There are hundreds or even thousands of species of microbes
in the human digestive system, each varying in abundance. Researches have shown that both genetics and
diet affect the variety and number of these microbes in the human gut, which
can in turn have a profound influence on human health. Obesity, diabetes, and
inflammatory bowel disease have all been linked to low diversity of bacteria in
the human gut. It is now believed that these
diseases can be alleviated or even treated by manipulating the microbes within
a person's gut through diet.
In my past posts, I have talked so much about the gut microbes—there
shouldn’t be any doubt in your mind that your food choice can make or break your
gut microbes. So, just be a smart eater—simple,
right? Well, not so fast—it turns out
that when you make smart choices on your food, there is one extra factor you
need to consider besides diet, life style, genetics and environment—your gender.
According to a study from The University of Texas at Austin,
the microbes living in the guts of males and females react differently to diet,
even when the diets are identical. The
results of the study have been published recently in the journal Nature
Communications. In the study, the
researchers studied the gut microbes in two species of fish and also conducted
an in-depth analysis of data that other researchers collected on humans. They
found that, in fish and human, diet affected the microbiota of males and females
differently. In some cases, different species of microbes would dominate, while
in others, the diversity of bacteria would be higher in one sex than the other.
Unfortunately, while the research results identify that
there is a significant difference in the gut microbiota for males and females,
the dietary data used in the analysis are organized in complex clusters of
disparate factors and do not easily translate into specific diet tips, such as
eating more vegetables or less meat. In addition,
the study was not able to clarify the reason why men and women would react
differently to changes in diet. There
are a couple of possibilities. The hormones associated with each sex could
potentially influence gut microbes, favoring one strain over another. Also, the
sexes often differ in how their immune systems function, which could affect
which microbes live and die in the digestive system.
Journal Reference: Daniel I. Bolnick, Lisa K. Snowberg,
Philipp E. Hirsch, Christian L. Lauber, Elin Org, Brian Parks, Aldons J. Lusis,
Rob Knight, J. Gregory Caporaso, Richard Svanbäck. Individual diet has
sex-dependent effects on vertebrate gut microbiota. Nature Communications,
2014; 5 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5500
Thanks for reading.
Connie
Comments
Post a Comment