their ancestors against many of the destructive, life-threatening
diseases we are experiencing today. The types of diseases linked to an
unhealthy microbiome are, in many cases, devastating diseases that can begin in
childhood and cause confusion and chaos throughout a person’s life.
There are many threats to our microbiome, including how we
were born, what we were fed as infants, over-sanitization of our bodies and
living environments, and widespread use of drugs and chemicals (especially
antibiotics). Some of these factors we
can’t change now, but others we can do something about it.
For Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), this topic is especially compelling. The diet
needed for a healthy microbiome is the same whole food, plant-based diet that the
Jesus Christ revealed to Joseph Smith in 1833, long before the scientific world knew
anything about the human microbiome! The health code in the "Word of Wisdom" found in Doctrine and Covenants section 89 (D&C 89) teaches to eat plant foods in times of their season. Jesus Christ teaches that He ordained wholesome (“whole”) plant foods for our “constitution, nature, and use,” with grains ordained as “the staff of life”. Meat is ordained to be used “sparingly” and preferable only in times of need. This is the very definition of a whole food, plant-based high fiber diet that can help our healthy bacteria to thrive. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng
Our Low Fiber Diet Can’t Support a Healthy Microbiome
The healthy gut bacteria in our bodies thrive only on
dietary fiber, and dietary fiber is only found in whole plant foods. It
is completely absent from animal foods and is the first thing that is tossed
out when foods are refined. So the typical Western diet, high in animal foods
and processed foods, is the very definition of a low fiber diet.
The two most dramatic changes to our diets in the last 200
years is the transition from whole foods to processed foods and from plant
foods to animal foods. Why this change? Basically, we humans love rich foods
that are easily digestible. This has led to a dramatic decrease in the amount
of fiber we consume.
Since 1970, our overall consumption of grain has risen, but
the vast majority is refined grains. Likewise, our consumption of fruits
and vegetables has risen somewhat, but most of it is processed, and we
are still getting far less than the already relatively low target set by the
U.S.D.A. What else has risen? Foods that are not healthful to our microbiome
and harmful to human health: added sugars, added fats, and animal foods of all
kinds (meat, dairy, and eggs).
Our distant ancestors likely consumed between 100–200 grams
of fiber a day. That may well be the optimal nourishment for a
healthy microbiome, yet compare that with the average American diet of a paltry
16 grams a day. No wonder we have seen skyrocketing rates of
disease related to a diminished microbiome!
How many people do you know are concerned enough about their
microbiome to make sure they get enough fiber in the foods they eat every day?
If the people you know resemble the average person in America, they are paying
relatively little attention to the amount of fiber in their diet and yet quite
a lot of attention to the amount of protein. Everyone in America, it seems, is
concerned about “getting enough protein”! The irony is that nearly everyone
(this include vegetarians and vegans) are getting more protein than
their bodies can actually use. At the same time, nearly everyone (except
vegans) are consuming far less fiber than even the inadequate amounts
recommended by the USDA. (For details, see this video
on protein and fiber.)
The Lord teaches in the Word of Wisdom that this eating and health code
is “the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the
last days” (D&C 89:2) and that it was given in “consequence of evils and
designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last
days”. Those who keep these saying are promised they’ll run
and not be weary, find hidden treasures, and “the destroying angel shall pass
by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them” (D&C 89:21).
If we take the Lord at His word and fully embrace His wisdom
we will receive these promised blessings. Let us save our microbial heritage
and teach our children to do the same. Let us safeguard our health and the
health of our children that we may accomplish the mighty work we are called to
perform in these the last days!
Links for lists of high fiber foods and “Getting
Started on a Whole Food, Plant-based Word of Wisdom Diet.”Eating whole foods is the least expensive way to eat! It makes sense that the Lord’s diet is affordable for His children. He designed a diet that even the poorest among us can use! Grains are the cheapest source of calories on the planet! Starchy vegetables, like potatoes and beans are a great source of nutrition and calories at a very low cost. Buy fruits and vegetables in their season at the store, and they’ll be at their lowest price (they do not need to be organic to be good) - - but better yet, grow them yourself.
Adapted from "Discovering the Word of Wisdom: Let's Save Our Microbial Heritage" By Jane Birch February 8, 2016, Meridian Magazine
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