How do foods affect my intestine?
It is scientifically proven that the foods you eat can affect your intestine for better or worse. Here we tell you how to do it for the better.
Foods with similar nutritional labels can have very different effects on gut microbiomes.** A recent study, the results of which appear in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, looked at participants’ diets and stool samples over the course of 17 days. * To examine discrepancies between how different foods influence the gut microbiome, even when they appear to be nutritionally similar.** A healthy human gut microbiome includes a wide variety of diverse bacteria. And the scientific community has been interested in seeing how the gut microbiome relates to health and disease.** For this study, researchers recruited a total of 34 participants who were instructed to record everything they ate for 17 days. The team collected stool samples daily.** To find out how each participant’s microbiome changed each day in response to the food they ate. The researchers performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing on the stool samples.** Doing this also allowed them to notice the effects of microbial changes on enzymes and metabolic functions.**
**How nutrients can alter the gut microbiome
Before the research began, the study authors believed they would not only be able to identify links between certain dietary nutrients. And also specific strains of microbes, but also determine why microbes differ between individuals.** However, they instead found that foods that shared a comparable nutritional profile did not necessarily have a similar effect on the microbiome.** Lead author Dan Knights, who works in the Department of Science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. * He noted that these findings presented a different challenge.** “We had to scratch our heads and come up with a new approach to measuring and comparing different foods,” he explained.** The researchers then developed a structured hierarchy of foods. This allowed them to identify closely related foods with which they could share statistical data.** * They found that related foods, for example, leafy green spinach and kale. They had a comparable effect on the microbiome, while foods that were not closely related differed in their effects.** Calorie content is usually near the top of the label, and total fat, cholesterol, and sodium are next on the list. Nutrition labels also indicate the amount of carbohydrates, including dietary fiber and sugar.** Additionally, nutrition labels indicate which vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins A and C.** What this study found is that although certain foods may have comparable amounts of vitamin A, carbohydrates or protein. If you want more information on nutrition and health topics, or need advice to find the healthiest eating plan to help you lose weight, **click here.
