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How Does Bacteria Affect The Intestine? - Dr. Rakel (VIDEO)

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More Videos from Dr. David Rakel 17 videos in this series

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Dr. Rakel explains bacteria's effect on the intestine.

Dr. Rakel:
In our bodies we have more foreign DNA than our own DNA. We are more prokaryotic than eukaryotic. That means I have more cells that are not of my own DNA in my body than of my own DNA. So if you think about it we are one large symbiotic organism where we are working in synergy with other living beings, mainly these bacteria in our large colon and our bowel.

So that interaction helps us out so the bacteria helps us digest nutrients, it helps us absorb nutrients and we are actually seeing that the types of bacteria change with different processes. So what we are learning is, let’s take obesity for example. We don’t know, we can’t say that a certain bacteria causes obesity, that’s way over simplified, but we do know that when we lose weight we change the ecosystem in our bowels to change the bacteria.

And if you think about it, bacteria who want us to absorb nutrients, they want us to have as much energy as possible when I gain a lot of weight or I eat a lot of saturated fat, that then actually changes the eco system within my bowel that causes me to have more bacteria that are really good at helping me absorb nutrients or calories.

When I lose weight or when I start to exercise more, I start to eat more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fat, I actually change the eco system in my bowel that helps me maintain that weight but it takes time. It takes six to eight months for us to change that eco system so persistence and lifestyle changes are the key there. And if we choose to exercise, we choose to eat better, we are going to change that eco system.

Our intention can change our body’s reactions. So we have the power in that. It’s not going to happen by taking a probiotic. Sometimes that’s very helpful but our choice can change that eco system.

About Dr. Rakel, M.D.:

