Beyond the Microbiome: The Oncobiome
The link between our gut health and cancer
Our gut gardens (aka. gut microbiomes) have a very significant role in our health - or lack thereof. Back in 2007 researchers published a study on The Human Microbiome Project that dug deep into the intricacies of our gut garden and its role in disease. They showed the world that our gut health is in fact crucial for overall health. Now there is ever-growing research on the oncobiome, which is the interplay between the human microbiome and cancer development. Studies are demonstrating that the microbiome can indeed affect our susceptibility to cancer and affect its progression. This fascinating science is also suggesting that our gut bugs have this effect by modulating inflammation and by inducing DNA changes through things they make (called metabolites) that, in the case of our friendly microbes, can suppress tumour growth.
You might be thinking “Woah, how can our gut microbiome do this?!” Keep reading to learn more.
The microbiome’s role in immunity
Science tells us that cancer may have a lot to do with the health of our immune system, and our guts have a big part to play in this story. Our gut microbiome can protect us by strengthening our immune system and calming inflammation, or it can work against us by inducing DNA damage and producing metabolites inducing the development of cancer. Researchers have discovered that certain alterations in the gut microbiome may lead to immune dysregulation - leading then to the development of various autoimmune disease.
Because 70% of our immune system resides in our gut lining, we need to pay close attention to our gut health, and we need to balance the “bad” gut bacteria with “good” gut bacteria. This will enable our immune system to be able to fight infections and viruses - and, as science is starting to suggest, maybe even cancer. If the bacteria in our microbiome becomes imbalanced (and the bad outgrow the good guys, called dysbiosis) this may compromise our gut lining health by causing inflammation. This in turn could contribute to harmful bacteria getting into our bloodstream, which would negatively affect our immune system and overall risk of cancer.
Crash course (if you don’t already know): What is the microbiome
- The bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses that live on and in our body
- We have a microbiome on our skin, in mammary glands, in seminal fluids, in our lungs, our oral mucosa, and the gastrointestinal tract referred to as our “gut microbiome”. There are more bacterial cells in our body than human cells approximately 40 trillion bacteria cells and the vast majority of them live in our digestive tract.
- We cannot live without these healthy bacteria
- It is essential for protecting our body from potentially harmful substances that could result in chronic inflammation
- It is essential for digestion and nutrient absorption, the synthesis of short chain fatty acids, for modulating inflammation, detoxification, brain health, and mitochondrial function (the energy source in our cells).
6 Tips to tend your gut garden
I love this quote, and I encourage you to sit with it for a moment, and reflect on it:
“The seed of cancer may exist in all of us but the power to change the soil is in our hands.” ~ Dr Jason Fung
If we take care of our gut garden, the good gut bacteria can grow and help our immune system protect us against potentially harmful substances. Our microbiome needs key ingredients in order to restore balance, and here is the recipe to get you going:
1. Eat a whole foods diet eliminating processed foods and limit added sugars.
2. Eat your vegetables. These are loaded with fibre!
3. Eat prebiotic rich foods like onions, bananas, garlic, asparagus, soybeans, legumes, raw unpasteurized or Manuka honey. Prebiotics are quite literally the favourite food of our beneficial gut bugs!
4. Eat foods high in probiotics (fermented foods like kefir, miso, tempeh, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, yogurt, kimchi)
5. Talk to a nutritionist about finding the right probiotic (and other gut microbiome rebuilding supplements) for you.
6. Stay hydrated. Drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water daily.
7. Work on your sleep. Sleep and your immune system have a bidirectional (ie. they affect each other) relationship. Lack of sleep will lower our immunity and when we are not feeling well or our immune systems are dysfunctional then this tends to disrupt our sleep.
Study of the role of the gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3337124/
Role of the Microbiota in Immunity and inflammation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4056765/
The influence of the gut microbiome on cancer, immunity, and cancer immunotherapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6529202/