Part 1: Good Gut “Bugs”
How to promote a healthy gut microbiome—and help your body fight cancer.
There are trillions of reasons why we should carefully consider basic lifestyle choices like whether or not to exercise and what to eat, and they lie right in our gut: are the innumerable bacteria, or microbes, that make up the microbiome of our gastrointestinal tract.
Individually, each microbe’s ability to affect your health is minimal. But there is great strength in numbers. This mega-population of gut bacteria, represents approx eight kilograms of our body weight, it has significant effects – on health, disease, and even how well certain treatments work – that scientists are just beginning to understand.
One of those scientists, a pioneer in microbiome studies, is Johns Hopkins molecular biologist Karen Sfanos, Ph.D., whom I recently interviewed for the Prostate Cancer Foundation website. He is very interested in it The impact of the microbiome on prostate cancer growth, progression and resistance to hormone therapy in metastatic disease.
If you have prostate cancer, you already have a lot to think about. Is it weird to start thinking about your gut microbiome? very; Absolutely not, says Sfanos. “It’s 100 percent right to think about the microbiome. There’s good evidence that what you eat and whether you’re sedentary or not, especially as a cancer survivor, can profoundly affect outcomes in many different ways.”
Exercise isn’t just about muscles and cardio: our gut bacteria benefit from it too. When we exercise, our gut bacteria respond by doing more format. “Formate is a metabolite that helps with so many things,” says Sfanos: “new research in mice with melanoma showed that it even enhances the response to checkpoint inhibitor drugs. Mice that exercised produced more formic acid than sedentary mice.” Exercise stimulated gut microbes, which produced more formic acid, which boosted the immune system, which then responded better to immunotherapy drugs.
What can we do to improve our microbiome? We could try to load up on “good bacteria,” but even that is a moving target with high volatility. Bifidobacteriafound in many probiotics aimed at “gut health,” are probably helpful as is Akkermansia muciniphila. But there’s also an interplay going on all the time in the gut, a balance of bacterial heroes and villains. It may be just as important to have fewer strains of “bad” bacteria as it is to have more “good” ones.
It’s also good to have one bacteria melting pot – many different types of bacteria that mix in the gut. “With probiotics, you’re literally getting one or a few bacteria over-overabundance,” notes Sfanos, “assuming they’re still alive – because you don’t know what you’re really getting. Supplements are not regulated like drugs. Basically, you’re introducing an overabundance of something that might be potentially beneficial, but that’s not going to contribute to a healthy diet. It may be more important to have a variety of strains of gut bacteria than to have an overabundance of specific ‘good’ strains.”
Also, he adds, “everyone’s microbiome is different. Everyone’s makeup of good versus bad bacteria is different. What’s more important is what you can do as a human being to promote the good.”
So how can we, microbially speaking, light a candle instead of cursing the darkness? The goal, says Sfanos, is not so much getting the right bacteria but we encourage our bodies to they do their own supplyand there are two main ways to do this: exercise and diet. Yes, there are widely available prebiotics and probiotics. “But at the end of the day, you can’t supplement your way out of an unhealthy diet.”
Fiber: The number one thing that promotes good gut bugs is dietary fiber; 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams for men.” Here again, you can buy fiber supplements, but it’s best to get this fiber in your daily diet from green leafy vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, bananas, popcorn, and whole grains. To learn more about the diet to fight prostate cancer, click here. “Fiber reduces inflammation.” In many diseases, including prostate cancer, inflammation is known to make cancer more likely to grow—or, if cancer is present, make it more aggressive.
Fermented foods: Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi and yogurt contain “types of bacteria such as Lactobacillusthat do good things in your gut – like controlling pH levels, which are important for preventing the growth of pathogens (bacteria or viruses that cause disease) in the gut.” In fact, notes Maria Branyas Morera – a Spanish woman who was verified as the oldest living when she died in 2024 in aged 117 years – ate yogurt three times a day and was found to have high levels Bifidobacterium. But she also exercised regularly and ate a Mediterranean diet.
Fatty fish: Fatty fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and fish oil capsules derived from them, are good for the heart. They also seem to promote a good microbiome, Sfanos says. Among other benefits, they increase the gut’s production of known anti-inflammatory molecules, such as short-chain fatty acids. “Production of anti-inflammatory molecules helps prevent systemic inflammation, a condition associated not only with cancer development, but also with cancer progression and worse outcomes.” What are these greasy, oily fish? They include salmon, sardines, anchovies, herring and mackerel.
Sleep: Sleep is not only good for the body. it’s good for the microbiome that lives there. “Sleep regulates cortisol, the stress hormoneand other hormone levels,” says Sfanos. “And it turns out that the gut microbiome has its own circadian rhythm. Not getting enough sleep can reverse that.” The result is disruption of the gut’s ability to maintain healthy digestion and balance its interactions with the immune system and even the nervous system, leading to inflammation and disease.
Avoid: Sugars, processed meat and prepared foods that have a bunch of ingredients with names that are hard to pronounce. “Excess sugar is not only linked to obesity – a known risk factor for cancer – but is also associated with factors that contribute to systemic inflammation,” says Sfanos. “Processed meats are known to contain carcinogens linked to the risk of prostate cancer.” If you don’t recognize them, chances are your gut microbiome won’t.
In addition to book, I have written much more about prostate cancer on the Prostate Cancer Foundation website, pcf.org. As Patrick Walsh and I have been saying for years, Knowledge is power: Saving your life can start with going to the doctor and knowing the right questions to ask. I hope all men put prostate cancer on their radar. Get a baseline PSA blood test in your early 40s and if you are of African descent or have a family history of cancer and/or prostate cancer, you should be screened regularly for the disease. Many doctors don’t do this, so it’s up to you to ask. Note: I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you click the link and buy a book, I will theoretically make a small amount of money.
© Janet Farrar Worthington
