The way to a man’s heart is through his gut microbiota

It’s no secret that diet plays an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Regulatory agencies from around the world recommend we eat more fruit, vegetables and whole-grain cereals or complex carbohydrates for their ability to protect against chronic diseases like CVD. They also recommend we limit our consumption of red meat and saturated fat, which epidemiological studies show can increase CVD risk. However, we still do not fully understand how these foods or dietary habits work in terms of determining disease risk. Recent studies showing that certain probiotic bacteria can lower blood cholesterol levels by inhibiting fat absorption hint that deep within the darkest secrets of the gut, or rather the gut microbiome, lie answers to dietary protection from chronic disease. In this review, we present current evidence supporting a mechanistic role for the gut microbiome, or the 100 trillion bacteria which inhabit our intestines, in both dietary protection from CVD and conversely, in production of toxic metabolites which cause CVD. It appears that not only is the balance of bacteria altered in CVD and associated diseases like obesity and diabetes, but that these aberrant bacterial profiles may play an active pathological role by producing toxic metabolites from compounds found in red meat. Conversely, the balance of bacteria in the gut, and their metabolic output readily responds to dietary fiber and plant polyphenols. Indeed it appears that when exposed to a plentif...

Source: The Nutrition Society - March 4, 2014 Category: Nutrition Authors: NS Publications Team Source Type: news