WORSENING GUT HEALTH DUE TO PROCESSED FOOD IMPACTS ON BEAUTY

The NPR article has important message that the collection of bacteria in our intestines that influences everything from metabolism and the immune system to moods and behavior – microbiome – has been adversely affected by the daily processed foods.

For several years, scientists have been collecting evidence that the Western lifestyle is altering our microbiome. Some species of bacteria are even disappearing to undetectable levels. "Over time we are losing valuable members of our community," says Justin Sonneburg, a  microbiologist at Stanford University, who has been studying the microbiome for more than a decade.

Now Sonnenburg and his team have evidence for why this microbial die-off is happening — and hints about what we can possibly do to reverse it.

The study focused on the diet of a group of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, called Hadza. Their diet consists almost entirely of food they find in the forest, including wild berries, fiber-rich tubers, honey and wild meat, basically no processed food.

Sonnenberg and his colleagues analyzed 350 stool samples from Hadza people and concluded that the further away people's diets are from a Western diet, the greater the variety of microbes they tend to have in their guts. And that includes bacteria that are missing from American guts.

In a way, the Western diet — low in fiber and high in refined sugars — is basically wiping out species of bacteria from our intestines. The processed foods changed the composition of the microbiome over time.

Sonnenburg is placing his bets on another dietary component: fiber — which is a vital food for the microbiome. "We're beginning to realize that people who eat more dietary fiber are actually feeding their gut microbiome."

"Over the past few years, we've come to realize how important this gut community is for our health, and yet we're eating a low-fiber diet that totally neglects them," he says. "So we're essentially starving our microbial selves."

Herbally Radiant R&D team monitors the latest developments on latest studies on health on which also depends the external beauty of the person.  All the studies so far have been recommending natural organic ingredients both for food and for skin care which come from sustainable and renewable sources.  But apart from health and environmental benefits, these are generally less expensive considering the rich nutrients they contain.