A diet rich in meat and dairy products leads to a very rapid alteration of the flora, or microorganisms, present in our intestine
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousWe are what we eat. This phrase is not simply an aphorism that runs on the web but a reality with which we have to clash every day to the detriment of our health. An axiom that we can experience firsthand by changing our wrong eating habits and verifying the benefits on ourselves.
In this regard, fromHarvard University come the results of a new study published in Nature that show how a diet rich in meat and dairy products leads to a very rapid alteration of the flora, or microorganisms, present in our intestine. In reality, according to the researchers, the effects of these foods are immediate on our intestine where, following the intake of these foods, the number and types of bacteria present change.
To reach this conclusion, the scientists selected a group of volunteers who they made to consume for some days a meat and cheese diet, and then switch, after a break of a few days, to a diet rich in plant-based fibers to monitor the effect of these two "eating styles" on the bacterial flora analyzing the bacteria present in the intestine, before, during and after each diet.
What they noticed was that within two days after consuming foods of animal origin the bacteria of the Alistipes species, He is alive and Bacteroides were increased and free field also had bacteria, fungi and viruses present in ingested foods that rapidly colonized the intestines. Result then? A more inflamed intestine.
Lawrence David, microbiologist who participated in the research, admits that the meat and cheese diet provided to the volunteers was extreme (breakfast, lunch and dinner were always based on animal proteins), however, it seems to have painted a clear picture of the result that a diet rich in meat and cheese has on our organism.
To comment on the news was, among other things, the Dr. Purna Kashyap, Gastroenterologist for the Mayo Clinic of Minnesota who better specified the importance of this discovery, however, making an important note regarding the bacteria identified: “These bacteria are members of a community that has lived in harmony with us for thousands of years. You can't just pick one member of this whole team and say he's bad. Most of the bacteria in the gut are here for our benefit, but if they find the right environment, they can turn against us and cause disease. "
So the key to the discussion lies precisely in not finding the right environment for excessive reproduction or the rooting of other much more dangerous microorganisms. Dr Kashyap continued, “We want to look at diet as a way of treating patients. This study demonstrates that short-term dietary interventions can change microbial composition and function ”and this may open the door to development in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
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- 3 categories of foods you should avoid
