WEBVTT - Friendly Bacteria: Probiotics and Your Microbiome - Lab 093 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:10.119 I'm TT and I'm Zakiah, and this is Dope Labs. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.600 Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.959 science with pop culture and a healthy dose of friendship. 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:24.640 I saw this TikTok where people were taking a shot 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:28.639 of apple cider vinegar every morning to keep their stomach 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:29.480 on flat flat. 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:31.240 Ooh, that's a lot of ascid. 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.760 I am not that kind of scientist, so I have 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:38.400 no idea what that's supposed to do. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.280 I just feel like there are so many wellness trends 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.320 like that, and they're just things that make you wonder 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:46.640 like is this legit or just social media science. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:47.800 One of the. 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.400 Biggest ones like that is probiotics. 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:51.480 Yo. 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.640 Probiotics have been all over my timeline every day. It 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.000 feels like I'm getting hit with ads this probiotic and that, 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:04.720 probiotic drinks, gummies, face cream, even pillows, probiotic pillows. 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.280 That's crazy, but I think I think a lot of 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.039 times the question is like what are these probiotics supposed 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.800 to actually do? Like are we really helping our bodies 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:14.839 or are we just buy an expensive yogurt. 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.000 That's why we're in the lab today to figure out 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:21.640 what probiotics are how prebiotics fit in and why we're 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.000 hearing about bacteria like they're the new wellness MVPs. 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:26.560 Let's get into the recitation. 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:31.280 Okay, here's what we know. 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:36.119 There is bacteria living all over us, inside and out. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.240 That's what I learned from my friends and many. That's right, 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.160 because I didn't believe it. Yeah, it's your microbiome. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.800 And it's not just bacteria. There's fun guy to And 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:51.120 those bacteria aren't random. They have evolved alongside us humans, 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.440 you know, doing important jobs, like they help us digest 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.160 food in the gut. They're trading our immune systems, protecting 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:56.600 our skin. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:58.680 So that's the microbiome. 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.160 But where I get stuck is all this talk about 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.400 probiotics and prebiotics. I see those words everywhere, but I'm like, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.000 what's the difference. I know pro and pre are different prefixes, 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.080 but what's the difference and how do. 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:15.239 They actually work? 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.160 Listen, even as someone who knows the science, I still 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.519 have questions because here's the thing. If I'm saying, Okay, 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.840 I know our bodies already have established microbial communities, so 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:29.440 and those organisms are surprisingly consistent across different people, you know, 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.880 So that means these systems are resilient. So when I 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.680 see a supplement this li we have billions of colony 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.480 forming units, you know, means that in that little pield, 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.160 they're saying, all these bacteria are capable of being alive 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:49.000 and making a little colony of cells. I'm wondering, by 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.000 taking probotics, are you actually able to change that resilient 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.639 community that already exists or are we just adding more 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:59.320 stuff that has no real impact. Okay, that's a deep cut. Okay, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.200 for me, it's even more straightforward. 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:05.720 I just want to know our probiotics and probiotics something 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:06.919 I need to be taking. 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:08.200 Is it gonna help me? 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:10.720 I want to know how do they work in different 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.839 parts of your body, your gut, your skin, your hair? 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.359 And is it enough to eat some yogurt? Should I 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.000 be putting yogurt in my hair? I did that before 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.280 one time. Yeah, you know, I wouldn't recommend it. 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:24.040 We don't want to go back to banana brea head. Okay, right, Oh, go. 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.600 Back and listen to that episode. It was poor advice 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.280 to my friend that I gave her. But do I 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.959 need to put yogurt everywhere? Or can I just take 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.320 a pill? Well, I think tt that's exactly what we 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.360 need to dig into. With doctor Raj, a gastro entrologist 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.320 an expert in science behind probiotics, she'll help us figure 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:40.800 out what's. 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:42.440 Legit and what's just marketing. 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:44.360 Perfect, let's jump into the dissection. 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:53.880 I'm doctor Roshni Raj. I'm co founder of Yaday and Tula. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.880 I'm an Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.560 and I can be reached my website, which is gut 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:06.040 Renovation dot net or on Instagram, Dr Roschi Raj. 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.600 So we're talking about probiotics, and our first question, doctor Raj, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.080 is like, is this new? Because for a long time, 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.200 bacteria we're seen as the bad guys. You know, we 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.800 think back to the gold yellow dial soap. It was 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.440 like sanitize everything, bleach this, wash your hands with antibacterial soap. 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.400 We know that that's kind of gone away, but we're 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.200 also seeing this shift where people are talking about probiotics 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.200 in the gut and on the skin, and even when 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.680 we think about fermented foods like kombucha. Is that girl? 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.560 So it feels like bacteria is having a rebrand. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:38.480 Yeah. 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.600 No, I think first of all, I just want to say, 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.200 I'm so excited to be speaking with you both, and 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.320 especially at this moment in time, to be speaking to 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.760 women in science. And as we all know, science is 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.000 a little bit under or a lot under assault right now, 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.280 so it's really important the work that you're doing, and 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.520 I'm really I'm really honored to be part of your 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.520 program today. But talking about bacteria, it is a fascinating story. 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:04.520 And if you go back to kind of the history 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.359 exactly as you were saying ze Key about, but we 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.600 used to think all bacteria were bad, and in fact, 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:14.440 the first antibiotics, which was penicillin, was really discovered I 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.800 believe around the time of World War Two and the 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.240 battlefield and all these wounds and getting infected, and it 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:24.320 was such a life saving thing to discover antibiotics that 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.840 can kill bacteria and cure infection. And so that kind 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.680 of idea of bacteria is being bad and causing illness 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:34.520 really has remained in medicine up until and now I'm 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.119 dating myself, but during my gasterentrology fellowship, so we're talking 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:42.400 about two thousand and one, two thousand and two, that's 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.120 when I first learned about this term probiotics, the fact 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.560 that actually there's some bacteria that are not only not 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.760 bad for you, but actually good for you. They can 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.080 actually cause some real benefits in your gut. And back then, 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.160 all the discussion about probiotics was really just about digestive 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.679 health and how it can keep your DIGESTIONI in balance 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.400 and keep all the good bacteria in balance. But now 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.080 when we shift over twenty years, we realize that your 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:11.320 gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.040 effects throughout your body, not just your gut, but your 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.320 mental health, your metabolism, your immunity, your risk of cancer, 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.160 heart disease, almost any disease under the sun. This is 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.920 what motivated me to write my book Gut Renovation a 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:25.960 couple of years ago, which is all about how your 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.919 microbiome can really impact your overall health. So, yes, bacteria 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.600 is definitely having a moment, and I'm very excited about 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.640 that because the research really does show that having a 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.840 healthy microbiome and that's the community of bacteria in your 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.400 gut really can have so many far reaching effects throughout 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:42.960 your body. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.360 Yes, it feels like bacteria has the right PR team 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:50.040 behind them. You hear the word bacteria and it doesn't 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:51.880 make you like. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:53.160 Screen, you know what I mean. 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.600 And there has been a shift because when I started 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.400 co founded Tula, which is our probiotic skincare brand, we 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:05.040 started that in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, early fifteen, and 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.400 at that time, the thought of putting bacterial extracts on 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.800 the skin there definitely was still an ick factor and 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.720 why would we be doing that? Isn't that kind of gross? 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.200 There was a lot of education involved in really educating 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.880 the customer about what all the benefits are of doing that. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:26.200 And now there's a skin microbiome conference every other week practically, 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:31.200 Like it's just so shifted. The information has exploded, consumer scientists, 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:35.360 everyone's really embracing this idea of your natural microbiome and 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.920 why it's so important to keep it balanced and intact. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.920 I really want to get people to understand the differences 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:48.200 between good bacteria and bad bacteria. So probiotics and the 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.000 bad stuff that makes you sick. Yeah, how are they 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:52.880 different from one another? 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.440 Yeah? So we know that in our digestive tract and 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.000 mostly I'm talking about your coal and your large intestine. 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.440 That's where we have the hosts. The majority of the 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.440 bacteria in our gut. We do have a community of 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:09.400 many good, beneficial strains of bacteria that can do many 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.160 different things. They can help strengthen the lining of your gut. 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:16.440 They can produce metabolites that affect your immune cells, they 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.600 can produce neurotransmitters that affect your mood, all sorts of things. 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.280 But we also do have some communities of bacteria that 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.160 are not so great for you, especially if they become overpopulated. 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.080 So if you think about sort of a garden and 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.720 there's beautiful flowers, there's some regular plants, and there are 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.319 some weeds, and you know they're always going to be 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.160 some weeds, but you want to just keep them under 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.640 control so they're not sucking up all the fuel that 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.720 should be going to the good stuff and basically destroying 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.959 all your good bacteria. And going along with this kind 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:54.280 of flower garden metaphor is the concept of prebiotics. So prebiotics, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.160 you can think of that as the fertilizer for your good, 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:01.120 beautiful flowers. So prebiotics usually are fiber based, and these 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.920 are things that feed the growth of beneficial bacteria, and 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.520 that's why we think fiber is such a key crucial 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.400 component of our diet, because that's really how you can 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:13.400 feed the growth of your good bacteria, make sure they're 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.960 in abundance so that the bad bacteria doesn't have a 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:19.199 chance to overgrow. One example that we see a lot 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.559 in medicine of a bad bacteria is something called C. 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.160 Deficile or Cloustridium deficile. This is a bacteria that we 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.160 all have a little bit of, usually just walking around, 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.199 but it's small, it's a low enough amount it doesn't 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:35.560 cause problems. But sometimes when you take antibiotics, say you 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.319 have an ear infection or a respiratory infection, you take antibiotics, 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.680 it does get rid of whatever causing the ear infection 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.760 or the respiratory infection, but it can also destroy some 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.160 of your good protective bacteria in your gut, and that 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:53.040 allows this bad bacteria Sea deficile to overgrow and it 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.240 can cause inflammation, severe diarrhea, It can be quite serious. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.000 So that's an example of when you throw things off balance, 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:16.600 bad bacteria have a better chance of growing and causing problems. 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:20.839 Okay, so we can think about probiotics as the good 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.680 bacteria we want, and prebiotics are there fertilizer, But what 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:27.520 about post biotics. It feels like we're just making up 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:28.280 worries at this point. 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.280 Yeah, great question. First everyone learned about probiotics, then they 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.920 have to learn about probiotics. Now we're throwing post biotics 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.120 in there. So post biotics are really the metabolites, the 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:45.000 actives that a probiotic bacteria can release, but it's not 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.560 the actual bacteria. So if you think of the bacteria 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.120 as almost like a sack holding some really important things 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.520 in there, the sack burst releases all that good stuff. 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.160 The good stuff is the post biotics, but the bacteria 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.000 itself is gone, it's dead, it's no longer there, but 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.760 it's releasing those active metabolites which can remain active even 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:06.960 though the bacteria has died. So, for example, with tula, 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:08.760 what were you putting on your skin? Those are not 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.960 live bacteria. Those are probiotic extracts or post biotics. There's 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:16.480 another term called symbiotic, which is a combination of a 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:20.360 prebiotic and a probiotic. So sometimes now if you take supplements, 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.120 maybe you used to take just a probiotic, Now you 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.760 can often find a combination of pre and pro So 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.000 these are all different, you know, different methods of really 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:30.920 boosting the health of your microbiome. 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:40.040 Okay, so prebiotic, probiotic, post biotic. Prebiotic plus probiotic equals symbiotic. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:41.880 Did I get everything? 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.960 I know it feels like a lot you did. I 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.240 think when we break it down and think about that garden, 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.520 uh huh. Probiotic is the fertilizer in a probiotic is 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.040 the flower. The flower is that bacteria. Now, sometimes you 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:57.439 may just feel like, hey, I'm getting enough in my diet. 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.840 I don't need fertilizer. I just want the probiotic. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:00.480 Mm hmm. 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.720 Sometimes you may say, hey, I'm gonna take this probody, 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:05.160 but I know I'm not doing right. I need the 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.160 fertilizer too. So that's called a symbiotic. That's put planting 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.480 your flowers and adding fertilizer directly to the soil as 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.000 soon as you do it. The post biotic is like 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.280 if you said, Okay, I'm just gonna skip the flower 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.439 and the fertilizer, give me the extract. I'm gonna take 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.560 these flowers and steep them. I'll drink the tea, and 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.520 the post body is the tea. When you take those 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.480 flowers and you say, what was in those flowers. I'm 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.160 gonna extract that out. That's what the post biotic is, Okay, Lavender. 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.040 I don't want this to be a reach, but I 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.040 don't know, if you remember, I don't know if we're 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.600 gonna be aging ourselves when like everything in the haircare 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:43.800 industry was like ion technology. Oh yeah, and I always 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.079 turn to t TEA for help with anything like this. 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:51.080 Ions are everywhere like it was. It just sounds good, 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:51.400 you know. 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.199 It sounds scientific, but most people had no idea what 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.440 that meant. Is there a solid science that tells us 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:02.640 if we understand that we have acrobiome that's established, does 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.040 the science back this up? Aside from what we know 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.520 can sometimes happen with placebo effect, do we see that 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.280 adding probiotics and post biotics can shift the composition or 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.400 regulate dys biosis so when things are out of proportion 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.280 in the gut? Is there a strong case for that? 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.080 Yeah, it's a great question, and I think first we 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.040 have to go back to is there science supporting just 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.680 the fact that the microbiome itself does have importance and 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.600 effects throughout our body? And that the answer is definitely yes. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.960 So you know, there's something called the Human Microbiome Project 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.360 where scientists have really gone and mapped out all the 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.679 different strains or possible strains in the human microbiome and 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:44.520 what genes you know, confer different strains and what they 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.360 all do. So we know the microbiome exists and it 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.720 actually has a real purpose. But the question that you raise, 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.240 which is an interesting one, is intervention. So do interventions 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.720 like adding probiotics or adding probiotics make a difference? And 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.600 there it is still an early feel, I would say, 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.160 in certain in terms of research, but yes, there are 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:08.839 compelling studies looking at everything from adding probiotics to an 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:14.040 antidepression regimen, to adding probiotics to something for immunity, and 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.400 does that mean children will get less colds in a 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.080 given year? And there is compelling evidence to say, yes, 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.160 it does actually work. Do we know exactly what doses, 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.960 what strains should be for which people. I don't think 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.040 we're there quite yet, but it's definitely an active area 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:30.920 of research and I think we're going to get those 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:35.120 answers relatively soon. But there's just so many fascinating studies 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.120 out there looking at this. I mean, they have done 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.960 studies looking at people with depression and people without depression, 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.160 and then they examine their stool and they examine their 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.520 micromiome and they find real stark differences between the two. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.440 And the question is, if you can supplement the person 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.760 with depression with the kind of non depressed type of bacteria, 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:54.920 is that going to help them? And they've shown some 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:57.640 small studies where it does help, but we need larger 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.680 amounts of evidence to really prove that. There are other 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.200 things looking at sleep in the microbiome, There's one that 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.720 I found really interesting looking at medical students who are 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.720 notoriously sleep deprived and specifically during a night shift, like 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:11.720 I think it was a three week night shift. They 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:15.160 looked at their microbiome kind of profile before they started 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.440 the night shift and after the three weeks, and they 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.000 saw significant changes. So that just being sleep deprived, and 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.320 they may have also eaten different things because they were 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.720 sleep deprived, but there were changes in their microbiome. There's 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:30.320 certain bacteria that they found to be more pro insomnia 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.120 or more pro good sleep. So there are just so 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:36.200 many connections that are being made. It's still in early field. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.840 We still have a lot to learn, but there's definitely 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:39.440 something there. 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.800 Now I'm thinking of all of my ailments. 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.800 There's a connection, and that's partly why I love the 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:52.000 concept of prebiotics and fiber, because we don't know exactly 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.320 what strain we should be taking for what. With prebiotics, 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.920 you're sort of getting that broad benefit because you're feeding 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.440 all of your good bacteria. You know, it's a way 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.520 to sort of head your bets a little bit, like 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:04.880 I'm not sure which bacteria should be feeding more, but 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.200 if I'm taking a ton of fiber, all of my 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.600 good bacteria are going to be plentiful and abundant. 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:11.520 Like miracle grow. 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:12.920 Yeah, exactly. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.920 More on the flower metaphor, yes, Yes. 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.640 In the research for this episode and just talking to 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.800 my friend because she's very smart and knows these things. Yeah, 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:27.479 I learned that we talk a lot about the gut microbiome, 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.720 but I also learned that your skin has microbiomes, there's 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.240 vaginal microbiomes, there's even. 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.840 Mouth and scalp microbiome. 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.440 Can you help us understand how these ecosystems differ across 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:42.800 the body and why they matter totally? 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.240 Well, I think now we're realizing that this concept of 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.440 microbiome is important in many different parts of our body. 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.760 Like you said, and I think any woman who's ever 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.320 had a used infection in their life understands the importance 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.120 of a vaginal microbiome, right. So we know that particularly 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.280 if you take antibiotics or if something even up from 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.439 that throws off the ecosystem in the vaginal microbiome, you 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:08.640 can develop an overgrowth of yeast or potentially other infections. 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.600 So we know that there's a very delicate balance in 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.520 the vaginal area in terms of pH which is governed 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.520 by bacteria in many cases, and just the balance there, 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:21.639 so that's important. Then the oral microbiome is really fascinating 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.080 because now there are many studies showing that your oral 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.840 health really can impact again your overall health. Things like 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.520 heart disease, for example, is a big one because we 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.399 think that if you have more sort of plaque or 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.119 infection in the oral area, it can cause overall body inflammation. 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.560 And we know that inflammation is kind of the root 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.160 of all evils when it comes to most diseases. So, yes, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.680 the oral microbiome is very important to maintain, and skin 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.040 microbiome for sure, and that's partly what TULA is all about. 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:53.119 But the fact that we have a delicate balance of 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.800 microbiome on our skin of good bacteria, and that really 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.680 the good bacteria on your skin can really help strengthen 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.000 your skin's natural defense barrier. And what that does is 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.679 help you hold onto moisture. It can help decrease skin inflammation. 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.320 And we know inflammation on the skin is what causes 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:12.240 collagen breakdown a last and breakdown that leads to wrinkle 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.800 formation as well as dryness, redness, irritation, all those things. 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.600 So that's how the skin microbiome can be very important, 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.400 and other things like pollution can disrupt it. Different products 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.720 can disrupt it as well. And scalp microbiome is also 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.639 particularly in people who have conditions like dandruff. For example. 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:33.480 There are now thoughts that the scalp microbiome plays a 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:35.720 role there as well and may allow for a certain 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.280 overgrowth of certain bacteria that can lead to more scalp 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:40.439 issues like dandruff. 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:41.880 It's so interesting even an. 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.400 Under our microbiome. I was actually interested in looking at 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.760 that at one point. Deodorant and the microbiome and what 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:50.800 causes odor, all of those things have to do with 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.760 bacteria to a large extent, So kind of cracking the 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.040 code on that I think would be really interesting as well. 0:18:56.440 --> 0:19:00.520 We're understanding that we have this established micro biome and 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.280 it's not static, but the microbiome that are on your 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.280 feet or on your hands look different over time. We 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:09.960 actually have a friend from grad school, Keisha, Our friend 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.359 Keisha TT did a study of the microbiome on the 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.560 hands and feet and she was really a fungal microbiologist 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.760 and so she showed like, if you ever had athletes foot, 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.200 there's a microbiome's signature. If you've used like tough acting 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.800 to enacting or whatever the stuff for athletes foot, you 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.919 don't re establish those fun guy like you see a 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.080 different composition years later just because of that disruption to 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:34.000 your microbiome. 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.360 Okay, that's amazing. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.639 Yeah, so that's cool. So that kind of shows that 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.520 you can make changes that can be super lasting. So 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:44.720 that also helps us understand why it's so important to 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.160 repopulate some of those key players when you lose them. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:53.480 But yeah, when we introduce those players, like are we changing? 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.080 I guess I want to understand, like are we changing 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.320 the neighborhood? Like are we bringing in new people? Is 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.080 it like back to your gentrification or are we like 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.159 you know, like are we kicking out the other people 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:07.120 and bringing other folks in. Or are we just like 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.760 supplementing what's already there that don't normally exist. 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:12.160 No great question, And I would say for the vast 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.840 majority of probiotics that you might buy off the shelf 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.480 are strains you already have that humans already contain, but 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.760 in higher doses to really give your natural ones a boost. 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.320 There are a few even kind of genetically modified probiotics 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.720 that have been kind of boosted to give some extra 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.959 benefit of some kind. But for the vast majority, it's 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.439 strains we already have. And these are certain families that 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.800 are common, like Bifittobacter or Lactobacillus or some so these 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:43.240 are things that we already naturally produce, but something may 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:46.800 have caused us to not produce enough, whether it was antibatics. 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:48.760 I mean, it's interesting what you said about the long 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.440 lasting effect of the fungal antifungals. There are studies looking 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.000 at children who get antibotics in childhood, for let's say, 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:59.840 repeated ear infections twenty thirty years later have a higher 0:20:59.880 --> 0:21:03.520 incidents of things like Crohn's disease or other autoimmune diseases, 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:07.240 so they can really have long lasting effects these disruptions 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.240 of the microbiome, which is why it is so important 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.080 to do everything you can to take care of your gut. 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.080 I mean, that's what prompted me to start ya day, 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:16.240 is this idea of what's a simple thing that we 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.359 can all be doing to really optimize our gut microbiome, 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.160