14 DAY TRIAL // Switching to a diet rich in meats and cheeses can lead to dramatic changes in the flora of the gut, which is made up of billions upon billions of countless species of bacteria and microbes. A new study shows that removing carbohydrates from diets can have negative repercussions for human health.
The work was conducted by researchers at Harvard University, and was detailed in a paper published in the December 11 issue of the top scientific journal Nature. Meat and cheese do not kill off gut bacteria, but they cause a series of rapid changes that influence the ability of intestines to process food properly.
A recent study conducted on mice has revealed that a carbohydrate-poor diet promotes the development of a species of gut bacteria that promotes conditions such as inflammation and intestinal diseases. The new study showed that changes in which bacterial cultures dominates the gut happen in just two days.
Over the past few years, numerous studies have begun to shed more light on the influences that gut bacteria have on our weight, behavior and immunity. Some researches, for example, suggest a connection between the gut and depression, or even autism.
But the truth is that the role our microbiome plays in our lives is very poorly understood. This is why studies such as this one are very important, and why their conclusions should be seriously considered.
“I mean, I love meat. But I will say that I definitely feel a lot more guilty ordering a hamburger ... since doing this work,” says Lawrence David, a former microbiologist at Harvard who is now based at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.
He explains that the new study was focused on nine volunteers, who stuck by two drastically different diets for five days each. The first diet was centered on meat, cheese and eggs, while the second one consisted of fibers derived exclusively from plants (granola, rice, peas, onion, garlic and lentils).
“The animal-based diet is admittedly a little extreme. But the plant-based diet is one you might find in a developing country,” David explains. He adds that the effects of the first diet began manifesting in the gut of test subjects within 48 hours, NPR reports.
“Our study is a proof of concept that you can modify the microbiome through diet. But we're still a long ways off from being able to manipulate the community in any kind of way that an engineer would be pleased about,” the researcher concludes.