by The Health Sciences Academy — Get free science updates here.
Ever been told you need more bacterial diversity?
(You probably did hear that, from me!).
Yes, we do need a more “diverse” bacterial garden to reap all kinds of benefits – from a lower body weight to sharper senses…
But what happens if we skip a few meals?
Would these tiny helpers in our gut starve, or even die?
In this mice study, fellow scientists wondered if intermittent fasting would wipe out and exterminate entire bacterial colonies…
(A pretty scary thought for those of us who skip a few meals every now and then).
So, would our brave bacteria wither and perish if we don’t feed them?
Surprisingly, instead of the widespread chaos and destruction of entire bacterial colonies, bacterial diversity actually increased!
24h fasting increased gut bacteria diversity and lowered inflammation (Cignarella et al., 2018).
It sounds pretty counter-intuitive, but it’s true. How could this be?
Well, it might be to do with the distant history of our gut flora…
Billions of years ago, bacteria often had to survive in conditions with far less food.
Which means that when we give them too much to feed on, they gorge themselves into an early grave!
Intermittent fasting seems to flip the “growth switch” in these little guys, and then they pass on benefits to us.
(Which I think is rather kind of them, in a symbiotic way).
This cutting-edge research just adds to my excitement as I wait to see what amazing studies into this topic come up next!
If you want to find out more about how your gut microbiota could help “fix” your gut, then you can join me and my team of dedicated researchers in our 4-Step Gut Restoration Program here.
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Alex Ruani, Doctoral Researcher, is the Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy, where her team of accomplished scientists and PhDs are training a new breed of over 100,000 highly-specialised nutrition professionals who are leveraging the latest personalisation strategies to help their clients. She is a Harvard-trained scientist and UCL Doctoral Researcher who is fanatical about equipping health professionals with the latest science-based tools so they can succeed in their practices – from identifying the unique nutrient needs to building highly personalised nutrition programs. Besides investigating and teaching the latest advances in health and nutrition biochemistry, Alex makes it easier to be smarter with her free email updates.
