In this monologue, Dr. David Perlmutter explains how modern DNA techniques allow scientists to analyze fossilized stool (coprolites) from ancient humans, such as Ötzi the Iceman and specimens dating back 8,000 years. The research shows that ancient gut microbiomes were relatively stable over millennia and closely resemble those of today’s rural populations, unlike the dramatically altered microbiomes of modern cosmopolitan societies. Perlmutter links this shift to dietary changes brought by agriculture, especially the introduction of wheat and gluten, which he argues disrupt gut bacteria, increase intestinal permeability, and elevate inflammation—a root factor in many degenerative diseases. The talk underscores that while human genetics have changed little, our diet-driven microbial environment has transformed profoundly, contributing to modern health challenges.
Chapters
You'll recall I recently presented a video demonstrating the difference between the gut bacteria in children living in Africa in comparison to those living in Europe, and I made the statement that it was really a diet-dependent, kind of a lifestyle-dependent change that had been imparted on these individuals based upon their foods, the foods that they chose to eat or the foods that were available to them. We now understand that in fact it's not just a question of living in a rural versus an urban environment, but that we have actually changed our gut bacteria in going from ancient times to more modern times. So you may be wondering, well gee, how do we know what the gut bacteria was like in ancient times? And let's look at some research. So this is a report from PLOS ONE, December of 2012, and it brings to our attention, first of all, the notion that there is this science that is available for us to look at what are called coprolites. And coprolites are fossilized stool specimens. We now have the technology to actually do DNA analysis of fossilized stool and determine what the bacterial component was, what the bacterial makeup was of individuals who have lived long ago. And they actually, in this study, compared A stool frozen from a soldier who had died 93 years ago to the stool of Ötzi the Iceman. Now, you may not know who Ötzi the Iceman is or was, but Ötzi the Iceman lived 5,500 years ago and is the oldest preserved Northern European specimen. He actually fell in the ice and froze, and scientists have actually recovered his body and were able to look at his stool and determine the gut bacteria that he had. And what this study found, which was very interesting, was first it validated the technology that allows us to look at ancient stool specimens, and it also indicated that there has been relatively little change in the bacterial array of stool looking at people from thousands of years ago compared to those who have lived just in the last century. And what they also did in this study, they looked at these coprolites, or fossilized stool specimens, from 8,000 years ago, 1,400 years ago, and then more recently on the western coast of South America from 1,600 years ago. Their conclusion was that overall these studies reveal that human microbiome data has been preserved in these coprolites, and these preserved human microbiomes match more closely to those from rural communities than from those today in cosmopolitan communities. These results suggest that modern cosmopolitan lifestyle resulted in a dramatic change in the human gut microbiome. Now that means that really, as I've said before in Grain Brain, we haven't changed dramatically genetically for thousands and thousands of years. But what has happened is the influence upon our genes has changed quite significantly, and the most important influence on the changes have now been brought about because of the foods that we have been choosing, the foods that have become available to us, new things that have Things that have happened, like agriculture in the past 10,000 years, giving us things like wheat and a protein found in wheat called gluten, wreak havoc in the human microbiome, change the bacteria, change the leakiness of the gut, and sets up a situation where we are more at risk for inflammation, the cornerstone of virtually every degenerative disease that you don't want to get. This is really interesting information, and we're going to explore it further. I'm Dr. David Perlmutter.
