Research finds diversifying your diet may make your gut healthier

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/ioft-rfd071515.php

Public Release: 15-Jul-2015
Institute of Food Technologists

A loss of dietary diversity during the past 50 years could be a contributing factor to the rise in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and other diseases, according to a lecture by Mark Heiman, vice president and chief scientific officer at MicroBiome Therapeutics, at IFT15: Where Science Feeds Innovation hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in Chicago.

Heiman said diet is the principal regulator of the GI microbiome, the ecosystem of the human GI tract. The microbiome contains trillions of bacteria (microbiota) in a solution of unabsorbed macro- and micro-nutrients. The microbiota use the remnants from digestion to create new signaling molecules that allow the microbiota to communicate with a person's metabolic and GI regulatory system.

The microbiome needs a diverse diet to function optimally. However, current agricultural practices as well as climate change have contributed to a loss of that diversity, with about 75 percent of the world's population consuming only five animal species and 12 plant species. Of those 12, rice, maize and wheat contribute 60 percent of all the calories, he said.

"Like any ecosystem, the one that is most diverse in species is the one that is going to be the healthiest," Heiman said. "In almost every disease state that has been studied so far, the microbiome has lost diversity. There are just a few species that seem to dominate."

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