近日，研究者Mark Heiman在芝加哥的一项报告会中指出，过去50年里饮食多样性的缺失或是引发人们出现肥胖、2型糖尿病、胃肠道疾病及其它疾病的主要诱因；饮食是调节胃肠道微生物组的主要调节子，人类肠道的微生物组中包含着数以万亿计的细菌，微生物往往会利用机体食物消化的残渣来产生新的信号分子来促进胃肠道的微生物群同机体的代谢系统和胃肠道代谢系统进行交流。
微生物组需要多样化的饮食来保证发挥最佳功能，然而当前的农业实践和气候改变往往会引发多样化饮食的缺失，世界上大约75%的人口都仅仅消耗5种动物肉类及12种植物，在这12种植物中，水稻、玉米和小麦就占到了60%的卡路里摄入。Heiman说道，就像很多生态系统一样，多样性的饮食往往是最重要的，也是非常健康的，在至今所研究的几乎每一种人类疾病中，似乎都是微生物组的多样性发生了缺失。
研究者指出，前期糖尿病和2型糖尿病个体相比健康个体而言，其机体往往存在着不同的微生物组构成，研究者制造了NM504，其是菊粉的成分，同时也是传家宝食物上，这种食物当年非常流行，但如今却很少被吃了，研究者将这种饮食方式添加到人们日常的饮食中来观察其是否会带来机体健康效益，随后研究者基于整个大豆豆荚开发出了一种名为MT303的物质，随后对MT303进行了实验研究，结果发现MT303可以改变机体肠道微生物组的组成，同时导致肥胖小鼠出现正向的健康效益，包括体重减轻及结肠炎被抑制。
最后研究者Heiman说道，服用上述两种治疗性制剂都可以达到促进机体健康的目的，而进行食谱多样性改善的个体显然将会长期享受这种潜在的健康效益；试想一下我们的日常饮食，而我们未来又将如何改变饮食的多样性呢？是继续单一的饮食方式或时尚餐饮还是稍微作出一点改变呢？
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Research finds diversifying your diet may make your gut healthier
A loss of dietary diversity during the past 50 years could be a contributing factor to the rise in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and other diseases, according to a lecture by Mark Heiman, vice president and chief scientific officer at MicroBiome Therapeutics, at IFT15: Where Science Feeds Innovation hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in Chicago.
Heiman said diet is the principal regulator of the GI microbiome, the ecosystem of the human GI tract. The microbiome contains trillions of bacteria (microbiota) in a solution of unabsorbed macro- and micro-nutrients. The microbiota use the remnants from digestion to create new signaling molecules that allow the microbiota to communicate with a person's metabolic and GI regulatory system.
The microbiome needs a diverse diet to function optimally. However, current agricultural practices as well as climate change have contributed to a loss of that diversity, with about 75 percent of the world's population consuming only five animal species and 12 plant species. Of those 12, rice, maize and wheat contribute 60 percent of all the calories, he said.
"Like any ecosystem, the one that is most diverse in species is the one that is going to be the healthiest," Heiman said. "In almost every disease state that has been studied so far, the microbiome has lost diversity. There are just a few species that seem to dominate."
In his research, Heiman found people with prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes had a different microbiome makeup than people without those health conditions. He created NM504, a formulation of inulin, beta glucan and antioxidants, and tested it in a pilot of 30 individuals, half of whom received the formulation twice a day. The remainder received a placebo. Those who received NM504 saw a shift in the makeup of their microbiome and, consequently, health benefits that included improved glucose control, increased satiety and relief from constipation......
