Sugar Affects The Gut Bacteria, Removes Protection Against Obesity, Diabetes

A novel study has discovered that dietary sugar changes the gut microbiome, resulting in a chain of events that cause metabolic disease, pre-diabetes as well as weight gain.

Unsplash

The study highlights that even though diet matters, what equally is important is an optimal microbiome for the prevention of metabolic syndrome, diabetes and obesity.

Researchers invested the initial effects of a western-style diet on the microbiome of mice, involving high-fat and high-sugar intake. After four weeks on the new diet, the animals showed characteristics of metabolic syndrome such as weight gain, insulin resistance as well as glucose tolerance.

Researchers saw a dramatic shift in microbiomes, with a sharp drop in the amount of segmented filamentous bacteria, among other bacteria, increasing in population.

Researchers found that the decrease in the aforementioned bacteria was crucial to the animal¡¯s health through its effect on Th17 immune cells. The reduction in the bacteria reduced the number of Th17 cells in the gut, which as per further research, was necessary to prevent metabolic disease, diabetes and well as obesity as they helped to slow down the absorption of bad lipids from the intestines and decrease intestinal inflammation.

Further research revealed that in all this, sugar was the main culprit. Researcher Ivalyo Ivanov, PhD, associate professor of microbiology & immunology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons explained, "Sugar eliminates the filamentous bacteria, and the protective Th17 cells disappear as a consequence. When we fed mice a sugar-free, high-fat diet, they retain the intestinal Th17 cells and were completely protected from developing obesity and pre-diabetes, even though they ate the same number of calories."

Unsplash

However, getting rid of just sugar wasn¡¯t helpful. Rats that lacked any filamentous bacteria, to begin with, didn¡¯t have any beneficial effects by eliminating sugar intake, and animals still became obese and got diabetes.

Instead, it was the gut bacteria that held this importance overall. In some mice, offering probiotics helped to a point that it helped recover Th17 cells and protected against metabolic syndrome, even though the mice continued consuming a high-fat diet.

Ivanov concluded stating, "Our study emphasizes that a complex interaction between diet, microbiota, and the immune system plays a key role in the development of obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions. It suggests that for optimal health it is important not only to modify your diet but also improve your microbiome or intestinal immune system, for example, by increasing Th17 cell-inducing bacteria."

For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.