We are designed to make an entirely new gut lining every 2-5 days. That only happens when we have a strong circadian rhythm.
Our gut is subjected to things that damage it all the time. And we have a built-in repair system that should allow us to reverse this damage every few days. But for those with circadian dysfunction, this repair mechanism becomes dysregulated.
What about our gut microbiome? They also have circadian rhythms which are tied to our circadian rhythms. This means that when we have circadian dysfunction, our gut microbiome are more dysfunctional as well.
The light that enters our eyes translates into a time of day in our brain AKA our circadian rhythm. Each cell also has peripheral timekeepers that sync up to the circadian signal from the brain. Our gut cells and microbiome are designed to interpret these circadian signals and act accordingly.
So the brain receives a light cue to tell what time of day it is and then this message gets communicated to our gut cells where Bmal1 and/or Clock genes get either turned on or off in response to the light. This influences tissue regeneration.
This is why chronic blue light at night and a lack of sunrise circadian syncing exacerbates gut issues. Our gut microbiome also need us to have a strong circadian rhythm. Why?
Bacteria all emit massive amounts of extreme low frequency UV light. The enterochromaffin cells in the gut use this UV light, along with tryptophan, to make serotonin. Most researchers are trying to link different species of bacteria or different bacterial metabolites to this equation.
Those of us in quantum biology understand it is about the light these bacteria emit. Research measuring gut serotonin levels in mice with a normal microbiome and germ-free mice found that germ-free mice produced 60% less serotonin indicating the microbiome plays a huge role in serotonin production in the gut.
Since serotonin in the gut is known to enhance bowel motility, is it a coincidence that circadian rhythm research shows the optimum time to expect to poop is around the time UV light begins to appear?
