What you eat could affect your gut health in a big way. For the unversed, gut refers to a community of microbes that reside in our system. Good bacteria could do wonders for your digestion, immunity and more. According to a latest study, nutrition and diet have a great impact on microbial composition in the gut. This in in turn affects a range of metabolic, hormonal, and neurological processes. The article was published in Nutrition Reviews.
The review by scientists from the George Washington University (GW) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) stressed upon the link between diet and gut microbiome.For the longest time, scientists have been studied gut microbiome to target new strategies to diagnose and treat disease.
The prevalence of diseases that may involve disruption of the gut microbiome are increasing by the day, and at present, there's very little evidence on what defines a healthy gut microbiome.
The researchers assessed the current understanding of the interactions between nutrition and the gut microbiome in healthy adults.
"As we learn more about the gut microbiome and nutrition, we are learning how influential they are to each other and, perhaps more central to public health, the role they both play in prevention and treatment of disease," said Leigh A. Frame, PhD, MHS, program director of the Integrative Medicine Programs at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The bi-directional relationship between nutrition and the gut microbiome is something that should not be ignored. Immense amount of research is being conducted on how microbiota utilize and produce both macro and micronutrients. The review happened to focused on the benefits of dietary fiber, which serves as fuel for gut microbiota, and also found that, in contrast, protein promotes microbial protein metabolism and potentially harmful byproducts that may sit in the gut, increasing the risk of negative outcomes on health.
"This review reveals that the measurement tools currently in our arsenal are ineffective for identifying the microbial and molecular signatures that can serve as robust indicators of health and disease," said Scott Jackson, adjunct assistant professor of clinical research and leadership at SMHS and leader of the Complex Microbial Systems Group at NIST.
Authors emphasized the need of future investigations on individual responses to diet and how the gut microbiome responds to dietary interventions, as well as underlined function of the microbiome over merely composition.
The authors suggested that future research must consider individual responses to diet and how the gut microbiome responds to dietary interventions, as well as emphasized function of the microbiome over merely composition.
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