Oral or dietary tolerance refers the extent to which an individual is free to choose foods and enjoy them, without being concerned that some of the foods will trigger adverse reactions. Where tolerance reduces, or intolerances manifest, individuals have to become selective over the foods they choose in order to maintain wellbeing, this being dependent on a balance between the health of the gut, the bacteria that reside there (that outnumber the cells of our body by around 10 to 1) and the immune system. Oral tolerance is a homeostatic state that is important in order to avoid potentially harmful immune responses against foods, bacteria and other commensal organisms. When two or more organisms occupy the same habitat, a conflict or a series of compromises ensues. Sometimes there are elements of both, and interactions range from a 'cold ‐war'‐type conflict to peaceful coexistence.
In humans, trillions of bacteria are distributed in complex and site‐specific communities on the skin and on mucosal surfaces. But far and away the largest community is found in the gut, comprised of some 100 trillion bacteria in a typical adult, this often being referred to as the human microbiome or microbiota. As these bacteria encode hundreds of genes that are absent in the human genome, the idea has emerged that together with our microbiota, we form ‘superorganisms’ in which energy and metabolites can be exchanged and homeostasis is maintained by complex modulation of the immune system. These careful and quite remarkable relationships depend on the delivery, rather serendipitously of key nutrients found in our foods, this being the aspect of our environment with which we have had the
most intimate evolutionary relationship. Nutritional Therapists
are trained to guide you on food selection and addition to support and maintain oral tolerance.
Further information:
• Costello, E. K. et al. Bacterial community variation in human body habitats across space and time. Science 326, 1694–1697 (2009). • Gill, S. R. et al. Metagenomic analysis of the human distal gut microbiome. Science 312, 1355–1359 (2006). • Guarner F, Malagelada JR. Gut flora in health and disease. Lancet. 2003; 361(9356):512-9 Review.
Here at the Body Chemist I am trained in Probiotic Therapy and can choose the correct strains to aid your condition and how to keep your gut flora in tip top condition to support your health from within.