Posted on 05/26/2008 7:15:31 AM PDT by blam
Friendly gut bugs could fight diabetes
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/05/2008
A new study suggests that microbes in the gut could help fight diabetes. Roger Highfield reports.
Probiotic drinks containing certain kinds of "friendly bacteria" could help prevent adult diabetes according to a new study.
Now a new insight into the disease has come from scientists focusing on the microbes in the gut, which outnumber the cells in the body and play a crucial role in extracting calories, vitamins and nutrients from food.
Consuming excess calories usually spurs what scientists call insulin resistance, when cells in the body that normally respond to the action of the hormone insulin fail to be stimulated by it. This greatly boosts the risk of diabetes.
Now scientists at the Nestlé Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland, report in the FASEB Journal (Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) that changing the make-up of gut microbes reverses the insulin resistance that occurs progressively with obesity.
Obese, diabetic animals were given antibiotics to change the make up of microbes in the gut - their microflora- in turn altering the way that the body uses glucose, which is controlled by insulin.
"Our results strongly support the idea that modulating gut microbiota could be beneficial," says Dr Chieh Jason Chou.
Although there are many yoghurt and probiotic drinks on the market, more work would have to be done to determine which strains of probiotics would be most helpful for diabetes.
Prof Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College London comments that the work adds to evidence that microbes influence energy and fat use in the body "but we don't really know how much percentage wise it contributes to the obesity epidemic and how the bug influences varies between each person - that means for certain people- perhaps not all - that gut microbial engineering of some sort could be used as a future therapeutic route."
As for the hope of treating obesity this way, he stresses that "nothing will stop you getting fat if you overeat and exercise too little - that surpasses any host genetic or microbial variation.
"But bugs do also respond to diet- if you get a high fat/calorie diet- you get a set of bugs that are better at making those calories available, a vicious circle."
Type 2 diabetes develops mainly in people older than 40. In the UK about 3 in 100 people aged over 40, and about 10 in 100 people aged over 65 develop it, particularly the overweight or obese.
"With the virtual epidemic of obesity in western countries, diabetes is going to become much more common, with huge costs to the health service," says Prof Nicholson.
Kinda like Ritalin...promoting drugs for kids...Necessary??? VERY Rarely...Prescribed...Often
Simpler solution is to stop putting junk into the body and start eating regular meals comprised of healthy portions of meat, raw and cooked veggies, fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, and eggs. How many diabetics are willing to see what happens if they put down the sugar, flour and refined carbohydrates? I know several diabetics who have, and they’ve also gotten to put down the insulin, the high blood pressure meds, the high cholesterol meds, and the fight to find clothes that fit since they’re now living at a healthy weight (another great result of eating really well!).
My brother has a friend who is diabetic. When he tried to talk to her about the zone and balancing your intake of carbs, fat and protein and it most likely would make a difference in her blood sugar levels her response was “I couldn’t give up my pasta!” She would rather take insulin shots.
“Friendly Gut Bugs” — didn’t they used to open for the Sex Pistols?
also...recent report of using a multiple organism probiotic
product (ecologic 641) in patients with acute pancreatitis,
inidicated that the risk of death in treated patients
was 2.5 times more than those treated with placebo.
This report is putting a damper on the original optimistic
results seen with some probiotic products.
To find the report you can google, “ecologic 641”, “pancreatitis”,
“adverse effect” ...sorry, I cannot post a link.
Sorry, it’s not that simple for many people. I know someone who has and always has had a wonderful and healthy diet. But he developed DM after taking beta blockers-—turns out they up the risk of developing DM by something like 50%.
I’m interested in reading more about what you posted. However, if there was a problem with the probiotic, it was with the particular organisms, not with the concept. It seems pretty clearly established that gut biology has a huge impact on health. The trick is to determine which organisms are the “right” ones in particular situations/for particular persons.
Recently I read that scientists have created a “blood pressure map” of the world, which shows that there are regional/national differences in BP that probably are due at least in part to diet/gut biology. Of course, genetics plays a role as well. But it made me wonder what would happen if one traveled to a “healthy blood pressure” place and partook of the local cuisine, naturally including the local microbes. It’d be interesting to see if, instead of waiting for scientists to isolate the probiotics, one could naturally pick them up!
I only reference some of the people I personally know who have now-wonderful lives because they stopped abusing themselves with quantities, and stopped eating sugar, flour & refined carbo’s altogether. Not everyone is willing to do that, of course, and I understand that not all diabetics are that way due to abusing food. My own paternal grandfather had diabetes, and he ate pretty healthy and wasn’t overweight at all.
Absolutely.
If you do not eat any white flour or sugar, you will lose all cravings for them. There are so many delicious things to eat. Fruit and even veggies taste so luscious when you’re off the white stuff.
I can’t believe someone could still have Type II if they took themselves off white flous and sugar, even if they did nothing else.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.