A microbial community thrives within us, regulating important functions including metabolism, immunity and inflammation.
Imbalances in the gut microbiota, known as dysbiosis, can alter the immune response and induce a disease state (1).
The consequences of dysbiosis can lead to several pathological disorders, including cardiac, metabolic and autoimmune diseases (2, 3).
The composition of our gut microbiota gradually changes based on our diet.
Have a look to the this video:
Western-style diets and your leaky gut
A Western-style diet high in simple sugars and saturated fats increases the number of harmful bacteria in our gut, leading to disruption of intestinal barrier integrity, immune dysregulation and inflammation (“leaky gut”) (4, 5).
Meanwhile, whole-foods, plant-heavy diets with high prebiotic, probiotic and dietary fibre content such as the Mediterranean and some vegetarian diets have been found to benefit the gut microbiota, protecting intestinal and immune health (6).
By altering the gut microbial population composition using diet, the intestinal lining can be regenerated and immune health restored.
Recent studies suggest that we can begin to heal diseases associated with leaky gut by adopting more whole foods, plant-oriented eating habits.
References in this article and recommended readings:
1. Zhang, Y. J., Li, S., Gan, R. Y., Zhou, T., Xu, D. P., & Li, H. B. (2015). Impacts of gut bacteria on human health and diseases. International journal of molecular sciences, 16(4), 7493–7519.)
2. Spor, A., Koren, O., & Ley, R. (2011). Unravelling the effects of the environment and host genotype on Lobionda, S.; Sittipo, P.; Kwon, H.Y.; Lee, Y.K. The Role of Gut Microbiota in Intestinal Inflammation with Respect to Diet and Extrinsic Stressors. Microorganisms 2019, 7, 271. the gut microbiome. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 9(4), 279–290;
3. Sittipo, P., Lobionda, S., Lee, Y. K., & Maynard, C. L. (2018). Intestinal microbiota and the immune system in metabolic diseases. Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea), 56(3), 154–162.
4. Zeng, M. Y., Inohara, N., & Nuñez, G. (2017). Mechanisms of inflammation-driven bacterial dysbiosis in the gut. Mucosal immunology, 10(1), 18–26.
5. Lobionda, S., Sittipo, P., Kwon, H. Y., & Lee, Y. K. (2019). The Role of Gut Microbiota in Intestinal Inflammation with Respect to Diet and Extrinsic Stressors. Microorganisms, 7(8), 271.
6. Gentile, C. L., & Weir, T. L. (2018). The gut microbiota at the intersection of diet and human health. Science (New York, N.Y.), 362(6416), 776–780.