Moving to America isn’t Good for Gut Health
Studies have shown, moving to the the United States can make you vulnerable to rapid and unhealthy weight gain and have lasting effects on your digestive health. Immigrants are particularly susceptible to obesity after a short time living within the United States, but why? A new study was released that monitored the digestive health of immigrants coming to Minnesota from Southeast Asia to better understand the relation between the microbiome and overall health.
“We found that when people come to the U.S.A., they almost immediately begin losing some of their native microbes,” says Dan Knights, a quantitative biologist at the University of Minnesota and the study’s senior author.
Many of the microbes that immigrants lose are native to where they originate from and help break down and extract nutrients from local foods. The study reveals that moving to the states actually causes a person to acquire more of the “American” microbiome, a microbiome that tends to to be less diverse and features fewer strains of bacteria. The native strains are often lost are not replaced with new bacteria.
The study goes on to consider whether or not the change in microbiome correlates with the risk of obesity. “And while we don’t know whether this loss of diversity is causing obesity, we know that it’s at least associated with more obesity.”
The American diet seems to require less bacteria to help break down important nutrients. “By tracking everyone’s food logs, the researchers found that an Americanized diet — featuring less fiber and more processed sugars — played a role in disrupting immigrants’ microbiomes. Some of the bacteria in our guts feed, and survive, on particular fibers found in grains and greens — and die off when they don’t get enough.”
The diet within the United States may require less gut bacteria. Many studies have been released supporting that the more diverse a gut bacteria, the healthier a human can be. If we are only feeding our gut bacteria sugar and processed foods, the nutrient-fed bacteria will eventually die.
The change in gut bacteria for those who immigrate to the states brings up an important question on how what you eat can affect overall health. As human populations continue to migrate, it is important to know the affects a move may have on your health. Researchers suggest incorporating your traditional diet as much as possible to maintain a healthy gut!
To learn more: “Immigrating To The U.S.? Get Ready For A New Gut Microbiome (And Maybe More Pounds)” – NPR
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“Even when families have issues, eating together can improve teen diets”
A new study finds that teenagers whose families eat dinner together are more likely to make better food choices, regardless of the family’s communication skills.
The study suggest regardless of the how well the family functions, when you are bringing a family together for a meal you are often considering the adolescent’s nutrition. This leads to setting a healthy example for children and continued nutrition awareness into adulthood.
“Many, many studies have looked at the benefit of family meals, and over and over they have found that this leads to adolescents eating more fruits and vegetables and less fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Walton, now a research fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Critics of the study suggest the dysfunction of the family would lead to less meals together and it would effect the nutritional value of the food in the house all together. However, researchers found that the more teens ate dinner with their family, the more fruits and vegetables were included in their diet.
There are many benefits to eating a quality meal with family. Kathryn Walton, who was a doctoral student at the University of Guelph, Canada, presents ways in which parents can make family dinner a priority even with a busy schedule. Including your teens in meal prep as well as making dinner a more casual affair can help increase the frequency.
This simple idea, can have a big impact on health!
Learn more: Even when families have issues, eating together can improve teen diets – Reuters
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Fructose-sweetened drinks increase diabetes risk?
A recent review published by the academic British Medical Journal, “BMJ”, has found that high-fructose containing drinks may increase risk of type 2 diabetes more than other foods containing fructose.
Previous studies have confirmed that there is a link between sugary drinks and obesity. As few as two sugary drinks per week may raise the risk of type 2 diabetes considerably.
Now, a comprehensive review of existing research confirms that fructose-containing drinks can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes more than other foods that contain fructose.
The head researcher on the review, Dr. John Sievenpiper, aimed to find if fructose affects glucose levels and health in individuals with diabetes and without diabetes.
As we know, fructose is a monosaccharide that is found in many foods such as fruit, honey, and root vegetables.
However, processed fructose, often derived from corn and added to foods under the name high- fructose corn syrup, has found its way into many processed foods. These processed foods such as drinks, cereals, and baked goods add extra calories without adding fiber or other nutritional benefits.
Dr. John Sievenpiper’s research reviewed the outcomes of 155 studies and examined the effects that fructose from various food sources had on blood sugar levels. A1c, glucose and insulin levels were assessed.
The studies were separated into four separate groups based on their design:
- Substitution studies compared the energy derived from sugars with that from other carbohydrates.
- Subtraction studies removed sugar-derived energy from the participants’ diet and compared it with a regular diet.
- Addition studies added glucose-derived energy to the diet and compared it with a non-sugar-enhanced diet.
- Ad libitum studies replaced the energy from sugars with other nutrients that the participants were free to consume at will.
The review concluded that “nutrient-poor” foods that add excess calories (sugary drinks and sweetened juices) have harmful metabolic effects.
Some of the studies conducted did find that fructose had a harmful effect on fasting insulin levels.
However, most of the data revealed that fruit and fruit juice, which are high in fructose and fiber, may even benefit blood sugar and insulin levels of those with diabetes, when these foods do not add excess calories, the review suggests.
The take home message is:
Until more information is available, public health professionals should be aware that harmful effects of fructose sugars on blood glucose seem to be mediated by energy and food source.”
For more information on fructose and its effect on blood sugar and insulin levels, by MedicalNewsToday
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5 Subtypes of type 2 diabetes – Bev
Recent research by the Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard, and Massachusetts General Hospital has shown that there may potentially be five distinct subtypes of type two diabetes based individual genetics.
Three of the subtypes involve insulin resistance where insulin is not used effectively and for the right purpose. The other two subtypes involve a deficiency of insulin where insulin is not being produced in adequate amounts by the beta cells.
The study included 17,365 subjects from four separate studies with type two diabetes. The genomic data of each individual was analyzed and recorded, only to find the five different variances in DNA that led to insulin resistance/deficiency. Those who were insulin resistant typically had a larger waistline and had a higher risk of obesity. Individuals who were insulin deficient were typically thinner than their counterparts.
This new data is critical because “there could be a number of processes which lead to high blood glucose levels.” This information also means that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treating type two diabetes with medication therapy.
For more information on the subtypes of type two diabetes, visit subtypes of type 2 diabetes highlighted by genetics study.
Learn more about matching medication therapy to the person with diabetes.
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