BABY POOP BACTERIA - THE NEW PROBIOTIC:

A new line of research investigating the power of baby poop has an intent source of microbes that could contribute to healthier Metabolism. Many experiments recently showed that certain types of bacteria extracted from babies poops or faeces could promote the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in mice, and in a medium simulating the human gut.

SCFA molecules are a subset of fatty acids that are catabolised by some types of gut microbes during the fermentation of fibre. They are capable of maintaining gut health and protecting against disease, so a probiotic containing baby-poop microbes could provide health benefits by boosting SCFA production in a compromised digestive system says the study.

 

People with diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders and cancers have fewer short-chain fatty acids. Increasing them might be helpful in substantially maintaining or even restoring a normal gut environment, and thus leading to an improved health. "Poop transplants," is efficient in treating gut disorder with an influx of diverse bacteria from a healthy digestive system, distilled from a donor's poop. This helps to correct imbalances of microbial habitat when the gut microbiome is dominated by the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. diff), which can lead to serious gut disorders.

For further Investigation, they wanted to see how a probiotic impacts SCFA production in a healthy gut. They chose to work with baby poop because infants' gut microbiome are typically free from age related Diseases.

Recently, the researchers isolated few bacterial strains —species of Lactobacillus bacteria and species of Enterococcus — in samples from approximately 44 babies, identifying the strains as good candidates which mimic a probiotic of microbes that could survive in a human host's gut and stimulate SCFA production.

They then also tested different doses of the bacterial probiotic blend in mice, as well as in slurry of human faeces meant to mimic the environment of a human digestive system. The scientists found that even single doses are potential of maintaining the healthy microbial balance and increased SCFA production. Still, many trails are needed for us to find baby-poop probiotics on the shelves of our health-food stores.

BREASTFED BABIES MORE LIKELY TO BE RIGHT HANDED

Could the way you feed your bub be associated with whether they end up being right or left-handed? It certainly seems like an odd link, but that's the conclusion of a new large study of breastfeeding and handedness, recently published in the journal. Specifically, results indicated that compared to bottle feeding, breastfeeding for less than one month was associated with 9 per cent decreased prevalence of non-right handedness, while nursing for one to six months and six or more was associated with 15 per cent and 22 per cent decreased prevalence respectively. But the association ended there, "Breastfeeding for longer than 9 months was not associated with further reductions in the prevalence for non-right handedness," the study notes.

It's important to note that the study doesn't show that breastfeeding causes right-handedness, something Professor Hujoel explains is partially down to genetics. Instead, the findings shed light on when the region of the brain that controls handedness localizes to one side of the brain, a process known as brain lateralisation. Professor Hujoel notes that the effect of breastfeeding on handedness may also be unrelated to nutrition and more to do with hormonal responses associated with mother-infant bonding during breastfeeding. It's not the first time a study has linked breastfeeding to handedness.

About 10 per cent of people are left-handed, with lefties more common in males (11 per cent) than females (13 per cent). Other studies have shown that being left-handed is more common in twins (8.1 per cent) and triplets (7.1 per cent) than singletons (5.8 per cent), while being ambidextrous is more common in triplets (6.4 per cent) than in twins (3.4 per cent) and singletons (3.5 per cent).

The reality is, however, does it really matter whether your bub is left or right-handed? The short answer is no. And nor is it possible for every mum to breastfeed their baby - for one reason or another - and there is absolutely no judgment from us. While there's much we still don't know about being left or right-handed, have found no significant differences in personality traits between lefties and righties. And when it comes to sports like baseball, cricket and table tennis, lefties certainly have the upper hand.