Δευτέρα 10 Δεκεμβρίου 2012

I don’t know if love passes through stomach, but for sure heart health passes through our gut




Antioxidant-producing microbes may keep atherosclerotic plaques in place
Web edition: December 4, 2012
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.

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