2016

Given the role our gut bacteria can play in affecting our weight, having family and friends who are obese may not just be socially contagious but actually contagious. Subscribe to NutritionFacts.org’s free newsletter to receive our B12 infographic that covers the latest research takeaways and Dr. Greger’s updated recommendations: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe/ The earlier video I mentioned was Are Cats or Dogs More Protective for Children’s Health? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-cats-or-dogs-more-protective-for-childrens-health). Viruses may also play a role in obesity. See Infectobesity: Adenovirus 36 and Childhood Obesity (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/infectobesity-adenovirus-36-and-childhood-obesity/). An Obesity Causing Chicken Virus (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/obesity-causing-chicken-virus) may help explain the link found between poultry consumption and weight gain (see Chicken Big: Poultry and Obesity (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/chicken-big-poultry-and-obesity)). The important question is Can Morbid Obesity Be Reversed Through Diet? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-morbid-obesity-be-reversed-through-diet). That’s why I made the video! More on the amazing inner world in our guts, see: • Microbiome: The Inside Story (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/microbiome-the-inside-story) • Prebiotics: Tending Our Inner Garden (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prebiotics-tending-our-inner-garden) • What’s Your Gut Microbiome Enterotype? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/whats-your-gut-microbiome-enterotype) • How to Change Your Enterotype (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-change-your-enterotype) • Paleopoo: What We Can Learn from Fossilized Feces (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/paleopoo-what-we-can-learn-from-fossilized-feces) • Gut Dysbiosis - Starving Our Microbial Self (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/gut-dysbiosis-starving-microbial-self) Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-obesity-infectious and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it. Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-obesity-infectious. You’ll also find a transcript of the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics. If you’d rather watch these videos on YouTube, subscribe to my YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nutritionfactsorg Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution! -Michael Greger, MD FACLM Image credit: Jay Malone via flickr. Image has been modified. https://NutritionFacts.org • Subscribe: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe • Donate: https://nutritionfacts.org/donate • Podcast : https://nutritionfacts.org/audio • Facebook: www.facebook.com/NutritionFacts.org • Twitter: www.twitter.com/nutrition_facts • Instagram: www.instagram.com/nutrition_facts_org • Books (including the NEW How Not to Diet Cookbook): https://nutritionfacts.org/books • Shop: https://drgreger.org

Much of the probiotic market was built on assumptions and hypotheses of how the gut functions. With the $157 million NIH Human Microbiome Project dramatically changing our understanding of the gut in the last 5 years, we have come to discover that the assumptions and hypotheses under which the vast majority of probiotic products are formulated are simply false. We have a paradigm shift in our understanding of probiotic therapy. This talk will discuss details of the new understanding of the human microbiome and how it specifically relates to health , including spectrum disorders. We ARE 10x more bacteria than we are human; bacteria that live in and on us play a significant role in how our body responds to stress, food, and our environment. Our microbes control many of our behaviors and can even influence what we eat. Recent research suggests an association between gut dysbiosis and onset of autism spectrum disorder. Physician-supervised protocols using probiotic strains that alleviate dysbiosis have resulted in corresponding reports of clinical improvement of symptoms in children.

Everything you eat or drink affects your intestinal bacteria, and is likely to have an impact on your health. That is the finding of a large-scale study into the effect of food and medicine on the bacterial diversity in the human gut.

There is currently a lack of long-term longitudinal studies investigating the stability of the microbiome. In this n-of-one study, we characterised th…

Background Late onset sepsis (LOS) in preterm infants is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. While studies have implicated gut bacteria in the aetiology of the disease, functional analysis and mechanistic insights are generally lacking. We performed temporal bacterial (n = 613) and metabolomic (n = 63) profiling on extensively sampled stool from 7 infants with LOS and 28 matched healthy (no LOS or NEC) controls. Results The bacteria isolated in diagnostic blood culture usually corresponded to the dominant bacterial genera in the gut microbiome. Longitudinal changes were monitored based on preterm gut community types (PGCTs), where control infants had an increased number of PGCTs compared to LOS infants (P = 0.011). PGCT 6, characterised by Bifidobacteria dominance, was only present in control infants. Metabolite profiles differed between LOS and control infants at diagnosis and 7 days later, but not 7 days prior to diagnosis. Bifidobacteria was positively correlated with control metabolites, including raffinose, sucrose, and acetic acid. Conclusions Using multi-omic analysis, we show that the gut microbiome is involved in the pathogenesis of LOS. While the causative agent of LOS varies, it is usually abundant in the gut. Bifidobacteria dominance was associated with control infants, and the presence of this organism may directly protect, or act as a marker for protection, against gut epithelial translocation. While the metabolomic data is preliminary, the findings support that gut development and protection in preterm infants is associated with increased in prebiotic oligosaccharides (e.g. raffinose) and the growth of beneficial bacteria (e.g. Bifidobacterium).

A study raises concerns that the lower-fiber diets typical in industrialized societies may produce internal deficiencies that get passed along to future generations.

Register to watch next the Functional Forum: http://functionalforum.com/next-event Evolution of Medicine Presents: Sayer Ji Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2n9QpsC Join the EvoMed Practitioner FB Group: https://bit.ly/2KpOfON Health Advocates - Register to receive our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2vfggnj Sayer Ji, Founder of GreenMedInfo.com presents "Macro Implications of the Microbiome" on the February 2016 Functional Forum. http://goevomed.com/CL 5 STEPS TO BECOME A LEADER IN YOUR LOCAL HEALTH COMMUNITY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our team created a special free video just for you. It’s called "The 5 Steps To Become A Leader In Your Local Health Community" and reveals how to grow your influence, impact more people, while building a stronger practice and increase referrals. All you have to do is click here: http://goevomed.com/CL https://youtu.be/EfVuIm_OC4c Contact us: [email protected]

Gut microbes are well known to contribute to health and disease, but what has been less clear is how the host controls gut microbes. A study now reveals that mice and humans produce small molecules (microRNAs) from their GI tract, which are shed in feces, to regulate the composition of gut microbes and thereby protect against intestinal diseases such as colitis.

Register to access these expert talks FREE for 7 days!

Scientists have identified a mechanism that might explain the link between maternal infections during pregnancy and cognitive problems in children. These findings may impact clinical care, they say.

The development of food allergies in mice can be linked to what their gut bacteria are being fed, reports a new study. Rodents that received a diet with average calories, sugar, and fiber content had more severe peanut allergies than those that received a high-fiber diet. The researchers show that gut bacteria release a specific fatty acid in response to fiber intake, which eventually impacts allergic responses via changes to the immune system.

Our bodies are having a conversation with our microbiome that may be affecting our mental health — for better or worse.

Bacteria in your intestines may play an important role in determining if you will develop blinding wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

A maternal high-fat diet leads to changes in the gut microbiome of offspring and induces behavioral alterations that can be restored via selective reintroduction of a commensal bacterial strain.

Once thought to be sterile, the bladder contains microbes that could influence the development and treatment of cancer.

The microbiome has emerged as a major determinant of the functioning of host organisms, affecting both health and disease. Here, Han et al. use the wo…

Can gut bugs change the world? Join Warren Peters on a journey into understanding your microbiome and the new discoveries changing the way we understand diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, autism, and our everyday health and wellness. If asked, he will tell you that the first part of his medical career was in general surgery, where “if something is wrong with you, I will cut it out." The next was dedicated to lifestyle and natural medicines, where “if something is wrong with you, just try harder." And finally, the last part is dedicated to the molecular and genetic basis of obesity, where "if something is wrong with you, it is the fault of your parents and the changing environment." Within these three perspectives, reside the virtues of common sense and wisdom. He obtained his medical degree from Loma Linda University, his surgical training at the Mason Clinic in Seattle Washington, and, his Master’s degree in biostatistics and epidemiology from Loma Linda University. He is privileged to travel and lecture nationally and internationally on topics of nutrition, wholeness, and wellness. He has practiced surgical care, wholistic care, and, primary care in Washington, Maryland, Virginia, and California. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

The microbiome revolution in medicine is beginning to uncover the underappreciated role our healthy gut bacteria play in nutrition and health. Subscribe to NutritionFacts.org’s free newsletter to receive our B12 infographic that covers the latest research takeaways and Dr. Greger’s updated recommendations: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe/ This is the first of a long series of in-depth videos on the microbiome, though I have touched on friendly flora before: • How to Reduce Carcinogenic Bile Acid Production (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-reduce-carcinogenic-bile-acid-production/) • Putrefying Protein and “Toxifying” Enzymes (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/putrefying-protein-and-toxifying-enzymes/) • Why Do Plant-Based Diets Help Rheumatoid Arthritis? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/why-do-plant-based-diets-help-rheumatoid-arthritis) • Bowel Wars: Hydrogen Sulfide vs. Butyrate (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/bowel-wars-hydrogen-sulfide-vs-butyrate/) • Preventing Ulcerative Colitis with Diet (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/preventing-ulcerative-colitis-with-diet/) • Treating Ulcerative Colitis with Diet (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/treating-ulcerative-colitis-with-diet) How does the body maintain the right balance of bacteria? Wait until the next video—you’ll be amazed (I know I was!): Prebiotics: Tending Our Inner Garden (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prebiotics-tending-our-inner-garden). Have a question for Dr. Greger about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/microbiome-the-inside-story and he'll try to answer it! https://NutritionFacts.org • Subscribe: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe • Donate: https://nutritionfacts.org/donate • Podcast : https://nutritionfacts.org/audio • Facebook: www.facebook.com/NutritionFacts.org • Twitter: www.twitter.com/nutrition_facts • Instagram: www.instagram.com/nutrition_facts_org • Books (including the NEW How Not to Diet Cookbook): https://nutritionfacts.org/books • Shop: https://drgreger.org

What happens to our gut flora when we switch from a more animal-based diet to a more plant-based diet? Subscribe to NutritionFacts.org’s free newsletter to receive our B12 infographic that covers the latest research takeaways and Dr. Greger’s updated recommendations: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe/ Here’s the link to the TMAO video I showed: Carnitine, Choline, Cancer, and Cholesterol: The TMAO Connection (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/carnitine-choline-cancer-and-cholesterol-the-tmao-connection/). An update on TMAO in How Our Gut Bacteria Can Use Eggs to Accelerate Cancer (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/How-Our-Gut-Bacteria-Can-Use-Eggs-to-Accelerate-Cancer) and Egg Industry Response to Choline & TMAO (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/egg-industry-response-to-choline-and-tmao/). More on keeping our gut bugs happy here: • Microbiome: The Inside Story (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/microbiome-the-inside-story/) • Prebiotics: Tending our Inner Garden (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prebiotics-tending-our-inner-garden/) • What’s your Gut Microbiome Enterotype? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/whats-your-gut-microbiome-enterotype/) • How to Change your Enterotype (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-change-your-enterotype/) • Paleopoo: What We Can Learn from Fossilized Feces (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/paleopoo-what-we-can-learn-from-fossilized-feces/) • Gut Dysbiosis: Starving Our Microbial Self (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/gut-dysbiosis-starving-microbial-self/) • How to Develop a Healthy Gut Ecosystem (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/How-to-Develop-a-Healthy-Gut-Ecosystem) • How to Become a Fecal Transplant Super Donor (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/How-to-Become-a-Fecal-Transplant-Super-Donor) Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/microbiome-we-are-what-they-eat and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it. Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/microbiome-we-are-what-they-eat. You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics. If you’d rather watch these videos on YouTube, subscribe to my YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nutritionfactsorg Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution! -Michael Greger, MD FACLM Image Credit: Shannon Coffey / Flickr Icons created by Graham Jefferson, Alexander Skowalsky, Gorkem Oner, Maxim Kulikov, and Artem Kovyazin from the Noun Project. https://NutritionFacts.org • Subscribe: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe • Donate: https://nutritionfacts.org/donate • Podcast : https://nutritionfacts.org/audio • Facebook: www.facebook.com/NutritionFacts.org • Twitter: www.twitter.com/nutrition_facts • Instagram: www.instagram.com/nutrition_facts_org • Books (including the NEW How Not to Diet Cookbook): https://nutritionfacts.org/books • Shop: https://drgreger.org

This research effort aimed at isolating and phenotypically characterizing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates from a spontaneous rye sourdough manufactured following traditional protocols, as well as at evaluating their antimicrobial and antifungal properties as key features for future industrial applications. Thirteen LAB strains of potential industrial interest were isolated and identified to species-level via PCR. Most of the sourdough isolates showed versatile carbohydrate metabolisms. The Leuconostoc mesenteroides No. 242 and Lactobacillus brevis No. 173 demonstrated to be gas producers; thus, revealing their heterofermenter or facultative homofermenter features. Viable counts higher than 7.0 log10 (CFU/mL) were observed for Lactobacillus paracasei No. 244, Lactobacillus casei No. 210, L. brevis No. 173, Lactobacillus farraginis No. 206, Pediococcus pentosaceus No. 183, Lactobacillus uvarum No. 245 and Lactobacillus plantarum No. 135 strains, after exposure at pH 2.5 for 2 h. Moreover, L. plantarum No. 122, L. casei No. 210, Lactobacillus curvatus No. 51, L. paracasei No. 244, and L. coryniformins No. 71 showed growth inhibition properties against all the tested fifteen pathogenic strains. Finally, all LAB isolates showed antifungal activities against Aspergillus nidulans, Penicillium funiculosum, and Fusarium poae. These results unveiled the exceptionality of spontaneous sourdough as a source of LAB with effective potential to be considered in the design of novel commercial microbial single/mixed starter cultures, intended for application in a wide range of agri-food industries, where the antimicrobial and antifungal properties are often sought and necessary. In addition, metabolites therefrom may also be considered as important functional and bioactive compounds with high potential to be employed in food and feed, as well as cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

Dietary (co)-exposure to mycotoxins is associated with human and animal health concerns as well as economic losses. This study aims to give a data-based insight from the scientific literature on the (co-)occurrence of mycotoxins (i.e., parent and modified forms) in European core cereals, and to estimate potential patterns of co-exposure in humans and animals. Mycotoxins were mainly reported in wheat and maize showing the highest concentrations of fumonisins (FBs), deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxins (AFs), and zearalenone (ZEN). The maximum concentrations of FB1+FB2 were reported in maize both in feed and food and were above legal maximum levels (MLs). Similar results were observed in DON-food, whose max concentrations in wheat, barley, maize, and oat exceeded the MLs. Co-occurrence was reported in 54.9% of total records, meaning that they were co-contaminated with at least two mycotoxins. In the context of parental mycotoxins, co-occurrence of DON was frequently observed with FBs in maize and ZEN in wheat; DON + NIV and DON + T2/HT2 were frequently reported in barley and oat, respectively. Apart from the occurrence of ZEN and its phase I and phase II modified forms, only a limited number of quantified data were available for other modified forms; i.e., mainly the acetyl derivatives of DON. Data gaps are highlighted together with the need for monitoring studies on multiple mycotoxins to identify co-occurrence patterns for parent mycotoxins, metabolites, and their modified forms.

Vaginal infections are the most prevalent women’s health problem. Incompetent diagnosis, inappropriate treatments, and antibiotic resistance are the main causes of the unsatisfactory results of conventional, antimicrobic treatment for these infections. Research has thus been conducted to identify new treatments for these genital diseases. The significant enhancement in our knowledge of vaginal microbiota has permitted the development of new, nonpharmacological strategies for the treatment of vaginal infections that seek to restore the balance of vaginal microflora, as opposed to modifying its components. Among these approaches, bioactive compounds, such as probiotics and nutraceutical proteins (such as lactoferrin), deserve particular attention. The aim of this review is to examine the role of probiotics (mainly Lactobacillus spp.) and lactoferrin as new strategies for counteracting bacterial and fungal vaginal infections.

Vaginal infections are the most prevalent women’s health problem. Incompetent diagnosis, inappropriate treatments, and antibiotic resistance are the main causes of the unsatisfactory results of conventional, antimicrobic treatment for these infections. Research has thus been conducted to identify new treatments for these genital diseases. The significant enhancement in our knowledge of vaginal microbiota has permitted the development of new, nonpharmacological strategies for the treatment of vaginal infections that seek to restore the balance of vaginal microflora, as opposed to modifying its components. Among these approaches, bioactive compounds, such as probiotics and nutraceutical proteins (such as lactoferrin), deserve particular attention. The aim of this review is to examine the role of probiotics (mainly Lactobacillus spp.) and lactoferrin as new strategies for counteracting bacterial and fungal vaginal infections.

Background Numerous empirical studies suggest that hosts and microbes exert reciprocal selective effects on their ecological partners. Nonetheless, we still lack an explicit framework to model the dynamics of both hosts and microbes under selection. In a previous study, we developed an agent-based forward-time computational framework to simulate the neutral evolution of host-associated microbial communities in a constant-sized, unstructured population of hosts. These neutral models allowed offspring to sample microbes randomly from parents and/or from the environment. Additionally, the environmental pool of available microbes was constituted by fixed and persistent microbial OTUs and by contributions from host individuals in the preceding generation. Methods In this paper, we extend our neutral models to allow selection to operate on both hosts and microbes. We do this by constructing a phenome for each microbial OTU consisting of a sample of traits that influence host and microbial fitnesses independently. Microbial traits can influence the fitness of hosts (“host selection”) and the fitness of microbes (“trait-mediated microbial selection”). Additionally, the fitness effects of traits on microbes can be modified by their hosts (“host-mediated microbial selection”). We simulate the effects of these three types of selection, individually or in combination, on microbiome diversities and the fitnesses of hosts and microbes over several thousand generations of hosts. Results We show that microbiome diversity is strongly influenced by selection acting on microbes. Selection acting on hosts only influences microbiome diversity when there is near-complete direct or indirect parental contribution to the microbiomes of offspring. Unsurprisingly, microbial fitness increases under microbial selection. Interestingly, when host selection operates, host fitness only increases under two conditions: (1) when there is a strong parental contribution to microbial communities or (2) in the absence of a strong parental contribution, when host-mediated selection acts on microbes concomitantly. Conclusions We present a computational framework that integrates different selective processes acting on the evolution of microbiomes. Our framework demonstrates that selection acting on microbes can have a strong effect on microbial diversities and fitnesses, whereas selection on hosts can have weaker outcomes.