Research & Initiatives.
Dr Butt's affiliation with the university sector has given him access to both cutting-edge research and the emerging leaders in the field.
‘It’s Your Bacteria’s Genes That Matter.’
The microbiome is the community of trillions of bacteria that live in your digestive tract and elsewhere throughout your body. Collectively they weigh about 1.5-2kg, which is the same weight as our brain!
In terms of numbers of bacteria in the gut microbiome — they out number our human cells by 9 to 1. Each of us is literally more bacteria than human, so we might look like a human but we are really just ‘bacteria in a suit’!! Not only do our bacteria outnumber our cells but their genes outnumber our genes by 150 to 1. So, in many ways their genes have more influence over our day-to-day life than our own genes do!
Scientists are now, more often, referring to the gut microbiome as being an organ in its own right, as it is vital for breaking down food and toxins, making neurotransmitters, making and activating vitamins and training our immune systems. Over the past decade research has suggested the gut microbiome might be as complex and influential as our genes when it comes to our health and happiness.
When our microbiome ("who’s who in the zoo in our poo?") is balanced, we have a system that keeps our body healthy, promoting good digestion, clear thinking, balanced mood, healthy immune system and glowing overall health. When our microbiome goes out of balance we risk such symptoms as weight gain, brain fog, depression, anxiety, joint pains, bad skin and poor sleep quality. There is now emerging evidence that the gut microbial ecosystem plays a role in our long-term memory via the gut-brain interaction and could be influential in causing cancer.†
Epigenetic effects of gut bacteria.
We know that when our microbiome changes, its genes change too. We literally could wake up with one set of microbial genes one day and then a whole other set of microbial genes the next. Take, for example, if you have had food poisoning and diarrhoea, or have taken antibiotics. These events cause massive changes to the gut microbiome, often detrimental and possibly permanent!
So, what changes the population of your microbial ecosystem? A number of factors, including environment, exercise, sleep, and stress. But, the most important factor is diet. How we eat and what we drink determines which microbes live happily within our gut and which die off and disappear.
There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to the microbial ecosystem. We could be a vegetarian who eats all those grains and legumes that the Caveman/Paleo diet enthusiasts demonise, and be extremely healthy. We could also eat a diet full of whole, fresh foods with moderate amounts of chicken and fish and small amounts of beef or lamb, and also be extremely healthy.
Conversely, we could be eating a very healthy diet but, if the gut microbial ecosystem is unhealthy, then we will not be healthy. It will be nearly impossible to restore the gut to good health until we know what needs correcting.
The key to good health is to keep supporting our little friends inside, our gut microbial ecosystem (more widely referred to as the microbiome), whilst understanding the interaction of our genes and ‘their’ genes, and our gut-brain interaction.
One of the most exciting developments is the huge number of research studies showing that when we rebalance our gut microbiome, we can boost our metabolism, shed fat and have a clearer head.
It’s a long, expensive process to test the level of each bacterial strain within the gut microbiome, so scientists have developed diagnostic tests to measure the proportions of aerobes and anaerobes (two significant bacterial groups) to indicate gut health. There are also studies that show the normal range in healthy Australian individuals as a reference to what a healthy gut should contain.
If a person has too much or too little of certain types of bacteria in their gut they are likely to experience gastrointestinal issues.
A recent trend is to use faecal transplants as an easy way to repair an unhealthy gut, as you are inserting a ‘ready-made microbiome’ directly into your gut — whereas oral supplements might not be guaranteed to take up residence and usually contain only one, or a few, strains.
To make long-term changes to your gut flora, you need to grow the CORRECT microbiome FOR YOU, have the correct diet to maintain that microbiome and develop a lifestyle to make the changes to your gut microbiome permanent.
† Source: https://clinicalepigeneticsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13148-015-0144-7
The by-products of microbiota.
Because GHS deals with microbiota, we are interested in identifying the specific species and the by-products of these bacteria. When the viable counts change, the by-products also change and it is these by-products that cause the issues.
It is all about the by-products and what they produce.
Another critical factor when it comes to GHS is that we are not aiming to treat SYMPTOMS.
GHS is looking for the root cause of the symptoms.
For example, if a patient is low in iron, most Doctors will recommend an iron supplement.
GHS wants is to UNDERSTAND WHY there is an iron deficiency and what is happening in the ECOSYSTEM of the gut organism, e.g. acid colon… the acidity of the environment.
GHS aims to identify the science behind what causes the patient's symptoms and then treat the cause of the symptoms according to the science.