We’ve evolved a symbiosis with our good gut bacteria, but we’re not holding up our end of the bargain.
If you look at the classics – the most cited articles in the nutritional science literature – the original paper on the glycemic index ranks tenth, it has been cited more than a thousand times. Education about fruits, vegetables and cancer prevention is in seventh place. But entering the top four, cited more than 2,000 times: “Dietary modulation of the human colon microbiota: introducing the concept of prebiotics.”
As I discuss in my video How to keep your microbiome healthy with prebiotic foodsprebiotics are food components that feed and nourish the good bacteria in our gut, such as fiber and resistant starch. Eating high-fiber plant foods in general is “a good foundation for a prebiotic-rich diet.”
Once there was fiber he thought as the undigested portion of food known only to increase excretion and keep the bowels regular. Then the researchers discovered a series of receptors in the body that the products of fiber breakdown fit like a lock and key. We feed our good bacteria fiber and they feed us right back, eating the fiber and making short chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are absorbed into our bloodstream and bind to these receptors expressed on immune cells, generally having a direct anti-inflammatory effect.
Thus, the reason for the decrease in systemic inflammation in vegetarians may not be the only one to be due to the abundance of anti-inflammatory molecules in plant foods or the avoidance of anti-inflammatory molecules in animal foods, but from the production of anti-inflammatory molecules from scratch by the good bugs in our gut when we feed on fiber. Just to give you an idea of how fiber-rich foods can protect them accidental Being advised to eat fiber-rich foods during radiation therapy for cancer not only reduced toxicity during treatments—the benefits persisted even a full year later.
Indeed, these are the benefits of fiber is supported with more than a century of research. Prospective studies show “significant reductions” in all-cause mortality, including “total cancer deaths, total cardiovascular disease and incident deaths, stroke, and colorectal, breast, and esophageal cancer.” And in terms of protection against heart attack and stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer, response-to-response relationships show that the more fiber, the better. So, at a minimum, fiber intake should be no more than 25 to 29 grams per day; consuming more can give additional benefits. However, only one American consumes about 16 grams of fiber every day.
We’ve co-existed with gut bacteria for thousands of years, relying on our good gut bugs in a kind of symbiosis to digest fiber and produce short-chain fatty acids and even some vitamins. However, we are not holding up our end of the bargain. We should be to provide up to 100 grams of fiber per day, and we barely consume 16 grams of fiber. The simplest solution to overcome this deficiency is dietary fiber to encourage eating plant-based diets rich in fiber.
Dr.’s comment
A hundred grams of fiber a day?! Inspection Paleopoo: What we can learn from fossilized feces.
And, for more information on prebiotics, see Prebiotics: Caring for our inner garden.
