Are we in Industrial Societies losing healthy gut microbes? Israeli Scientists Say Yes

Prof. Itzik Mizrahi
Mizrahi Lab – Microbial eco-genomics (BGU)

The human body’s intestinal flora is being damaged in Western industrial societies due to the average diet. This is the reason why newly discovered cellulose-degrading bacteria (scientists call it our gut microbiome) are being lost from the human gut microbiome, especially in industrial societies, according to a new report issued by Israeli scientists from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev (BGU).

The gut microbiome, also known as gut microbiota or gut flora, is the community of microorganisms that live in your digestive tract. These microbes include bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses.

The gut microbiome is incredibly diverse, with trillions of microbes living in your gut at any given time. In fact, there are more bacterial cells in your gut than human cells in your body! These microbes play an important role in your health, helping to digest food, absorb nutrients, and boost your immune system.

A healthy gut microbiome is essential for overall health and well-being. When the gut microbiome is balanced, it helps to keep you healthy. However, an imbalance in the gut microbiome can lead to a number of health problems.

People always talk about the need for getting enough fiber in your diet, but why is that so? It is because fiber helps to keep our intestinal flora happy and balanced. Fiber serves as the starting point of a natural food chain. It begins with bacteria that can digest cellulose, providing the rest of our microbiome with a balanced diet. But our eating habits in industrialized societies are far removed from those of ancient humans. This is impacting our intestinal flora, it seems, as newly discovered cellulose-degrading bacteria are being lost from the human gut microbiome, especially in industrial societies, according to a new report published in Science.

Cellulosomes are engineered by bacteria to attach to cellulose fibers and peel them apart, like the individual threads in a piece of rope. The cellulosomal enzymes then break down the individual threads of fiber into shorter chains, which become soluble. They can be digested, not only by Ruminococcus, but also by many other members of the gut microbiome.

“Bottom line, cellulosomes turn fiber into sugars that feed an entire community, a formidable engineering feat,” says Bayer.

“Throughout human evolution, fiber has always been a mainstay of the human diet,” explains lead investigator Sarah Moraïs from BGU, “It is also a main component in the diet of our primate ancestors. Fiber keeps our intestinal flora healthy.” Moraïs and team identified important new members of the human gut microbiome, cellulose-degrading bacteria named Ruminococcus. These bacteria degrade cellulose by producing large and highly specialized extracellular protein complexes called cellulosomes.

“It’s no easy task to degrade cellulose, few bacteria can do it.” explains Prof. Edward Bayer, from the Weizmann Institute, a world-leader on cellulosomes and coauthor of the study. “Cellulose is difficult to digest because it is insoluble. Fiber in the gut is like a tree-trunk in a swimming pool, it gets wet, but it does not dissolve.”

So, maybe we should return to the types of diets people stuck to thousands of years ago before the human race formed into societies.

Remember the Paleo Diet, also called the Paleolithic diet or caveman diet? It is modeled after what our hunter-gatherer ancestors might have eaten. It emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods.

According to the new research into the gut microbiome, the Paleo Diet just might have something to it.