Refined foods and antibiotics help keep people in the industrialized world fed and well — but they've also taken a toll on the human gut, wiping out microbes that may influence good health.
Now, by mimicking a traditional, non-industrialized diet, an international study involving researchers from the University of Alberta shows it's possible to restore damage to the gut and more importantly, improve health.
"We've been able to come up with a dietary intervention that makes significant improvements to the gut microbiome and lessens the risk of diabetes and heart disease," says Anissa Armet, who co-led the study to earn a PhD in nutrition and metabolism from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences (ALES).
Industrialized diets, which are high in processed foods and low in fibre, don't provide the gut microbiome with proper nutritional support, predisposing people to those chronic diseases.
The researchers focused on re-establishing Limosilactobacillus reuteri, a beneficial bacterium, in the industrialized gut. To achieve this, they created the Non-Industrialized Microbiome Restore (NiMe™) diet, using information on what non-industrialized populations, including people indigenous to rural Papua New Guinea, eat regularly.
