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"You are what you eat": Discussing dietary fiber and gut microbiota
So-called“People are what they eat”, at first refers to how the food one eats can reflect a person's character, or that people prefer different types of food depending on their psychological state.
A psychological study referencing over 500 case files found that the food a person likes to eat can reflect his/her personality and emotions. For example, people tend to eat sugary foods when feeling down; when angry, they prefer chewy foods like meat; those who are habitually jealous tend to pile food on their plates, which may indicate that they had fierce competition with siblings at the dining table during childhood.
The study conducted a detailed observation of the relationship between food and mental state, suggesting that diners might be able to change their diet to control their emotions.
In addition to temperament and personality, diet can also affect a person's body shape and health status. Extending the concept of 'people are what they eat' means:The type of food consumed will have corresponding consequences for health..
Benefits of Plant Fiber
For a long time, as part of dietary structure, the potential health benefits of plant fiber have been appreciated. Epidemiological studies show that increasing the intake of plant fiber in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease[1], obesity, and type II diabetes, with an inverse relationship between the two.[2]. Compared to animals that consume fiber-free foods, those that eat more plant fiber have lower body fat content and are less likely to develop diabetes. However, the exact mechanism by which plant fiber affects health is still unknown.
Recently, two articles published in 'Nature' and 'Cell' elucidated the role of dietary fiber in dietary health. A team of scientists from France and Sweden successfully revealed the mechanisms of action of plant fiber, making significant explorations to unravel the mystery of its health benefits.
The research found that the process of this mechanism includes the gut microbiota and the ability of the gut to produce glucose between meals.Most fruits and vegetables are rich in fermentable fibers, which cannot be directly digested by the human body but can be broken down by bacteria in the gut into short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid, or butyric acid, which can be absorbed and utilized by humans.
Given that the potential health effects of dietary fiber are widely known, and gut microbes are considered related due to their role in aiding the digestion of dietary fiber, the importance of gut microbes should not be overlooked.
The Role of Gut Microbiota
Changing dietary habits can alter gut microbiota.
Changing dietary habits can change the composition of gut microbiota..Professor Lawrence David and others attempted to explore this phenomenon by measuring changes in human dietary fiber intake and its effects on the composition and gene expression profiles of gut microbiota.
To this end, they recruited 10 healthy human volunteers, dividing them into two groups: one group was given a vegetarian diet, while the other group was given a meat-based diet, with continuous observation for five days. During the study, different time points were selected to analyze the volunteers' fecal samples through sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (to determine the relative abundance of different microbes) and RNA sequencing (to determine the relative expression of microbial genes).
Within a few days of starting the experimental diet, changes in microbial gene expression and community structure were observed. In the meat group, these changes were associated with reversible physiological responses (obesity), characterized by a significant increase in bile-tolerant bacteria and fermented amino acids. In contrast, the vegetarian group showed higher levels of plant polysaccharides from carbohydrate fermentation—fermenting bacteria and short-chain fatty acids. After the experimental diet was stopped, these parameters quickly returned to their original state.
This study confirms that gut microbiota can change rapidly in response to dietary changes[3], and identifies some molecular mechanisms that may underlie the health benefits of plant-based diets.
The Mechanisms of Dietary Fiber and Gut Microbiota
Feeding rats with oligofructose, propionate, or butyrate can improve glucose tolerance and enhance intestinal gluconeogenesis. However, the ways in which propionate and butyrate promote intestinal gluconeogenesis are different: propionate acts as a substrate or raw material for intestinal gluconeogenesis, while butyrate acts as a signaling molecule stimulating the expression of intestinal gluconeogenesis genes through cAMP signaling. Additionally, propionate directly activates the FFAR3 receptor in the portal vein peripheral nerves, inhibiting the stimulation of intestinal gluconeogenesis induced by propionate, suggesting that the effect of propionate on intestinal gluconeogenesis involves gut-brain neural communication.
It is noteworthy that feeding oligofructose or short-chain fatty acids can induce improved glucose tolerance, which also requires gut-brain communication (determined by the afferent innervation of the portal vein nerves) and intestinal gluconeogenesis (determined by the use of G6Pase, i.e., glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit degradation in the mouse intestine).
David and De Vadder tracked changes in gut microbiota composition using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, noting that unlike wild-type mice fed oligofructose, mice lacking G6Pase in the gut did not benefit from oligofructose intake, although oligofructose led to very similar changes in gut microbiota composition in both groups of mice. These results suggest that diet has a beneficial effect on metabolic health, which may require not only a good gut microbiota composition but also the role of intestinal gluconeogenesis.
Probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics
In 1995, Professors Glenn Gibson and Marcel Roberfroid published an article titled "Dietary Modulation of the Human Colonic Microbiota: Introducing the Concept of Prebiotics" in the Journal of Nutrition. In this article, the two professors introduced the term "prebiotics" to the world. However, this was not the only nutritional term in the article.Professor Gibson explained: "We thought it made sense to combine probiotics and prebiotics, so we decided to introduce the concept of synbiotics in this review.".
Thus, two key terms appeared in this review—prebiotics and synbiotics.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that have health benefits for the host.
These are what we commonly refer to as "good" bacteria. Many fermented foods typically contain a certain level of active probiotics, but if the product has been pasteurized and live beneficial bacteria have not been reintroduced, they likely no longer contain probiotics.Prebiotics are substances that promote the growth of "good" bacteria.
Different prebiotics can benefit different probiotics, and there are many types of prebiotics. Many prebiotics are a class of carbohydrates known as oligosaccharides.However, some plant polyphenols can also have prebiotic effects.The interaction between prebiotics and bacteria produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including butyrate, which is crucial for gut immune health.These bioactive byproducts are sometimes referred to as
"postbiotics".The research results of David and De Vadder indicate that the probiotic approach will provide specific glycosylated bacterial groups that produce beneficial metabolites; the prebiotic approach will supplement dietary fiber, facilitating the colonization and growth of gut bacteria. These two strategies are not mutually exclusive but can be combined.The third approach described in the research is to develop more dietary supplements by providing microbial metabolites, i.e., "postbiotics," which the pharmaceutical industry may be interested in.The gut microbiota, with its flexible metabolic capacity, has become an important physiological link between diet and the host. The research results of David and De Vadder further explain this complex ecosystem and provide additional support for regulating gut microbiota, offering a new strategy for improving human health..
References
(The article is excerpted from popular science literature and does not provide any medical guidance.)膳食补充策略，医药行业可能会对这种方法感兴趣。
肠道菌群凭借着其灵活的代谢能力，成为了膳食和宿主之间的重要生理纽带。David和De Vadder等人的研究结果，进一步解释了这个复杂的生态系统，并对调节肠道菌群提供了额外的支持，为提高人类健康提供了另一种新的策略。
参考文献
（文章摘取自科普文献 不做任何医学指导）
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Dietary fiber, postbiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, gut microbiota
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