Whether you’re a vegetarian or a meat-eater. They key to gut health is plants : Shots

Trillions of microbes live in our gut and have a profound impact on our overall health. Well, a new study believes that whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or omnivore, the key to a healthy gut microbiome is the same: eat lots of different plant-based foods.

Gut microbes break down foods your body can’t digest and, in turn, produce chemical messengers that affect everything from your blood sugar levels to your immune system. Some of these messenger substances can promote health, others can hinder it. It all depends on what you feed your microbes.

“The microbiome modulates the effect of diet on our health. It essentially determines our health status.” says Nicola Segata, professor at the University of Trento in Italy, who studies the microbiome using advanced genome sequencing.

He and an international team of colleagues wanted to know how different dietary patterns influence the types of microbes that dominate our gut. So they analyzed stool samples from more than 21,000 people in the USA, Great Britain and Italy. Not only did the researchers know whether the participants were vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous, but they also had detailed information about what these people ate for several weeks.

They found that the more plant-based foods people ate, the more gut bacteria they had, which are linked to better health—such as less inflammation and a stronger immune system. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these good bacteria were a hallmark of vegans’ microbiomes.

As for omnivores, theirs Gut microbiomes There tended to be more bacteria associated with meat digestion, which makes sense. But they also had more bacteria associated with inflammatory bowel disease and a higher risk of colon cancer. That’s the bad news.

But the good news for meat eaters is that when it comes to a healthy composition of good bacteria, their gut microbiomes are very similar to those of vegans and vegetarians – as long as they eat a range of plant-based foods in large quantities.

“Omnivores who ate a wide variety of vegetables were actually quite similar to vegans in terms of good microbes,” says Segata.

This finding is important because it shows that “consuming a range of plant-based foods is more important than strictly following a vegan or vegetarian diet,” it says Hannah Holscher, an associate professor of nutrition and microbiome researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the study.

In other words, it’s the overall quality of the diet that matters, she says.

The study is one of the largest of its kind. Holscher, who is also a nutritionist, says it adds to the existing evidence that supports the advice nutritionists like to give: For better health, eat the rainbow — that is, lots of different types of colorful plant foods .

“Think tomatoes, butternut squash, pineapple, avocado, broccoli and kale, blueberries and eggplant. And really don’t forget the whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes,” says Holscher.

Hölscher points to a Study 2018 It found that people who ate more than 30 different types of plant foods each week also had more gut microbes that produce chemical messengers known to promote health. But she says you don’t have to aim for 30 years to improve your health.

She says a simple goal is to eat five different plant-based foods every day. For example, consider making bean or lentil soups with lots of vegetables, or mixing some pears or berries into your salad.

“Make yourself some overnight oats before bed,” suggests Holscher. “When you go to work in the morning, you look around. What can you throw in your bag? An apple, an orange, a banana?”

And while you’re trying to diversify the plants in your diet, look for high-fiber options, he says Shana Spencea registered dietitian in Brooklyn, NY, because most Americans don’t consume enough of it Nutritional Hero Nutrient. A simple idea: Try adding seeds like chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, or flax seeds for an easy way to diversify your plant intake and increase the fiber content of each meal.

“They’re great for throwing in yogurt, oatmeal, and granola in the morning,” says Spence. “And they’re durable, which is great because we don’t want to waste money, especially in this economy.”

Frozen food – be it berries or mixed vegetables – is also a good option. “It’s usually cheaper than buying fresh, and it’s still just as healthy because you still get vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The vegetables are picked when they are in bloom, so they still provide plenty of nutrients,” says Spence.

Give yourself as many opportunities as possible to eat more plants every day, advises Spence. Instead of setting a goal to limit certain foods, think of healthy eating as a complement, she says. And try to add more nutrients to your diet every day.

Edited by Jane Greenhalgh