|
|
|
Feed your 'good' bacteria By Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.
Scientists are beginning to unravel how friendly bacteria can protect your health and how the foods you eat can nourish them
Fiber-rich plant foods give bacteria a fighting chance. Fiber feeds the healthy, hungry microbes, so that's one of many reasons you should have lots of high-fiber plant foods, including grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, on your plate.
Medications, hygiene, age, health status, and diet can influence your microbe balance. Eating wisely is likely your best strategy for boosting the beneficial bugs. We see hints of the effects of food on intestinal bacteria when we examine diets around the globe.
In populations that consume a largely plant-based, fiber-rich diet, such as those in Africa and Asia, the predominant microbes are the beneficial ones, such as bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria, commonly known as probiotic bacteria. These crowd out the bad guys.
Fermented foods provide healthy bacteria. Eating fermented foods which contain live cultures can add healthy microbes to your intestines, explains Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo, Ph.D, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Some of the foods you eat directly increase the quantity of healthy bacteria in your gut.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". In addition to INSPIRING stories, HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here.
Read labels carefully when adding fermented foods to your diet, cautions Gazzaniga-Moloo. Some, but not all, contain live cultures.
"For example, sourdough bread is baked and fermented and meats are often smoked or cooked, rendering the once live cultures in the food product inactive. Filtering fermented beverages such as wine or beer effectively removes live cultures," she explains.
When buying fermented foods, look for the word "live" such as "live cultured" pickles, sauerkraut or yogurt. If you're unsure, call the manufacturer to ask if the product has live cultures or if the food was processed in a way that kills or removes any beneficial bacteria." Heating or washing with chlorine will kill the good microbes, she adds.
SELECTING PROBIOTICS
Friendly bacteria unlock powerful nutrients. Unlike people, bacteria have the digestive enzymes needed to break down fiber for energy. In the process, the helpful bacteria produce gases and various acids that benefit the intestine and other body systems. The acids reduce the pH of the colon, making the environment less suitable for the pathogenic bacteria.
One of the acid byproducts, butyric acid, may help prevent colon cancer by feeding the cells that line the colon and helping them to grow into healthy cells, explains Rao. And another acid turns off a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis, thus lowering blood cholesterol and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Better glucose control may be another benefit.
Bacteria in the gut also release trapped phytochemicals--health-protective compounds in plants--that otherwise would be unavailable to affect disease pathways. For example, the phytochemicals may be bound to fiber, or require metabolism by the bacteria to convert to an active compound.
Compounds in broccoli, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables, for instance, seem to have anti-inflammatory effects and decrease the risk of several cancers. These vegetables contain glucosinolates which must be activated into the biologically active form called isothiocyanates either by chewing the raw vegetable, or if cooked, through the action of the intestinal bacteria, explains Johanna W. Lampe, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition scientist and Associate Division Director, Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.
Isoflavones in soy may also exert anti-cancer effects. They're mostly in an inactive form when they enter the colon, but the gut bacteria convert them to an active form.
"Then the bacteria can also metabolize the isoflavone to additional bioactive compounds that we would never be exposed to if it weren't for our bacteria," adds Lampe. The interaction of the intestinal bacteria and the human body is anything but simple. Scientists have much more to learn.
Some studies suggest that exposure to soy foods in childhood may offer cancer protection in adulthood. One theory that requires additional research is that interactions between the intestinal microbes and isoflavones in the developing gut could affect development of the immune system and the long-term microbiotic environment of the individual.
COMMIT TO DIET CHANGES
How can you tell if you've got an ideal composition of microbes in your gut? One hint is to look at your feces.
"We can characterize people into either floaters or sinkers, depending on how their fecal material behaves," he says. Feces that float suggest healthy fermentation in which a lot of carbon dioxide gas is produced and trapped into the fecal matter. Sinkers represent poor fermentation with little trapped carbon dioxide and poorer health consequences, he explains.
DIET TIPS TO BOOST FRIENDLY BACTERIA
2. Include fermented foods, such as live cultured yogurt, pickles, and sauerkraut in your diet.
3. Consider taking a probiotic supplement, beverage or food.
(Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Interested in a private Judaic studies instructor — for free? Let us know by clicking here.
Comment by clicking here.
© 2012, BELVOIR MEDIA GROUP DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. | ||||||||||||||||||
