GutMind

“Only about 1% of people in western countries have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition in which gluten causes an inflammatory reaction in the small bowel…However, about 10% of the population self-report being gluten sensitive. “We’ve got this large number of people who are following a gluten-free diet, possibly unnecessarily,” Biesiekierski said… “Participants continued to report gastrointestinal symptoms, but these symptoms didn’t appear to be specifically triggered by gluten,” Biesiekierski said. Researchers believe the response to gluten may be explained by a nocebo effect, the opposite of the placebo effect, in which a negative outcome results from an expectation that the treatment will be harmful.” https://lnkd.in/eAzEMDzK.

“To map the microbes, astronaut and microbiologist Kathleen Rubins and other crew members swabbed more than 700 surfaces on the space station and more than 60 controls. Most of the bacteria they found were those that live on humans. Almost none was bacteria normally found in the Earth’s soil and water. Your immune system needs exposure to a wide range of beneficial microbes from places like soil, healthy animals and healthy plants,” Knight said. “Understanding whether there is a way to bottle those healthy microbes or supply them in an ecosystem in space that astronauts can maintain is a very interesting topic of research at the moment.” https://lnkd.in/eF3gerrF

"We think that 4-thiouracil metabolism is beneficial to C. diff because it acts as a nutrient to fuel the bacteria, and it also may inhibit neighboring bacteria, which would give C. diff a further competitive advantage within the gut environment," Munneke said. The TudS enzyme may represent a novel therapeutic target for treating C. diff infections. It is not present in many resident gut microbes (or in human cells), so an antimicrobial targeting it to kill C. diff might help preserve the healthy gut microbiota, he noted. The researchers also showed that adding C. diff TudS to a probiotic strain of E. coli blunted C. diff's fitness advantage in an in vitro model. "It might be possible to use a probiotic with this enzyme to diminish C. diff's ability to thrive in the gut and push it out," Munneke said. https://lnkd.in/e94Mi37d

“… Other scientists remain dubious of the idea that continuous glucose monitoring and personalised diets are any better than general healthy-eating advice. In the British Medical Journal, Margaret McCartney and Deborah Cohen criticised ZOE’s scientists for failing to establish a proper control group, or mitigate placebo effects. “There really isn’t any science behind it, it’s a lot of guff made to look like science,” says Nicola Guess of Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.” Gutmind: we strongly agree with the skeptics here- the path to a healthier gut is a lot easier; you don’t need to “hack” anything… just adopt a healthier diet (i.e. add more fruits and vegetables to your diet). ZOE, a British personal-nutrition app, is growing fast https://lnkd.in/ePYDBPHC from The Economist

“… people who consumed the most plant-based oils, such as canola, soyabean or olive oil—all of which have low levels of saturated fat—were 16% less likely to die than those who consumed the least. And, though the study could not show that butter increased the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, consuming more plant-based oils did lower that particular risk. Butter-eating was, instead, linked to more deaths from cancer. The authors found that replacing ten grams of butter daily with the same amount of plant-based oil appeared to reduce the cancer mortality risk by 17%. Observational studies like this one are rarely cut and dried, however. George Davey Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol, points out that there exist other differences in health-related behaviours between the groups: the voracious butter-eaters contained twice as many smokers, for example, as the butter-avoiders. He argues it is not possible to fully control for such differences, which means some non-dietary factors could also be at play.” https://lnkd.in/edEeqg2m

“Unless you have a nutrient deficiency, which a primary care doctor can confirm with a blood test, supplements like greens powders offer “no proven benefits,” Seres says… No matter what a supplement claims, experts say it can’t fully replace a balanced diet of foods you enjoy. Prioritizing a powder means you’re missing out on the perks of whole fruits or vegetables, particularly their fiber content: You might get 2 grams of fiber in a scoop of greens, but you’d get 6 grams from simply eating a pear.” https://lnkd.in/eCPKm_us.

“And Branyas’s microbiota – which primarily refers to the bacteria in people’s guts that has a role in keeping them healthy – mirrored that of an infant, according to the research led by University of Barcelona genetics professor Manel Esteller, a leading expert on ageing.” https://lnkd.in/eXvc_dwA.

“In their groundbreaking study, the researchers discovered that Clostridium scindens functions as a bile acid converter, transforming primary bile acids into 7α-dehydroxylated bile acids, which are linked to improved mucosal healing in the intestine…A critical component of this recovery process was identified as TGR5, a receptor that responds to the varied forms of bile acids, including those produced by Clostridium scindens. This receptor plays a significant role in stimulating the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells…They found a compelling correlation between lower levels of 7α-dehydroxylated bile acids and impaired intestinal cell renewal among UC patients. This discovery highlights the potential promise of using microbiome-targeted strategies to restore bile acid metabolism and enhance intestinal healing.” https://lnkd.in/eYKwzZSG

"Don’t fall for the marketing claims that tout probiotics. To keep your gut microbes happy, eat a fiber-rich diet." GutMind: This is GENERALLY good advice. https://lnkd.in/ehP_CseF

“The idea is to create a genetically engineered metabolite factory in the gut.” GutMind: this is our mission! https://lnkd.in/eZgnpUQ6