Researchers reported in Nature Communications an interesting –
but not surprising – connection between gut bacteria and heart disease. It
seems that different mixes of intestinal microbes may determine whether people
will have heart attacks or strokes brought on by break-away plaque from the
arteries. Compared with healthy people, heart disease patients who have had
strokes or other complications of atherosclerosis carry fewer microbes that
make anti-inflammatory compounds. These patients also have more bacteria that
produce inflammation-triggering molecules. Inflammation is thought to promote
cardiovascular disease. Healthy people’s gut is inhabited with bigger
populations of Eubacterium, Roseburia and Bacteroides species as well as Clostridium
bacteria. Those bacteria often carry genes involved in making anti-inflammatory
molecules as butyrate, lycopene and beta-carotene. People with higher levels in
their body fat of antioxidant molecules like beta-carotene and lycopene have a
lower risk of developing heart disease, although dietary supplements containing
the compounds doesn’t help. In contrary, lifelong antioxidant-producing
microbes seems to do a very good job protecting our heart and arteries.
As a conclusion: take care of our tiny
friends living in our gut and they will take good care of us. We shouldn’t feed
them with garbage like sugar, gluten, coffee or chemicals. Raw food will instead
do an excellent job on keeping a healthy “good bacteria” population.
