ReadersDigestAustraliaNewZealand-March2018

March• 2018 | 63

READER’S DIGEST

highly processed foods, preservatives
andartificialsweetenerscankilloff
speciesofbacteriathatarebelieved
tobeimportantforhealth,leading
to inflammation and metabolic syn-
drome–acollectionofconditions
that include obesity, high blood pres-
sure and insulin resistance.
If you eat these foods regularly, over
time you’ll change the composition
of bacteria in your gut for good. And
worryingly, these changes caused by
your diet can be intergenerational.
Just as your children will inherit your
genes, they will also inherit the com-
position of bacteria in their gut. Some
mice studies have shown that pups
who inherited a gut microbiome de-
pleted from a poor diet in previous
generations could not recover some of
the bacterial strains they needed, even
if they were fed a healthy diet.
“We’reconcernedthatthemodern
Westerndietwillirrevocablychange
thegutmicrobiomeandhealthoffu-
ture humans,” says Loughman.

ImprovingYourGutHealth

Like us all, Jim was born with a
unique gut microbiome. Bacteria
startedtocolonisehisgutbefore
birthandtheirmake-upwasinflu-
encedbyhisparents’diet,wherehe
was born, what he was fed as a baby,
howmanyantibioticshe’stakendur-
inghislife,andthechemicalshe’s
beenexposedtoinhisenvironment.
Much of this Jim can’t control. But
there are things he can do to nurture

ahealthygutmicrobiomeandreduce

hisriskofdiseasessuchasirritable

bowelsyndrome,obesity,type2dia-

betes and mental illness.

Thebestdietforgutbacteriais

thoughttobehighinfibre,mostly

plantbased,andwithlotsofvariety.

That means eating more fruit and veg-

etables and less processed food, arti-

ficialsweeteners,sugarorsaturated

fat–foodsthatfeedthe‘bad’bacteria.

‘Good’ bacteria are especially fond

of onions, garlic, artichokes, wheat,

watermelon,legumes,beans,pulses

andsomenutsandseeds.

But other things that affect health,

such as stress, exercise, sleep and en-

vironmental exposure to toxins and

medications, are also important fac-

tors for gut health.

“Thisreallyisanewfrontierfor

research,” says Dr Jane Muir, head

of Translational Nutrition Science in

theDepartmentofGastroenterology

at Monash University in Melbourne.

“Wehavethetechnologytoidentify

andnameallthebillionsofdifferent

speciesofbugs,andweknowthat

bychangingourdietwecanchange

their composition. But what does it

all mean? We really don’t know. It’s

still early days.”

ForJim,thebloatingandlethargy

he feels after a few days of unhealthy

eatingmightwellbeimprovedby

agoodnight’ssleep,eatingsome

yoghurtandlayingoffthesugar.

As the old saying goes – you really

are what you eat.