The Generational Breakdown of Our Gut Health ~ Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this blog post series, Click HERE!

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS…

Let’s review where it ALL begins…

The fact is, we received the blueprint for our microbiome from our mothers. There is significant research showing that the mode of delivery makes a big impact on the state of a child’s gut flora. (5) AND there is growing research that we even get inoculated to bacteria while IN our mother’s womb from the placenta. (6).

If the child is born vaginally, the mother’s birth canal contains microbes from her intestinal flora. By swallowing amniotic fluid in the birth canal, the baby get’s an inoculation of gut bacteria. (5)

Upon delivery, the newborn’s gut bacteria will begin to form through a variety of factors ranging from the mode of birth and internal factors, as well as external factors. This includes interactions with doctors and the environment. (5) If not born vaginally, the newborn does not get that first important inoculation of gut flora from the mother’s birth canal. Although vaginal birth is optimal it is not always possible. (7)

Clearly, nature designed us to get a large inoculation of beneficial gut bacteria from our mother, specifically at birth. (1) Therefor the state of our mother’s gut flora directly effects our gut bacteria.

What even more astounding is that science is now showing we ALSO get our Mitochondrial DNA from our mothers. The Mitochondria are one of the most powerful indicators of our health. They are the powerhouse for each and every cell in our body.

If our Mitochondria are sick, we’re sick. They produce the ATP energy that feeds our cells. The power of these small organelles in every cell is astonishing. Their ability to manipulate DNA expression and cell health is second to none. Not to mention that the richest concentration of Mitochondria lies in your head. That’s right, your brain contains the greatest abundance of these life giving powerhouses.

The Generational Breakdown

The problem is, most of our mother’s and grandmothers aren’t very healthy. Some of the increasing health issues we are seeing in our generation that are autism (at varying levels), ADHD, skin issues such as eczema, food allergies and intolerances and so on. More and more research is showing that many of these health issues are directly affected by the condition of an individuals gut flora. (1)

Take my family history, for instance. My mom passed away at age 51 from aggressive breast cancer that ravaged her body. This non-genetic triple-negative breast cancer invaded her body very quickly and she died within 2 1/2 years of diagnosis. Her mother, my grandmother, passed away at age 37 from a sudden fatal stroke caused by a brain aneurysm.

These ‘premature’ deaths of both my mother and grandmother have caused me to look further into research. It is clear from their diet and lifestyle and previous health problems that they had poor gut health and very weak Mitochondrial health.

Where did this all begin? What caused the breakdown of our mothers and grandmother’s health?

Most all of this began back in the 50 and 60s after WWII ended. The food industry became more commercial as industrialized factory farming emerged. Prepackaged processed foods, frozen dinners and manufactured products replaced local farms, home grown vegetable gardens and the need for fermentation. After the war, the influx of career women welcomed this change with open arms as they no longer had the time to homestead and prepare healthy meals from scratch. Breastfeeding also went out style at this time as new, commercial infant formulas came out on the market.

In a nutshell, it’s safe to say that Industrialized Food dramatically changed the face of the food industry, bringing with it many unfortunate side affects. It paved the way for more toxins and chemicals to be released into the environment.

At the same time, there was a major influx in of the use antibiotics. For the first time ever in the history of mankind, antibiotics and prescription drugs were passed out like candy for any and every health malady that existed. The birth control pill ALSO came on the scene at this time and was prescribed to many young women who weren’t ready to start their families.

The loss of healthy, nutrient dense, home-grown food, lack of fermented foods, loss of breastfeeding and the influx in antibiotics and birth control pills that annihilated beneficial gut flora all have played a major role in wiping out many of the good healthy strains of beneficial bacteria in our mother and grandmother’s guts, opening up the door for pathogens to rule.

And that’s why YOUR microbiome is affected. If you mother is/was unhealthy and struggled with diseases and health complications, it’s a clear sign that they have unhealthy, dis-regulated gut flora and weak mitochondria.

As each generation passes, the gut and mitochondrial health of the children have become weaker and weaker, giving birth to the all too familiar health complications (such as autism, autoimmune conditions and so on) that were foreign to our great-grandparents era.

This is all incredible information that may come as a bit of a shock to you. I know it did for me. In fact, if you have a heritage like myself, you might be asking: “What can I do it my mom isn’t/wasn’t very healthy?”