In recent years, the gut microbiota, that is, the set of microorganisms that we host in our gut and with which we constantly interact, has been attracting extreme interest because of the positive effects it has on the body when healthy and the disorders that can arise when imbalances (called “dysbiosis”) are present. Recent data indicate that the gut microbiota can influence a multiplicity of metabolic processes and modulate our response to externally introduced substances, including drugs. In practice, therefore, the effects of the therapies we take depend not only on the characteristics of our bodies, but also on those of the bacteria we live with. The study on the subject.
microbiota
Vegan diet reduces body weight and improves insulin sensitivity
A low-fat vegan diet induces changes in the gut microbiota and improves insulin sensitivity, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial conducted in overweight or obese adults.
The intervention lasted for 16 weeks, during which time body weight was reduced significantly more in subjects on the vegan diet than in those who continued the previous diet. With the vegan diet plan, there was an average weight loss of 5.8 kg, largely due to a decrease in fat mass, despite no calorie restriction being imposed.
The work was coordinated by Hana Kahleova, director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C., who has previously shown how people can lose twice as much weight on a vegan diet as on a non-vegan diet of the same caloric intake. “The new study,” Kahleova said in an interview with Medscape Medical News, “was created with the goal of finding out why.
For the trial, 148 adults who were overweight but had never suffered from diabetes were recruited; they were divided into two groups to follow either a low-fat vegan diet or no dietary modification. The mean age in the vegan and control groups was 53 and 57 years, respectively, and women were 60% and 67%; body mass index was about 33 kg/m3 in both groups.
The results suggest that the beneficial effects are mediated by induced changes in the community of microorganisms that are present in the gut. ” A plant-based diet with good fiber intake improves the composition of the gut microbiota, promoting bacterial strains that play a positive role in health, particularly the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, which produces many metabolic benefits, including weight loss, increased insulin sensitivity, and reduced fat mass, including visceral fat mass.”
Source:
Hana Kahleova presented the results of her study at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), which was held in Barcelona from September 17-20, 2019
Red wine improves gut microbiota, but moderation is the key word
To the health benefits of red wine, already suggested by several scholars, is now joined by another, documented by researchers at Kings College London, that people who drink red wine in moderation tend to have a greater diversity of gut microbiota, a key sign of gut health, than those who do not.
The study involved about three thousand drinkers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands and explored the effects of beer, cider, red wines, and white wines on the gut microbiota-that complex set of microorganisms that coexist with the human organism, with profound and not yet fully understood effects on the body. In recent years, numerous studies have linked the gut microbiota to physical and mental health, metabolism, or the efficacy of certain drugs.In general, it has been observed that its variability is an extremely positive element for health, although the composition varies greatly from one individual to another. Well, British researchers found that red wine drinkers have a higher number of bacterial species, and the result holds true regardless of age, weight, and social and economic conditions.
“We have long known about the unexplained benefits of red wine on heart health,” said Caroline Le Roy, coordinator of the team of researchers, “and our study adds a significant element, showing that moderate consumption of red wine is associated with greater diversity of microorganisms and a healthier gut microbiota, which may partly explain its long-debated beneficial effects on health.”
Playing an important role in the positive action of red wine could be polyphenols, in which grape skins are rich and which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In red wine drinkers, the authors also noted lower levels of obesity and “bad” cholesterol.
Le Roy herself pointed out that since it is an alcoholic beverage, it is good that the consumption of red wine should be moderate, lest the negative effects of alcohol exceed the positive effects of the other components of red wine. “Drinking red wine infrequently, such as once every two weeks,” he said, “seems to be sufficient to produce observable beneficial effects.
Source:
Le Roy CI, Wells PM, et al. Red Wine Consumption Associated With Increased Gut Microbiota α-diversity in 3 Independent Cohorts. Gastroenterology. 2019 Aug 23.
