Changes in Dietary Diversity Could Be Impacting Your Health

Large scale changes in dietary diversity over centuries of time have led to major changes in dietary patterns causing humans to have very different gut microbiomes. Dietary research suggests good gut health plays a significant role in modulating the risk of several chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer. In ancient humans, a diet of nuts and seeds would be broken up by a sudden intake of meat that rapidly changed their microbiome to maximize nutrient absorption from even the most unfamiliar foods. For modern humans, the rapid shift could be far less adaptive. Recent studies concluded that low fiber intake reduces the production of small chain fatty acids, which shifts to the potential production of detrimental metabolites.

Dysbiosis may be linked to chronic diseases

Scientists once believed bacteria was an organism that should be avoided. As it turned out, they help prevent certain diseases. Possible complications from imbalanced gut microbes include:

• Malnutrition and weight loss
• Colon cancer
• Fistulas in colon
• Ulcers in different parts of GI tracts
• Intestinal rupture
• Perforations of bowel wall
• Bowel obstruction

In the future, personalized menu plans will be based on current information about your gut microbiota and tailored to meet your body's specific needs to protect against dysbiosis.

Humans rely on bacteria to modulate good gut health

Humans rely on the body's bacteria to produce much of their essential nutrients and vitamins to keep the body's immune system functioning correctly. Healthy gut microbe control the tempo of your intestinal tract by helping the body digest and absorb nutrients and synthesize certain vitamins. Although scientists have long known that your health can change based on the foods you eat, new research suggests that your gut microbiome changes very rapidly based on your menu choices. After decades of studying the impact that foods can have on the human microbiome, doctors and dietitians were thrilled to discover the relationship is almost real-time.