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How to maintain a healthy gut microbiome in 2024

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-young-1491751">Rosie Young</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mariam-gamal-el-din-1492103">Mariam Gamal El-Din</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yang-yue-1391869">Yang Yue</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a> We all know by now that the pillars of a healthy lifestyle are regular exercise, eating enough fruit and vegetables, a good night’s sleep and staying hydrated. All of these things also support the gut microbiome – all the microbes that live in your digestive system – but there are some extras to consider if you want to optimise your gut health. It’s widely accepted among those of us who study the gut microbiome that a healthy gut is one that contains a <a href="https://theconversation.com/diverse-gut-microbiomes-give-better-protection-against-harmful-bugs-now-we-know-why-219734">diverse range of microbes</a> and has an effective gut barrier (the lining between your intestine and bloodstream). Let’s look at diet first. It probably has the biggest influence on your gut health. Diets high in fibre, unsaturated fatty acids (found in fish and nuts), and polyphenols (chemicals found in plants) will <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-physiol-031522-092054">promote a healthy gut</a>, while those high in saturated fats, additives (such as “E numbers”) and sugar can harm gut health. So avoid consuming a lot of ultra-processed foods. Emulsifiers, a common additive in ultra-processed foods, have been found to cause <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/15/3049">intestinal inflammation and a leaky gut</a>. The most common ones to look out for on packaging are lecithin, polysorbates (such as E433) and carrageenan. These additives are also common in protein supplements, whose popularity has steadily been increasing since the <a href="https://theconversation.com/decades-of-hype-turned-protein-into-a-superfood-and-spawned-a-multibillion-dollar-industry-163711#:%7E:text=Global%20retail%20sales%20of%20protein,around%20half%20of%20the%20market.">early 2000s</a>, especially among gym goers looking to bulk up. <h2>Prebiotics and probiotics</h2> It would be unreasonable and unrealistic to tell you to avoid foods with additives, but trying to limit consumption, while increasing your consumption of prebiotic and probiotic foods, could help protect your gut. Dietary fibre is a good example of a prebiotic, which is defined as a non-digestible food ingredient that can stimulate the growth of good bacteria <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41575-020-00375-4">in the colon</a>. As the main food source of your gut microbes, it is important to consume enough if you want your microbiome to flourish. Government guidelines suggest around 30g of fibre a day for adults and 15-25g for children. Most prebiotics come from plant foods, so getting a high diversity of plant products in your diet will keep your gut healthy. The latest recommendation is to include 30 plant species in your <a href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.00031-18">diet per week</a>. This may sound hard to achieve but bear in mind that both good-quality coffee and dark chocolate count. Probiotics, the live bacteria and yeasts themselves, can be easily consumed through fermented food products, drinks or supplements. Choosing a high-quality probiotic is important. While there is an increasing amount on the market in supplement, powder and tablet form, they can be expensive. Fermented foods can be just as effective, but a whole lot cheaper. Yoghurts, cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi and fermented soy products, such as tempeh and miso, are examples of fermented foods that not only support the healthy balance of your gut bacteria but provide a good source of fibres, vitamins and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5425481/">other nutrients</a>. To get the most benefit from these products, look for those in the fridge section labelled as containing “live cultures” or “live bacteria”, with minimal ingredients and no heating or pasteurisation processing. Aside from what you eat, how often you eat could also affect your gut health. Fasting can allow repair of the gut lining and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X23000574?via%3Dihub#s0085">reduce inflammation</a>. <h2>Medication and the microbiome</h2> Medications can directly and indirectly affect our gut health. You may have heard that antibiotics are bad for your gut microbiome, especially those which are “broad spectrum” and will kill off not only harmful bacteria but beneficial ones too. This can be associated with <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/4/3074">gastrointestinal problems and decreased immunity</a>, especially after prolonged use. Of course, doctors do not prescribe antibiotics lightly, so it is important to take them as instructed. If you are concerned, discuss the potential effects on your gut health with your GP. Although you may not have much say over which medications you take, there are a few strategies to support your gut during and after medication. Staying healthy by prioritising good sleep and managing stress levels is also important, but increasing your intake of both <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40553-x">prebiotics</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20499361231154443">probiotics</a> at this time may <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/4/3074">lessen the blow</a> of medication on your microbiome. It is always recommended you check with your doctor before introducing a probiotic supplement in the rare case that it may not be suitable alongside the treatment. Microbiome research is continuously shedding new light on the intricate connections between the microbes that live in our gut and our wellbeing. So watch this space. In the meantime, follow the above advice – it will help you maintain a healthy gut microbiome in 2024 and beyond. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that guar and xantham gum are emulsifiers.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218744/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-young-1491751">Rosie Young</a>, PhD Candidate, Gut Microbes in Health and Disease, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mariam-gamal-el-din-1492103">Mariam Gamal El-Din</a>, Visiting Postdoctoral Scientist, Food Microbiome Interactions, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yang-yue-1391869">Yang Yue</a>, PhD Candidate in Plants, Food and Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/quadram-institute-5557">Quadram Institute</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-maintain-a-healthy-gut-microbiome-in-2024-218744">original article</a>.

Body

Why friendships could be good for your gut

As well as being good for our mental health, it seems that having plenty of friends can be good for the health of our gut, a new study says. Scientists looked at a group of Rhesus Macaques living on Cayo Santiago, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, and found that the more sociable primate had more beneficial bacteria and less harmful bacteria than less social monkeys. To measure just how social the monkeys were, the researchers measured the time each monkey spent grooming or being groomed by others, as well as the number of grooming partners they had. “Macaques are highly social animals and grooming is their main way of making and maintaining relationships, so grooming provides a good indicator of social interactions,” Dr Kali Watson, a cognitive scientist at the University of Colorado, said. They also collected faecal samples from the monkeys and performed DNA sequencing to measure the composition and diversity of gut microbes that were present. “Engagement in social interactions was positively related to the abundance of certain gut microbes with beneficial immunological functions, and negatively related to the abundance of potentially pathogenic members of the microbiota,” Dr Philip Burnet, who researches the influence of the gut microbiome on brain health at the University of Oxford, said. They found that the most sociable monkeys had higher levels of protective bacteria, including Faecalibacterium, which has anti-inflammatory properties, and Prevotella, which has been associated with better immunity against pathogens and anti-inflammatory effects. Meanwhile, bacteria such as Streptococcus, which cause diseases such as strep throat and pneumonia, were found in greater abundance in the less social monkeys. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/12/monkey-guts1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Frontiers Press As for why this happens, the researchers proposed that it may be to do with the transmission of bacteria through physical contact, such as grooming. “The relationship between social behaviour and microbial abundances may be the direct result of social transmission of microbes, for example through grooming,” Dr Katerina Johnson, a researcher at the University of Oxford, said. “It could also be an indirect effect, as monkeys with fewer friends may be more stressed, which then affects the abundance of these microbes. “As well as behaviour influencing the microbiome, we also know it is a reciprocal relationship, whereby the microbiome can in turn affect the brain and behaviour.” The millions of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms that live in our gut - and make up our <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/mind/your-gut-s-second-brain-may-have-evolved-before-your-head-s-brain">gut microbiome</a> - have become an area of interest for researchers, particularly when it comes to digestive health and the influence it has on our nervous system, in a relationship called the <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/mind/how-gut-bacteria-could-affect-your-mental-health">‘gut-brain axis’</a>. Previous studies have shown that the levels of different species of these organisms in our guts have been linked to depression, schizophrenia and even autoimmune conditions such as Crohn’s disease and colitis. The gut even creates neurotransmitters, hormones and other molecules the brain needs. With this study finding that being social can influence our gut, which in turn can influence our health more generally, it shows just how crucial social interactions are for our health. Dr Robin Dunbar, a psychology professor at the University of Oxford, said: “As our society is increasingly substituting online interactions for real-life ones, these important research findings underline the fact that as primates, we evolved not only in a social world but a microbial one as well.” The researchers published their findings in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1032495" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers in Microbiology</a>. Image: Frontiers Press

Caring

Wooden shipwrecks turn out to be thriving habitats for seafloor microbiomes

The ocean floor is a graveyard to over three million shipwrecks, most of them made of wood. While they do alter the microbial habitat of the seafloor, new research has found that the impact is not all bad, and that they may even boost productivity. “Microbial communities are important to be aware of and understand because they provide early and clear evidence of how human activities change life in the ocean,” says author Dr Leila Hamdan of the University of Southern Mississippi, US. A study on the microbial life around two 19th-century shipwreck sites in the Gulf of Mexico investigates the diversity among these human-made habitats. Samples of biofilms were collected using pieces of pine and oak placed at the shipwreck, and up to 200 metres away from the shipwreck. After fourth months, microbes were measured using gene sequencing, including all bacteria, archaea and fungi “Ocean scientists have known that natural hard habitats, some of which have been present for hundreds to thousands of years, shape the biodiversity of life on the seafloor,” says Hamdan. “This work is the first to show that built habitats (places or things made or modified by humans) impact the films of microbes (biofilms) coating these surfaces as well. These biofilms are ultimately what enable hard habitats to transform into islands of biodiversity.” The results showed that bacteria preferred oak over pine, but that the type of wood had less impact on archaea or fungi diversity. Diversity also varied depending on the proximity to the wreck site, where surprisingly, the greatest diversity was not at the wreck site, but peaked at 125 metres away. The depth of the water, and proximity to a nutrient source like the Mississippi River delta, also played a part in the distribution of biofilms. Though this study informs on wooden shipwrecks and the impact on microbial diversity, there are also thousands of oil and gas platforms and oil pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico alone that warrant further research to understand their microbial impacts too. “While we are aware human impacts on the seabed are increasing through the multiple economic uses, scientific discovery is not keeping pace with how this shapes the biology and chemistry of natural undersea landscapes,” says Hamdan. “We hope this work will begin a dialogue that leads to research on how built habitats are already changing the deep sea.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/shipwrecks-habitats-microbiomes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Qamariya Nasrullah.

Cruising

Coronavirus: How to keep your gut microbiome healthy to fight COVID-19

These are unprecedented times. COVID-19 (the illness caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-pandemic-who.html">officially been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation</a>. Many countries have sealed their borders and put the population under voluntary or enforced lockdown. Cultural and sporting events have been cancelled or postponed – including <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51909518">Euro 2020</a> and the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51942898">Glastonbury festival</a> – pubs and restaurants are closing, and people are <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51941987">panic buying staples such as toilet paper and pasta</a>. But although it can feel like the situation is out of control, there are still plenty of things you can do to protect your health and that of the people around you. First and foremost, follow national <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/">guidance for preventing COVID-19</a>: avoid spreading the virus and cut your chances of catching it by regularly washing your hands, avoiding touching your face and reducing social contact. This is particularly important for protecting at-risk groups including people with existing health conditions, the elderly and pregnant women. As well as protecting yourself from the virus on the outside, you can also build up your defences from the inside by strengthening your immune system. Many people, especially the young, develop only very mild disease. The immune system is complex and highly responsive to the world around us, so it’s not surprising that many factors affect its function. What’s important to know is that most of these factors are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302727/">not hard-coded in our genes</a> but are influenced by lifestyle and the world around us. One thing that you can control immediately is the health of the trillions of microbes living in your gut, collectively known as the microbiome. Recent research has shown that the gut microbiome plays an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6104162/">essential role in the body’s immune response to infection</a> and in maintaining overall health. As well as mounting a response to infectious pathogens like coronavirus, a healthy gut microbiome also helps to prevent potentially dangerous immune over-reactions <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacks-your-cells.html">that damage the lungs and other vital organs</a>. These excessive immune responses can cause respiratory failure and death. (This is also why we should talk about “supporting” rather than “boosting” the immune system, as an overactive immune response can be as risky as an underactive one.) Healthy microbiome, healthy gut, healthy body Rather than taking supplements that claim to “boost your immune system” with no good supporting evidence, the food you eat has a big impact on the range and type of microbes in the gut. A <a href="https://joinzoe.com/2019/07/23/improve-microbiome-diversity-gut-health">diverse microbiome is a healthy microbiome</a>, containing many different species that each play their part in immunity and health. Microbiome diversity <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007727">declines as you get older</a>, which may help to explain some of the age-related changes we see in immune responses, so it’s even more necessary to maintain a healthy microbiome throughout life. The fine details of the interactions between the gut microbiome and the immune system are not fully understood. But there seems to be a link between the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12873-4">makeup of the microbiome and inflammation</a> – one of the hallmarks of the immune response. Gut bacteria produce many beneficial chemicals and also <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181218123123.htm">activate vitamin A</a> in food, which helps to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/">regulate the immune system</a>. Eat to feed your microbiome The best way to increase microbiome diversity is by <a href="https://joinzoe.com/2019/08/20/how-to-eat-more-plants">eating a wide range of plant-based foods</a>, which are high in fibre, and limiting <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/boosting-immunity-can-help-your-body-battle-coronavirus-20200312-p549gc.html">ultra-processed</a> foods including junk food. Following a Mediterranean diet has also been shown to <a href="https://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2020/01/31/gutjnl-2019-319654">improve gut microbiome diversity and reduce inflammation</a>: eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains; healthy fats like high-quality extra virgin olive oil; and lean meat or fish. Avoid alcohol, salt, sweets and sugary drinks, and artificial sweeteners or other additives. If you are concerned about getting hold of fresh produce while self-isolating or quarantined, frozen fruit, berries and vegetables are <a href="https://www.insider.com/which-is-better-fresh-vs-frozen-vegetables-2018-6">just as healthy as their fresh counterparts</a> and will last much longer than the currently recommended two-week isolation period. Canned fruit, beans and pulses are another long-lasting option. You can also support your microbiome by regularly eating natural yoghurt and artisan cheeses, which contain live microbes (<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-behind-probiotics-and-choosing-one-that-works-132804">probiotics</a>). Another source of natural probiotics are bacteria and yeast-rich drinks like kefir (fermented milk) or kombucha (fermented tea). Fermented vegetable-based foods, such as Korean kimchi (and German sauerkraut) are another good option. Whether you’re shopping for yourself, your family or for elderly relatives or friends, choosing foods that support a healthy gut microbiome is much more important than stockpiling toilet paper. <a href="https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/coronavirus-and-your-mental-wellbeing/">Managing your mental health</a>, staying physically active and getting enough sleep will also help to keep your immune system in good shape. And don’t forget to wash your hands! <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-spector-105795">Tim Spector</a>, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kings-college-london-1196">King's College London</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-to-keep-your-gut-microbiome-healthy-to-fight-covid-19-134158">original article</a>.

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