Western Lifestyle vs. Traditional: Who has a Healthier gut?

ALBERTA, Canada – A modern, Western lifestyle diminishes the gut’s healthy gut microbe diversity, a study from the University of Alberta has found.

The research was published in the April 28 edition of Cell Reports.

Gut bacteria are important for health, but differing lifestyles are proving to have an impact on it, and thus on health. The research for this study analyzed gut microbiomes of Papua New Guineans and United States residents, and the differences in diet, sanitation, clinical practices such as antibiotic use and caesarean sections all have impact on gut bacteria.

The research team collected fecal bacteria of adults in two rural, non-industrialized regions of Papua New Guinea and compares those with U.S. samples.

Papua New Guinea is one of the least urbanized countries in the world. The individuals studied live a traditional, subsistence agriculture-based lifestyle.

The study finds Papua New Guineans have microbiomes with greater bacterial diversity, lower inter-individual variation, and vastly different compositional profiles compared with U.S. residents. U.S. residents lacked about 50 bacterial types, in comparison.

The results of this study may provide information leading to strategies to prevent and redress the impact of westernization and to hopefully support the dispersal and transmission of microbes that have been eliminated from Western populations.

What needs to be taken into consideration, one of the researchers suggested, is developing a method to reduce the collateral damage of modern lifestyle practices on the gut microbiome without jeopardizing its benefits.

http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(15)00340-X