In the past few years, there's been an explosion of information detailing how our gut bacteria affect so many aspects of our well-being.
More and more research is shedding light on how integral these tiny organisms are to our health. And we're also discovering how to keep the little bugs happy.
While researchers knew that consuming green, leafy vegetables promoted the proliferation of healthy bacteria in the gut, until recently, they actually didn't know why. But this new research from Melbourne and the UK is shedding light on the issue.
Just like all other living creatures, bacteria have to eat. And it turns out that this type of vegetable produces the favorite food of a number of beneficial bacteria. Believe it or not, this favorite food is sugar. But it's not table sugar. It's a form of sugar called sulfoquinovose (SQ).
According to the research group led by microbiologist David Schleheck, "We have now been able to show that, unlike glucose, for example, which feeds a large number of microorganisms in the gut, sulfoquinovose stimulates the growth of very specific key organisms in the gut microbiome." And hears the good news, sulfoquinovose specifically feeds the bacteria Eubacterium rectale. That’s notable because Eubacterium rectale is one of the ten most common gut microbes in healthy people. As Eubacterium rectale increases, not only do they help keep us healthy, but they also crowd out the bad bacteria that could do us harm.
Sulfoquinovose is found primarily in green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, and in algae and is completely lacking in processed foods. Yet another reason to avoid what the modern food industry is dishing out and stay with what God designed us to eat.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
Sources:
REF: Gaetano Speciale, Yi Jin, Gideon J Davies, Spencer J Williams, Ethan D Goddard-Borger. YihQ is a sulfoquinovosidase that cleaves sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride sulfolipids. Nature Chemical Biology, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2023.