Ever Heard Of Digestive Plaque? It Could Be Ruining Your Gut Health

Not a day goes by without a new study being published about the role that our gut plays in our health and wellness. But while we’re starting to appreciate that there’s a whole ecosystem of bacteria and fungi that exists in our guts, there’s one aspect of our digestive health that you’re probably not as familiar with: It’s called digestive plaque.

If this is a little hard to picture, I totally get it. The way I like to explain it is this: I love M&M’s. I can’t resist them. So imagine a bowl of M&M’s. They’re just sitting there unprotected from me, the M&M monster; I can scoop them up to my heart’s content. Now instead imagine a Jell-O cake infused with hundreds of M&M’s. In order for me to get to them, I’d have to first break down the Jell-O, and even then, they’d still somewhat be covered by Jell-O ickiness. It’s a lot harder for me to get my hands on them. That’s the best way to think of digestive plaque: If you can’t break down the Jell-O, it’s really hard to get to the M&M’s.

So you may be asking, "How do you know all this?" Well, I was lucky enough to be the scientist that discovered how bacteria and fungi come together in our guts to form digestive plaque. While we had known for decades that bacteria and fungi keep each other in check, the real breakthrough was my realization that they were literally working together to protect themselves. Microbiologically, it actually makes a lot of sense for bacteria and fungi to cooperate, because digestive plaque allows the germs to become resistant to antimicrobial drugs (like antibiotics) and to be shielded from immune cells. (For example, they can ward off our immune system as it tries to protect our bodies from attack.)

In my opinion, we have to change our approach to optimizing digestive balance. It’s not good enough to just take a probiotic, because good germs cannot balance out bad germs if you can’t reach them. M&M’s thrown at Jell-O will just bounce off. Instead, we have to first break down digestive plaque, thereby exposing the bad bacteria and fungi underneath. Only then should probiotics be added into the mix, in order to start the process of controlling the exposed bad bacteria and fungi.

Diet can definitely help prevent or at least limit biofilm formation. Since we know that fungi are the main culprits in forming biofilms, adopting a diet that is low in carbohydrates (sugars, especially white carbs and refined sugars) and that has a high proportion of amino acids (protein) and fatty acids (especially healthy fats) should certainly help prevent biofilm formation.

So there you have it. Digestive plaque. A scientifically wondrous but devastating phenomenon that’s percolating in our guts. I hope you now have a better idea of just what’s going on with the germs in your gut! But the work is not done. Since my discovery, I’ve continued my research in the hope of answering the question, How do digestive plaques actually work? It’s a question that we’re feverishly working to answer but one that still evades us.