There has been a lot written about the importance of healthy gut bacteria. The right mix of foods will yield good stools, less body inflammation and a healthier overall person. The wrong mix of foods and too much sugar can cause the wrong mix of bacteria to proliferate, causing illness, inflammation and many of the diseases people regularly visit doctors for. Gut bacteria can be affected by antibiotics which unfortunately have been used to help animals grow and mature faster and get fatter. The side effect is that many of us are also larger and fatter as a result and it may cause imbalances in the gut resulting in CIBO and other stomach and gut complaints. Scientists are also beginning to understand that many illnesses in the gut can be reversed quickly, not by using antibiotics, but by giving someone a dosage of a healthy person's stool. This method of treatment, while controversial actually works well and does not have the side effect of using antibiotics or many conventional treatments. Find out what researchers are now learning about gut bacteria, and how it keeps us healthy below How Good Bacteria Can Help Keep A Gut Healthy New research reveals a cellular mechanism by which good bacteria can help the gut stay healthy. The study, which appears in the journal Immunity, shows that good bacteria, or the microbiota, interact with both the epithelial cells lining the gut and cells of the immune system to help balance the immune responses and protect the gut from unwanted inflammation. The study suggests that manipulating the microbiota to limit intestinal immune responses could have potential therapeutic benefits for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. “A significant body of work currently indicates that the microbiota shapes the immune system and helps it to do its job,” said corresponding author Dr. Gretchen Diehl, assistant professor of molecular virology and microbiology co-director of the Biology of Inflammation Center and a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. “Disease-causing microbes, such as Salmonella, evoke a strong inflammatory immune response that is directed at eliminating the microbe. But an inflammatory immune response, especially in the intestine, can be damaging to healthy tissue. Here we defined a role for the microbiota in modulating the immune response in a way that reduces inflammation and limits the damage it can do to the gut.” Read more