Key Message: A healthy gut is essential for a healthy heart

Action Point: Take good care of your gut by eating fermented and probiotic-rich foods and limit intake of added sugars

If you’ve been paying attention over the last few years, you’ve no doubt heard that the balance of bacteria in our gut can influence our digestive health, weight, and even emotional and mental health. Now new research is showing that a healthy gut is essential for another very important reason – it may increase your chances of having a healthy heart.

The new study, from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, found that the composition of a person’s gut bacteria can explain four percent of the variations seen in people’s HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels, five percent of the differences in people’s body weight, and up to six percent of the variation in people’s triglyceride (blood fat) levels.

But during the study, researchers found no link between gut bacteria and people’s LDL cholesterol or total cholesterol levels, which was surprising given that epidemiological studies have found that lipid levels usually have a high degree of correlation.

However lipid metabolism is very complicated and therefore it will take more research to establish the effect of gut bacteria on specific types of lipids, as well as to understand how diet can alter microbial composition.

According to Jingyuan Fu, an associate professor of genetics at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands and lead author of the new study, said that scientists can probably also call gut bacteria “the heart in the gut”.

While the research is still in its infancy, understanding the link between the gut microbiome and heart health factors could help scientists develop new treatments to prevent heart disease. The bacterial community in the gut could be a so-called “druggable target.”

In the meantime, it makes sense to take good care of your gut by eating fermented and probiotic-rich foods, like yogurt and kefir, and reducing your intake of added sugars, which can negatively impact the balance of bacteria in the gut.

 

References

  1. Nierenberg, C (2015) “‘Heart in Gut’: Stomach bacteria shapes cardiac health”. Yahoo News. Accessed online on 30th September 2015 at http://news.yahoo.com/heart-gut-stomach-bacteria-shape-cardiac-health-144438732.html

 

Sarah Giacomo Written by: Sandra Di Giacomo






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