Back in 2004 when documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but junk food for an entire month while filming ‘Super Size Me’ it made headlines. You see, Morgan’s experience revealed an alarming reality. Most notably, a fast food diet can quickly trigger serious health issues.
After a very short time the documentary filmmaker noticed his energy levels plummeted, he packed on weight, and his liver was at serious risk. In short, the extreme Super Size Me diet challenge highlighted the very clear link between junk food and obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many other chronic health conditions.
Thankfully, these days we now have a far greater understanding of the potential harm caused by consuming too much junk food, especially in regards to the health of the gut microbiome.
The gut microbiome is a term used to refer to the complex mini-ecosystem within your digestive tract. By and large, it plays a major role in your overall health.
Looking back, I think it’s very likely Morgan did some pretty serious damage to his gut microbiome.
Ready to Learn More About How Your Diet Affects Your Gut Microbiome?
It’s important to realize that while you can’t control all the factors that go into maintaining a healthy gut microbiome, you can manipulate the balance of your microbes by paying attention to what you eat.
You see, there’s now a plethora of published research to show your daily dietary choices influence the structure and activity of the trillions of microorganisms residing in your gut.
If you would like to learn more about the gut microbiome, here’s a simple, and informative short video from TED Lessons.
TED-Ed Lessons: How the Food You Eat Affects Your Gut
In this TedEd video Shilpa Ravella, Educator shares the best foods for a healthy gut. https://www.youtube.com/embed/1sISguPDlhY
References
David LA, Maurice CF, Carmody RN, et al. Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 2014;505(7484):559-563. Link
Holscher, HD. Dietary fiber and prebiotics and the gastrointestinal microbiota. Gut Microbes. 2017 Mar 4;8(2):172-184. Link
Shreiner AB, Kao JY, Young VB. The gut microbiome in health and in disease. Current opinion in gastroenterology. 2015;31(1):69-75. Link