The microbial community that lives within our gut contributes greatly to not only our general health, but also to factors such as our weight as well. Encouraging a diverse and healthy community of microbes living in the gut can be largely influenced by what you eat or, in this case, drink. Recent findings suggest consuming coffee, tea, and also wine is associated with a healthier community of microbes in your gut! Read more about this study here over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee:
Scientists have some great news for those who love coffee, tea and wine: Drinking any of these beverages is associated with a healthier and more diverse community of microbes living in the gut.
The opposite is true for consuming sugary drinks and whole milk, as well as for eating a lot of carbohydrates and indulging in frequent snacks, researchers reported this week in the journal Science.
In other words, when it comes to the makeup of your gut microbiome, you are what you eat — and drink.
“In total we found 60 dietary factors that influence diversity,” said Dr. Alexandra Zhernakova, a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the first author of the study, in a statement. “But there is good correlation between diversity and health: greater diversity is better.”
Your microbiome is the community of mostly beneficial bacteria, fungi and viruses that live on and in your body. These microscopic organisms earn their keep by helping you process food and regulating your immune system. Experts believe that the makeup of a person’s microbial community can also play a role in mood disorders, obesity and other diseases including irritable bowel syndrome.
But the study of the microbiome is relatively new, and scientists are still working out exactly what a healthy microbiome looks like.
Zhernakova and her colleagues helped fill in that picture by analyzing the microbes inside the guts of more than 1,100 people. They identified 126 factors that were correlated with changes in the makeup of an individual’s microbial community. These include 60 related to diet, 12 associated with diseases, 19 linked with drugs and four tied to smoking.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically assess such a broad range of host and environmental factors in relation to gut microbiome and at such a large scale,” said Jingyuan Fu, a systems geneticist at the University of Groningen who worked with Zhernakova.
The researchers analyzed stool samples of 1,135 Dutch participants in the Lifelines-DEEP study. The participants collected their own stool samples at home and then immediately put them in the freezer.
No more than a few days later, the samples were transported to labs at the university, where they remained frozen until they were processed by researchers. This ensured that none of the bacteria had a chance to grow or change from the time the sample was collected. Also, it guaranteed that all samples were treated the same way.
“In situations where samples are sent by post at room temperature, the time of the delivery for every sample is different,” she said. “That situation can lead to the growth of bacteria during transportation and adds additional ‘noise’ to the findings.”
After analyzing the samples and comparing them with other data collected in the Lifelines-DEEP study, the scientists found that consuming fruits, vegetables and yogurt positively influenced microbial diversity in the gut. So did drinking tea, wine, coffee and buttermilk.
On the flip side, sugary sodas and savory snacks were associated with lower levels of diversity. So was having irritable bowel syndrome and smoking during pregnancy.
SRC: Want to keep reading? Find the rest of the article here: www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-wine-coffee-microbiome-20160429-story.html