To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Permaculturist Health <pchealth@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [pchealth] [Permaculturist Health] High-fiber diet keeps gut microbes from eating the colon's lining, protects against infection, animal study shows
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 15:57:45 -0500
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High-fiber diet keeps gut microbes from eating the colon's lining, protects against infection, animal study shows
Date:
November 17, 2016
Source:
University of Michigan Health System
Summary:
When
microbes inside the digestive system don't get the natural fiber that
they rely on for food, they begin to munch on the natural layer of mucus
that lines the gut, eroding it to the point where dangerous invading
bacteria can infect the colon wall, new research in mice shows.
Despite
the accepted health benefits of consuming dietary fiber, little is
known about the mechanisms by which fiber deprivation impacts the gut
microbiota and alters disease risk. Using a gnotobiotic mouse model, in
which animals were colonized with a synthetic human gut microbiota
composed of fully sequenced commensal bacteria, we elucidated the
functional interactions between dietary fiber, the gut microbiota, and
the colonic mucus barrier, which serves as a primary defense against
enteric pathogens. We show that during chronic or intermittent dietary
fiber deficiency, the gut microbiota resorts to host-secreted mucus
glycoproteins as a nutrient source, leading to erosion of the colonic
mucus barrier. Dietary fiber deprivation, together with a
fiber-deprived, mucus-eroding microbiota, promotes greater epithelial
access and lethal colitis by the mucosal pathogen, Citrobacter
rodentium. Our work reveals intricate pathways linking diet, the gut
microbiome, and intestinal barrier dysfunction, which could be exploited
to improve health using dietary therapeutics.
“The
conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits
and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic
society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society
constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of
our country.”—Edward Bernays, Propaganda
[pchealth] [Permaculturist Health] High-fiber diet keeps gut microbes from eating the colon's lining, protects against infection, animal study shows,
Lawrence London, 11/21/2016