What is good for our intestines? Are there any foods that can help the bacterial flora more than others? Two interesting studies published in the journal Science underline how certain foods and drinks have a positive effect on the balance of intestinal bacteria between these chocolate and red wine.
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What is good for our intestines? There are gods foods that more than others can help the bacterial flora? Two interesting studies published in the journal Science underline how some foods and drinks have a positive effect on the balance of intestinal bacteria, among them chocolate and red wine.
In scientific terms we speak of microbiome, i.e. the population of microorganisms that inhabit our intestine: billions of small living beings that have very important functions for our health. In fact, the most recent studies on intestinal bacterial flora have seen how in particular some bacteria are essential for producing vitamins and hormones, regulating digestion, defending against pathogens, promoting the absorption of nutrients and more. It is no coincidence that theintestine is currently considered a "second brain".
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But what did the two studies cited in Science in particular notice? The experts went in search of the main factors affecting the microbiome, not only food and drink but also drugs such as those against menopause, contraceptives as well as the most common antibiotics.
To reach the conclusions that we report, both researches have afeces of a patient sample to evaluate the different composition of the intestinal bacterial flora by comparing it with factors such as age, sex, lifestyle, degree of health, etc. and then make all the necessary assessments.
The first study was performed by the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology in Belgium and the second by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In the first case, the research team coordinated by Jeroen Raes noted how in particular about 70 factors influence the intestinal flora, the macro areas that affected the most were obviously nutrition and medication.
Regarding food and drink, the analysis of the intestinal flora showed that people who ate a lot of chocolate or beer had large amounts of bacteria from the Lachnospiraceae family. In general anyway chocolate, red wine and other foods favored the diversity of the intestinal flora which, according to experts, it would translate into greater well-being intestinal and more.
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The researchers then managed to link the presence or absence of certain families of bacteria with the appearance of some diseases including colon cancer and ulcerative colitis. In the first case, the Fusobacterium are very present while in the second there is a drastic decrease in the Faecalibacterium.
In second study, carried out in the Netherlands from the team of Alexandra Zhernakova, very similar data were obtained. The coordinator commented:
“In total, we have identified 60 food-related factors that influence microbiome diversity. What this exactly means is difficult to say, but there is a good correlation between diversity and health status: a great diversity is to be preferred ".
In particular, some foods would make our intestinal flora more varied and healthy. Red wine, coffee, tea and yogurt first of all, according to the data obtained from the research, while a On the other hand, foods rich in simple sugars had a negative effect on biodiversity in the intestine.
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This does not mean at all that we must abuse some foods and drinks, as always, on the contrary, moderation is recommended. It is in fact data still to be investigated to better understand how to intervene in cases where you want to modify the microbiome to promote the health of the intestine and consequently of the whole body.
This is probably the first step towards a future in which intestinal bacteria can be acted upon to cure certain diseases. But we are only at the beginning. There is still a lot to discover about this fascinating world made up of bacteria and microorganisms that populate our intestines.
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