People living in cities have less microbial biodiversity in their guts than those living in rural areas, due to less consumption of plants. The same is true between ancestral and modern populations, which can lead to poor metabolic health.
Our gut needs dietary fiber from plants for both the health of the gut microbiota and general well-being. And especially CelluloseCelluloseThe materialmaterial Resistance that lines plant cell walls. A new study led by an international team of researchers suggests that the lack of fiber in our industrial diets may change the way our intestines digest food. materialmaterial “Tough” plants.
Over the past twenty years, scientists have discovered gut bacteria capable of digesting cellulose. a speciesspecies strongly associated with MammalsMammals Who funny, others primateprimate and secondly to human beings, all belonging to the genus Ruminococcus.
Changes in the modern gut
The researchers used faecal samples to analyze the gut microbiota of humans from different ages and regions. All three types of bacteria were abundant in ancient human societies, communities HuntersHunters and rural population. On the other hand, in the population of modern and industrialized societies, the same microbesmicrobes The bowels were ” Clearly rare ” A vicious circle can then take hold in our modern population. bacteria Ruminococcus, deprived of plant fibers, reduced in number in the intestine. This can contribute to more difficult digestion and poor metabolic health.
The authors of the study believe that it may be possible to reintroduce these species into the human gut using food supplements or probiotics.
