- C-sections, babyformula, life saving drugs

and convenience foods.

We tend to think thesethings make our lives better

starting from birth.

But turns out they can seriously mess up

the balance of good andbacteria in our bodies.

- So we want to keep thosenumbers in a composition

in the microbiome rightwhere it ought to be

in perfect harmony.

- [Lorie] Nearly a centuryago, the world rejoiced

when Alexander Flemingdeveloped the first antibiotic.

Penicillin would targetbacterial infections

that wiped out millions.

Since then, many doctorsfrequently turn to these

so called miracle drugs, oftennot considering the downside.

- We know that almostall cases of bronchitis

where you cough basicallywhere the large airways

get inflamed with viruses.

Almost always it's just a virus.

That's not to mean it's trivial disease.

But, we don't haveantibiotics for 99% of them.

And yet 70% of physiciansprescribe antibiotics

for bronchitis.

- [Lorie] And thoseantibiotics target all bacteria

in our body, even the kindwe need to keep us healthy.

- Antibiotics are equal opportunity drugs,

they'll kill the good guysas well as the bad guys.

- [Lorie] GastroenterologistGerard Mullin,

author of the Gut Balance Revolution,

says children in particularoften lack the good bacteria

they need thanks to wellmeaning pediatricians,

protective parents and overprescribed antibiotics.

- They're overusedindiscriminately in children

with ear aches and sore throats.

Because there's beenlinkages now into obesity

but also autoimmune diseases,

such as inflammatory bowel disease

where they can directlylink the number of doses

of antibiotics as achild to the probability

of developing IBD later in life.

- [Lorie] Studies show justone course of antibiotics

can disrupt the gut microbiome for years.

What's worse, antibioticsoften enter our bodies

without a prescriptionbecause of what we eat.

A majority of the antibioticsused in our country

go into animal feed.

- Just in conventional red meat

that there's enoughantibiotics in those cows

that are raised on hormones

and wide antibiotics, those are enough,

if you eat enough redmeat within a week or so,

that's enough to changethe microbiome unfavorably.

- And science proves it.

New York University researcherswere able to make lab mice

obese and diabetic byproportionately giving them

the same amount of antibioticsfound in our meat supply.

So in trying to build a better gut,

remember, antibioticsare enemy number one.

Running a close second isthe Standard American Diet,

what's known as SAD.

It's this kind of stuff,

what we typically eat forbreakfast, lunch and dinner,

plus the good that'smissing from these meals.

- Gotta figure out firstwhat's trashin' the gut,

you've gotta shut off the faucet

and stop hurtin' the gut.

The gut'll heal itself over a long time,

but you gotta stop hurting it.

- [Lorie] Consider processedfoods a triple threat.

They're too sweet, contain no fiber

and are chock full of strange chemicals.

The Mayo Clinic's DoctorPurna Kashyap says

the culprits tend tohide in the small writing

on the list of ingredients.

- It's good to read the fine print

because there's usuallya small line at the end

which says, emulsifiers or additives.

- [Lorie] Doctor Gail Cresciof the Cleveland Clinic agrees

that digesting things not found in nature

can cause dangerous inflammation.

- And you think about processed foods

there's a lot of foreign chemicals

that are in the processed foods.

And these are what's called xenobiotics.

So it means that it's a foreign chemical,

like it's a compound,

and the microbiota has tobe able to deal with that.

- [Lorie] And watch outfor words ending in -ose

such as dextrose, maltrose and fructose.

They're added sugarswhich believe it or not,

make us fat and starveus at the same time.

They rob the bacteria's food supply

because our body absorbs sugar

before it even gets to our intestines.

- Our body is very efficient in using it.

Which means we don'tslurp it up right away.

And as a result, thebacteria then has to try

to get food from ourlining or other places.

So it can harm us becausethe bacteria are now starving

and they'll have to rely onour gut lining to get food.

Drinks which have highamounts of glucose, fructose

these are the ones whichcreate an artificial state

of starvation, not foryou, but for the bacteria.

It'll definitely give you energy,

but it's not gonna begood for your bacteria.

- [Lorie] But don't thinkyou can replace sugar

with artificial sweeteners.

They are just as bad, if not worse.

- Different bacteria are able

to take these artificial sweeteners

and then they actually are able to extract

more calories from thediet and this is linked

with insulin resistance and weight gain.

- So it's rhetorical that we're taking

zero calorie artificial sweeteners

which harm the gut microbiomeand ultimately cause us

to gain weight when thepurpose was to not gain weight.

- When it comes to gut microbiome,

the first two years set thestage for the rest of life.

Believe it or not, the way a baby is born,

the type of delivery,makes a big difference.

So does the kind ofnutrition the baby receives.

Doctor Heidi Nelson saysc-sections and formula

provide inferior bacteria compared

with their more natural counterparts.

- There is a differencebetween the vaginal birth

and the ceasarean birth because the child

is more or less sterile inside the womb

and as they deliverthrough the vaginal canal,

it's understood that theyget the microbial population

from their mom, thatexposure from the mother

at that time and thesame type of experience

would hold true for breastmilk versus a bottle.

You want to try to get theright bugs set up in the child.