Bacteria have had roughly 3.5 billion years to get their house in order. They have powered through with astonishing success by working out how to inhabit practically everywhere on earth, including their very own personalised designer Birkin bags, which carry them around, otherwise known as humans.
According to the American Stroke Association, a recent Japanese study found that one of our tiny friends called Streptococcus anginosus (who call the mouth and gut their home) is being linked to how badly you could be affected by a stroke.
If large amounts of this fellow are rocking around your saliva, you have a 20% higher chance of suffering a stroke and, unfortunately, are at a higher risk of dying from one, too.
The trillions of bacteria that make up the microbiome in our mouths, stomachs, intestines, lungs and skin are normally very helpful fellows. They go about their business by producing nutrients which help us digest food, maintain healthy organs and optimise brain health.
Interestingly, the study’s participants who had large amounts of the gut bacteria, Anaerostipes hadrus and Bacteroides plebeius (which are hailed for their advantageous properties) showed an encouraging 14-18% drop in their risk of becoming ill or dying from clots and bleeds.
Streptococcus anginosus and Streptococcus mutans are two of the bacteria that cause our teeth to rot. They feed off sugar with the same enthusiasm as a frenzied piranha attack.
So, the thinking is that if you want to reduce your risk of having a stroke, cut out the white stuff and get jiggy with your toothbrush.
Ignore your microscopic friends at your peril, as just as with dogs, when our microbiome is fed the wrong foods, it tends to become unhinged, and illness ensues.
To strengthen your microbiome and harness the positive effects of your bacterial health army, try eating a diet rich in probiotics like Greek yoghurt, plain Kefir, sauerkraut cabbage, sour cream, sourdough bread, miso soup, pickles and cottage cheese.
Probiotics help repopulate your mouth and gut with good bacteria. To maintain the good bacteria once you have them, try eating natural whole foods and keeping anything with sugar (including brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, fruit juice concentrates, high-fructose corn syrup or malt sugar) or highly processed refined foods to a minimum.
