ZME SCIENCE – Imagine a bustling city on a weekday morning, with sidewalks crowded by people rushing to work. Now shrink that scene to a microscopic scale, and you get an idea of what the microbiome inside your body looks like.
This microscopic metropolis is home to trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, most of them living in delicate harmony. When this balance is disturbed, it can significantly impact your health.
Microbiome and diets
Research has shown that people who have a lot of different microbes have better health, and a better diet, than those who don’t have much bacterial diversity,” Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn University, and one of the researchers behind the two new studies on microbiome health, said in a statement.
The first study compared the effects of eating 28 grams (one ounce) of peanuts daily versus consuming a higher-carb snack, such as cheese bits or pretzels.
Over six weeks, researchers found that participants who snacked on peanuts experienced a significant increase in Ruminococcaceae, a type of gut bacterium linked to better liver metabolism.
A total of 50 participants completed the study, with the researchers assessing fecal bacterial diversity.
Nuts (including tree nuts, peanuts, and nut butter) are usually recommended as part of healthy dietary patterns.
Peanuts are the most consumed nut in the US. But this was the first study to look at their effect on microbiota composition.
In the second study, which looked at herbs and spices, the researchers analyzed the impact of adding blends of herbs and spices (such as ginger, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, rosemary, oregano, basil, and thyme) to the diets of participants at risk of cardiovascular disease. Herbs and spices have been previously associated with a healthy gut, but not actually investigated.
The researchers looked at three doses — about 1/8 teaspoon per day, a little more than 3/4 teaspoon per day, and about 1 1/2 teaspoon per day …
