Gut microbiome, article 2

WOMAN, FABRICE LEROUGE/ALAMY
Your Gut
Can Make
You Slim
Looking to dump some
extra pounds?
Here’s a hint: Work
those good bacteria.
B y AV IVA PAT Z
NOVEMBER 2014
HEALTH.COM
45
BEST SHAPE | Good Gut Diet
now, as you’re sitting
there, devouring this
magazine, there’s a battle
raging in your belly.
Some 1,000 species of
bacteria are duking it out,
trying to establish
dominance. Why should
you care? Because whether
the good bacteria in your
gut or the bad triumph
doesn’t just decide how well
you digest your dinner,
respond to allergens and
fend off diseases—it also
helps determine how
much weight you’re likely
to gain. Or lose.
“Simply put, if you get
the microbiome—that
collection of bacteria inside
you—healthy, you will
lose weight,” says Raphael
Kellman, MD, a New York
City physician and author
of The Microbiome Diet.
“It’s less about eating a
certain percentage of
carbohydrates, protein and
fat than about correcting
the overgrowth of
unhealthy bacteria, which
is making you crave the
wrong foods, triggering
inflammation.”
A flurry of groundbreaking findings are
helping to connect the
dots about how our gut
bacteria may shape our,
well, shape. In a study in the
British Journal of Nutrition,
obese women who took a
probiotic supplement (of
the bacteria Lactobacillus
rhamnosus) lost twice as
much weight and fat over
about six months—and were
better at keeping it off—as
those who took a placebo.
Probiotics may have helped
by controlling the women’s
appetites, which seem
to have waned as their
microbiomes changed.
46
HEALTH.COM
NOVEMBER 2014
Unhealthy gut bacteria
also produce food cravings:
A study published in
BioEssays suggests that
some microbes may drive
us to eat doughnuts or
another tempting treat.
These gut bugs send
chemical messages to
the brain that sway our
appetite and mood—
perhaps making us feel
anxious until we gobble a
square of dark chocolate or
a T-bone steak.
Fortunately, we can
begin to take control by
feeding our microbiome
the right foods. “I tell my
patients, ‘The bacteria
follow the food,’” says
gastroenterologist
Robynne Chutkan, MD,
founder of the Digestive
Center for Women in
Chevy Chase, Md., and
author of Gutbliss. “What
we eat dictates the kind
of bacteria we grow in our
gut garden.”
This is big news: There
are trillions of microbes in
your belly that will—if you
feed them well—help you
fight flab and win.
GUT CHECK #1
Get Your Two P’s
Basically, it all begins
with probiotics and
prebiotics, components
of food believed to play
an important role in
improving gut health.
Probiotics are a type of
good bacteria, similar to
the ones that already reside
in your gut. Ingesting
these organisms aids
digestion and helps change
and repopulate intestinal
bacteria to balance what
doctors refer to as “gut
flora.” Prebiotics are
plant-fiber compounds,
also found in food, that
Take your
pick! These
plump red
beauties
are a great
source of
prebiotics.
Good-Gut Foods
Down these to get your fill of beneficial bacteria.
PROBIOTICS
Dairy (yogurt, kefir,
buttermilk and aged
cheeses such as Gouda
and Cheddar)
Vegetables (brined pickles
and olives, unpasteurized
sauerkraut, kimchi and
pickled vegetables such as
beets)
Soy products (miso,
tempeh, soy sauce and
tamari)
Fresh sourdough bread
Kombucha
pass undigested through
the upper part of the
gastrointestinal tract and
help stimulate the growth
of good bacteria. When
pre- and probiotics are
combined, they become an
intestinal power couple (or,
in blunter terms, they kick
nutritional butt).
PREBIOTICS
Veggies (Jerusalem
artichokes, asparagus,
leeks, onion and garlic,
chicory, dandelion greens,
tomatoes, parsnips,
rutabaga, celery, salsify,
burdock and yakon)
Fruit (berries and bananas)
Whole grains (oatmeal,
barley, flaxseed)
Legumes (lentils, kidney
beans, chickpeas, navy
beans, white beans and
black beans)
GUT CHECK #2
Go Live
Fermented foods deliver
probiotics directly to the
gut. A cup of yogurt a day?
It’s a nice start. Look for
products that say “live and
active cultures” on the
label, and be careful when
it comes to fruit-infused
TOMATOES, TOM SCH IERLITZ/TRUNK ARCHIVE
CONSIDER THIS: RIGHT
© Procter & Gamble, Inc. 2014
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* THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION.
THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.
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and Meta Health Bars, may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol. One serving of Metamucil has 2.4
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BEST SHAPE | Good Gut Diet
GUT CHECK #4
flavors: Some are loaded
with sugar, which can
feed bad bugs, so be sure
to check the ingredients
and aim for fewer than
15 grams per serving. For
even more probiotics, try
Greek yogurt or kefir, a
tangy dairy drink that’s
packed with good bugs. A
2011 Harvard study found
that yogurt was more
strongly linked to weight
loss than any other health
food. In fact, people who
ate an extra serving a day
lost nearly a pound every
four years.
Micro Management
Mix Up Your Menu
GUT CHECK #3
Down Some Fiber
It does more than fill you
up: Research shows that
foods that are high in fiber
help promote the growth
of friendly bacteria. Case
in point: In a University of
Illinois study, people who
ate high-fiber snack bars
experienced a growth of
anti-inflammatory bacteria
in their bellies. Check
out Good-Gut Foods, on the
previous page, to see which
picks give you the most
bang for your bite.
Eat an assortment of foods
to encourage a more varied
metropolis in your belly.
Recent studies suggest
that the intestines of lean
people look more like
bustling cities than sleepy
towns. (Translation:
They’re densely populated
and diverse.) One study
showed that individuals
who had a healthy weight,
body mass index, waist
circumference and
blood sugar level were
more apt to have high levels
of three different types
of bacteria—Firmicutes,
Bifidobacteria and
Clostridium leptum.
What’s more, in a pair of
French studies, people with
diverse gut microbiomes
were less likely to be obese
or at risk of diabetes. Plus,
their intestinal ecosystems
were home to fewer proinflammatory bacteria.
It’s easy to change up
your meals: If you had
salad with grilled chicken
yesterday, for example, go
with a fish taco or a tofu
stir-fry today.
Berries and
yogurt are
a winning
combo for gut
health.
Build a
waist-friendly
microbiome
with these
two simple
tweaks to
your lifestyle.
Get off the
couch…but sit
out the ultramarathon.
New findings,
published in the
journal Gut, show
that being fit may
boost your gut
health directly. In
the study, athletes
had double
the diversity of
good bugs in their
bellies as nonathletes, plus better
metabolism and
less inflammation.
Just don’t sign
up for a 100-mile
race; extreme
stress on the
body may weaken
your gut lining,
allowing bacteria
to escape into
the bloodstream.
(Regular marathon
training is fine.)
Tough out that cold.
A new study,
published in the
journal Cell, suggests
that antibiotic
GUT CHECK #5
Skip Bad-News
Foods
What you don’t eat is every
bit as crucial as what you do
add to your diet. Keep your
gut flora fit by cutting back
on these offenders.
Refined carbs
Fatty and sugary foods not
only tend to lack fiber—
which is ideal food for the
microbiome—but can also
cause bad bacteria to thrive.
And let’s face it: If you’re
pounding that bag of potato
chips, chances are you’re
not munching on celery
sticks, blueberries and
other gut-friendly eats.
exposure early
in life may make
us more prone
to obesity by
disrupting
the bacterial
landscape of
our gut and
reprogramming
our metabolism.
Says study author
Martin Blaser,
MD, director of
NYU’s Human
Microbiome
Program: “The
effects of the
antibiotics on
the microbiome
appear to amplify
the effects of a
high-fat diet.”
Animal protein
A diet heavy in fat and
protein (such as meat
and cheese) feeds a type
of bacteria, Bilophilia,
that has been linked to
inflammation. Lawrence
David, PhD, assistant
professor at Duke
University’s Institute for
Genome Sciences and
Policy, saw the levels of
this bacteria shoot up in
study participants scarfing
ribs and brisket, but not
in those eating squash
and lentils. Dr. Kellman
suggests limiting red meat
to once a week. It’s smart
for your heart—and hips!
The right foods are your best source of prebiotics and probiotics, but taking daily
supplements, particularly probiotics, may help move the needle on the scale faster.
Consider this advice before you hit the vitamin store.
PROBIOTICS
Look for a pill with 10 billion to
100 billion colony forming units (CFUs)
per dose and a variety of strains of
bacteria. (Lactobacillus gasseri and
Lactobacillus rhamnosus have shown
the most promise in peeling off pounds.)
Or buy a few brands and alternate them.
NOVEMBER 2014
HEALTH.COM
48
PREBIOTICS
Scan the label for inulin, a dietary
fiber that heads straight for the
bowel, where it nourishes good
bacteria, and arabinogalactan, a fiber
that ferments in the intestine, feeding
our germy friends.
YOGURT, FLOORTJE/GETTY IMAGES
Can Supplements
Slim Me?
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