Diet shapes the gut microbiome
Dear Friends,
Reserach demonstrates that diversity within our GI tract microbiome has been greatly reduced. How does that effect our children’s health?
De Filippo et al. (2010) compared the fecal microbiota of European children to that of children from a rural African community. The diets of the two groups differed greatly.
The researchers enrolled 15 healthy children living in a rural village in Burkina Faso, Africa, and 15 healthy children living in an urban area of Florence, Italy. All children were between the ages of 1-6 years.
The diet of the African kids was predominantly vegetarian: low in fat and animal protein and rich in starch, fiber, and plant polysaccharides. All food resource were completely produced locally, cultivated and harvested nearby their village. Their diet consisted mainly of cereals (millet grain and sorghum), legumes (black-eyed peas), and vegetables. Whereas the diet of the European kids was the typical western diet high in animal protein, sugar, starch, and fat. It was also low in fiber (from vegetables, legumes, whole grains).
The gut microbiomes of the children differed greatly. The African children had much greater microbial richness and diversity. The researchers posited that exposure to the large variety of enviromental microbes associated with a high-fiber diet could increase the potentially beneficial bacterial genomes, enriching the microbiome; and that reduction in microbial richness is possibly one of the undesirable effects of globalization and of eating generic, processed (protein, fat, carbs), uncontaminated (with healthy bacteria) foods.
De Fillippo et al. (2010). Impact of diets in shaping gut microbiota revealed by a comparative study in children form Europe and rural Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 107(33), 14691-14696.
Sincerely yours,
Seann Bardell
BioImmersion.com
Clinical Note:
While certain bacterial families have developed resistance to antibiotics and have increased in our gut, other beneficial bacterial families decreased. This is of great medical concern.
The Supernatant Synbiotic Formula was developed to support the gut, helping to protect it from nosocomal infections. Nococomal infections are those illnesses that one can get while staying in a health care facility from drug resistant bacteria, such a C. difficile.
We put our Bulgarian scientists to the task of selecting strains of lactic acid bacteria that demonstrate the best inhibitory effect against Colostridial population. It took them almost one year of work. The results was the Supernatant Synbiotic Formula supplying a broad spectrum of powerful and safe probiotic organisms. We have had wonderful feedback regarding this products efficacy.
The Last Quiz Answer:
The Koala is the only mammal which can survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus leaves are very fibrous and low in nutrition, and are extremely poisonous.
Koalas have evolved a range adaptation to survive such a diet. One is the microbial fermentation of the partially digested eucalyptus leaves. In Barker et al (2013) study researchers found a highly complex and diverse ecosystem with considerable variation at the genus level. The samples were dominated by sequences from the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla. (Barker et al. 2013. Investigation of the Koala hindgut microbiome via 16 S pyrosequencing. Vet Microbio, 167(3-4), 554-64.
Green Facts
The importance of diversity of species in all life forms as to their survivability shows up in many living examples. In the latest, May 2015 Science American with the cover story, The Rise of the Tyrannosaurus, author American Paleontologist Stephen Brusatte states that this class of animals were extremely successful because of their great diversity of species. Here’s his inspiring lecture: Meet the new Tyrannosaurs.