You are what you (and your gut microbiome) eat

Your diet doesn’t just feed you, it also feeds the bacteria that live in your gut. And metabolites from these bacteria can influence not only your metabolism but your risk of depression and dementia.

How can you cultivate a healthy gut microbiome to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm due to these minute colonists? A study of the gut microbiomes of over 21,000 people with different diets pinpointed key variables pointing to better gut health:


“Using their unprecedented dataset, the researchers discovered that although vegan and vegetarian participants had healthier diets than omnivores, the omnivores studied had a higher rate of gut microbiome diversity. Sounds like a win for the omnivores, except that gut microbiome diversity alone isn’t a reliable measurement of how healthy that microbiome is. That’s because different bacteria have different influences on our guts and wider health, and not all of them are good.

 

“It seemed each dietary pattern had unique microbial signatures. The gut microbiomes of omnivores contained higher levels of bacteria that are associated with meat digestion, which figures, including Alistipes putredinis. However, their increased diversity included bacteria like Ruminococcus torques and Bilophila wadsworthia, bacteria the researchers say are associated with increased risk of disease including inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease, and certain cancers.”

Tl;dr? Here’s the nut grafs:

“ . . .  the quantity and diversity of plant-based foods have a very positive impact on the microbiome,” said study author Nicola Segata in a statement. “Avoiding meat or dairy products does not necessarily have a positive effect if it does not come with a variety of quality plant-based products.”

 

“From the point of view of the microbiome, what we can generally recommend is that it is important to eat many plant-based foods, especially those rich in fiber. And that food diversity is important.”


https://www.iflscience.com/how-does-diet-affect-gut-microbiome-study-of-21000-people-reveals-all-77497?fbclid=IwY2xjawHp--pleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSBL6gsnNLlMCiYoNpn--vwRGTCVdEmXll2YNNYJUZVMXDINEoz0xDLeYQ_aem_QiczHxIiIFj5iQlpS5Eh2Q

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