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Meet Your Second Brain: The Gut Microbiome Explained
Avi Jayaprabalan & Pranav Kataria
April 21, 2025
Our gut is often called our “second brain”. It’s home to trillions of microbes that communicate with our body much like neurons do in the brain. But in today’s world of ultra-processed, fiber-poor, fat-saturated foods, many of us are quietly wiping out important microbial species from our gut. And once they’re gone, we may never get them back!
The Microbiome
Gut Influencers
Why a Healthy Gut Matters
A Gut-Friendly Diet
Innovative Startups to Watch
🧬 The Microbiome
Our gut microbiome hosts trillions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes. Think of it like a diverse middle-school classroom. Each microbe “student“ brings a unique talent: some control inflammation, others excel at breaking down tough carbs or processing essential B12 and vitamin K. The wider the roster, the stronger the team! 💪
🌱 What Affects Our Gut?
Factor | Impact on Microbiome | Solution |
|---|---|---|
🥤 Ultra-processed, low-fiber foods | Emulsifiers & additives can erode the gut lining, causing “leaky gut” | Consume more plant-rich foods, whole grains, legumes, and fermented foods |
💊 Antibiotics | Even short courses (5–10 days) of broad‑spectrum antibiotics can eliminate beneficial bacterial, some never fully recover | Use only when absolutely necessary and consider post-antibiotic probiotics |
😴 Stress & Poor Sleep | Poor sleep lowers microbial richness and dampens mood-boosting metabolites (like GABA & serotonin) | Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep and moderate levels of exercise |
💖 Why a Healthy Gut Matters?
Heart and Metabolism - Gut microbes turn fibers into short-chain fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. In fact, their impact can outperform some medications (like statins) when it comes to reducing blood cholesterol. In turns out, a healthy gut might be more powerful than a pill.
Weight and Type 2 Diabetes - A less diverse gut microbiome is linked to obesity and insulin resistance. On the flip side, having a diverse and balanced gut can help shed kilos and stabilise blood sugar levels. Interestingly, antidiabetic drugs like metformin also shift our gut microbiome composition, improving blood sugar control.
Brain and Mood - Our gut microbiome isn’t just digesting food, it’s also producing key brain chemicals like serotonin and GABA. These neurotransmitters help regulate mood, focus, and cognition by communicating with the central nervous system (our brain). This is why people with mental health issues like depression and anxiety have lower levels of these chemicals.
Inflammation & Cancer - Chronic inflammation in the gut is a known risk factor for many diseases, including cancer. A diverse microbiome acts as a shield by keeping inflammation in check and reducing long-term cancer risk.
We know a diverse gut microbiome is key to good health. So, how can we support it?
Simple: With a Gut-Friendly Diet
🥗 A Gut-Friendly Diet
An ideal diet for a healthy gut microbiome should support beneficial bacteria, reduce inflammation, and enhance digestion, immunity, and mental well-being.
🥦 Key Components of a Gut-Friendly Diet
🍇 Diverse Plant-Based Foods - Aim for 30+ different plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, & seeds each week.
🥬 Prebiotic-Rich Foods - Include garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas, and oats to feed beneficial gut bacteria.
🧀 Fermented Foods - Consume yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha to introduce beneficial microbes.
🐟 Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Include fatty fish (like sardines & salmon), flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts to support microbial diversity.
🌰 Nuts and Seeds - Almonds, walnuts, chia, and flaxseeds for fiber, polyphenols, and healthy fats.
🍫 Polyphenol-Rich Foods - Berries, apples (with skin), green tea, dark chocolate, and red grapes to promote beneficial bacteria.
⚠️ Foods to Limit
Ultra-processed foods high in added sugars, refined grains, and artificial additives.
Excessive alcohol and caffeine ☕️ disrupts microbial balance.
Artificial sweeteners can negatively impact gut bacteria.
🚀 Innovative Startups to Watch
Some startups are beginning to leverage the gut microbiome to develop personalised probiotics, microbe-targeting vaccines, and even precision tools that selectively boost or block specific gut species.
🔬SNIPR Biome
SNIPR Biome is a Danish clinical-stage biotech company pioneering CRISPR-based antibacterial therapies that selectively target harmful bacteria while preserving beneficial microbiota. The company recently secured €20 million to develop new medicines addressing infections resistant to existing antibiotics.
SNIPR's lead candidate, SNIPR001, aims to prevent bloodstream infections caused by E. coli, particularly in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Notably, SNIPR Biome became the first company to orally dose humans with a CRISPR therapeutic and holds patents in the US and Europe for its CRISPR technology platform.
✨ BioCorteX
BioCorteX is a London-based biotech firm leveraging AI and a comprehensive biological knowledge graph, Carbon Knowledge™, to simulate drug-microbiome interactions.
In October 2024, BioCorteX announced a groundbreaking discovery in Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) cancer therapies by identifying critical interactions between tumor-resident bacteria and ADC effectiveness using Google Cloud’s scalable infrastructure. The company's innovative "Unified Biology" approach integrates extensive biological data, revealing that intra-tumor bacterial compositions vary significantly across geographical regions, affecting ADC efficacy and clinical trial outcomes. Their Carbon Mirror™ platform can model these region-specific variations across 49 countries and 28 cancer types, enhancing precision medicine strategies.
Eat well, sleep right, and let your inner ecosystem thrive! 🌿🛌🦠
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