Inflammation in the body may not always be the cause of chronic diseases, however it is related to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and many cancers.
A ten-week Stanford University School of Medicine study conducted by Dr Christopher Gardener and other researchers in 2021 found that a diet high in fermented foods boosted microbiome diversity, helped decrease inflammation and improved immune responses. The aim of the study was to find out the impact fermented foods might have on gut health and how this would compare to eating a normal healthy diet of fibre-rich foods including fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. “We wanted to conduct a proof-of-concept study that could test whether microbiota-targeted food could be an avenue for combatting the overwhelming rise in chronic inflammatory diseases,” Dr Gardner said.
36 healthy adults were divided in into two groups. Group one increased their consumption of fibre-rich plant foods, while group two ate fermented foods, including vegetable brine drinks, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and kimchi.
The high fibre and fermented food diets were both chosen due to their potential health benefits.
At the end of the ten-week study, the two diets resulted in different effects on the gut microbiome and the immune system. Blood and stool samples were collected from participants and analysed during a three-week pre-trial period, during the diet, and a four-week period after the diet. The fermented food group showed a reduction in 19 inflammatory compounds including interleukin- 6. Interleukin-6 is an inflammatory protein which becomes elevated in diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. In contrast, the high-fibre diet group did not show any decrease in these same inflammatory compounds and the diversity of gut microbes stayed the same.
The study found that the more fermented foods people ate, the greater the diversity of microbial species in their guts. Yet, surprisingly, just 5 percent of the new microbes that were detected in their guts appeared to come directly from the fermented foods that they ate. “The vast majority came from somewhere else, and we don’t know where,” said Justin Sonnenburg, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford. “I think there were either low level microbes below the level of detection that bloomed, or the fermented foods did something that allowed for the rapid recruitment of other microbes into the gut environment. This is a stunning finding; it provides one of the first examples of how a simple change in diet can reproducibly remodel the microbiota across a cohort of healthy adults.” This type of research is so valuable as it continues to spotlight the health benefits of fermented foods!
Source: med.stanford.edu news/all-news/2021/07/fermented-food-diet-increases-microbiome-diversity-lowers-inflammation
