It's becoming clear from the American Gut Project that an important source
of gut microbial diversity is the number of different plants we eat.
We examined 13,355 prokaryotic ribosomal RNA gene sequences from multiple colonic mucosal sites and feces of healthy subjects to improve our understanding
of gut microbial diversity.
Levels
of gut microbial diversity, faecal calprotectin (a marker of gut inflammation) and E coli colonisation were also examined.
Not exact matches
In addition, some unlikely - sounding parts
of the body — such as the back
of the knee and the index finger — have far more
microbial diversity than the
gut.
Currently, researchers analyze
microbial diversity by taking a sample they hope includes the different kinds
of bacteria in the
gut.
Jackson's work on
microbial diversity caught the attention
of Seed, who was already interested in the microbiome in the
guts of preterm infants but who did not have a background in ecology.
In his own lab, he is raising nematodes on soil enriched with different types
of produce — sugary versus fibrous, for example — and finds that no matter what the food source and the resulting environmental
microbial diversity, worms have similar sets
of bacteria in their
guts.
This suggests that the existence
of Treponema «is likely a good indicator
of a general high level
of microbial diversity in the human
gut,» says evolutionary anthropologist Stephanie Schnorr
of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Diet clearly plays an important role in the establishment, growth and maintenance
of microbial diversity in the
gut ecosystem, and feeding practices from birth help to modulate this.
Already, he knows that most IBD patients have a far smaller range
of microbial species in their
guts, compared to healthy people Stool transfers help restore that
diversity and all the possibly beneficial chemical compounds that those microbes release into our bodies.
Out -
of - sync
gut bacteria — meaning the wrong type
of microbial diversity and / or lack
of diversity — can affect numerous things including weight loss.
Scientific research has shown that a lack
of microbial diversity within the
gut microbiota is associated with chronic diseases.
Our Western diet and propensity for antibiotics and antibacterial sprays and soaps have wiped out the
microbial diversity of our
guts, and we need to cultivate and develop them back into the equivalent
of beautiful rainforests.
A 2013 study found greater
microbial diversity in the
gut flora
of people who are lean.
However, the strongest determinant
of gut microbial health and
diversity is your diet, especially your fiber intake.