Fibre Rich Diet Can Improve Your Heart Health: Study
This ground-breaking study emphasises how crucial gut health and diet are for boosting immunity and warding off diseases.
Maintaining your general health depends heavily on the gut microbiome, a complex community of trillions of bacteria, fungus, and other microorganisms that live in your digestive tract. In addition to helping with digestion, these microbes have a big effect on your immune system. According to a recent study, dietary changes might affect the gut microbiome’s composition, which can help forecast a person’s risk of contracting potentially fatal infections with E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and other bacteria. Knowing how nutrition, gut health, and immunity are related can help you make decisions that can lower your risk of infection and improve your general health.
As per a recent study by researchers at the University of Cambridge, your vulnerability to Enterobacteriaceae infections can be predicted by the distinct composition of your gut microbiome, or “signature." The ‘ signature’ of an individual’s microbiome can be used to predict whether Enterobacteriaceae will colonise their gut. Researchers have analysed stool samples from more than 12,000 individuals in 45 countries to determine the composition of their gut microbiomes using computational techniques, including artificial intelligence. They found that patterns of the gut microbiota are similar across various geographical areas and medical situations, highlighting the importance of gut health in preventing infections.
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What Was Found In The Research
A healthy human gut microbiome has low amounts of the Enterobacteriaceae group of bacteria, which includes Shigella, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and others. However, these bugs can induce illness and disease through a number of catalytic variables, such as increased inflammation in the body or consuming infected food. Excess Enterobacteriaceae in the intestines can be fatal in some situations.
135 types of gut microbes that are frequently detected without Enterobacteriaceae were identified by the researchers. It probably guards against infection. Faecalibacterium, a group of bacteria that are notable among the protective gut species, breaks down the fibre in our diet to make short-chain fatty acids, which are useful substances.
Researchers Stressed On Fibre Diet
This appears to guard against infection by a variety of Enterobacteriaceae germs that cause sickness. According to experts, increasing the amount of fibre in our diet will promote the growth of beneficial bacteria and push out harmful ones, thus lowering our risk of getting sick. Probiotics, on the other hand, have less of an impact on the risk of Enterobacteriaceae infection since they don’t alter the gut environment directly.
Dr. Alexandre Almeida, a researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and the paper’s senior author said that as it alters our gut environment to make it more hostile to invaders,their findings imply that our diet may play a significant role in reducing our risk of contracting a variety of bacteria, such as E. Coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. He further added “ By eating fibre in foods like vegetables, beans and whole grains, we can provide the raw material for our gut bacteria to produce short-chain fatty acids compounds that can protect us from these pathogenic bugs".
Traditions regarding the interactions of gut microbes were also questioned by the study. Despite their competition for the same nutrients, researchers discovered that 172 species of gut microorganisms may live side by side with dangerous Enterobacteriaceae. This implies that it is insufficient to only introduce probiotics in order to outcompete dangerous microorganisms. Rather, the best strategy to lower the risk of infection is to change the gut ecology through nutrition, particularly by increasing fibre intake. Beneficial bacteria use fibre as fuel to create SCFAs, which provide defence against infections.
Thus, your diet has a significant impact on the diversity and health of your gut microbiota. You can maximise the benefits of your gut microbiota and strengthen your immunity for a healthier, infection-free life by eating a balanced diet and leading a healthy lifestyle.
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