A green smoothie and small bowl of oats for breakfast, a salad with tuna for lunch, and salmon, rice and broccoli for dinner. Sleep and Repeat. This might sound like the diet of the healthiest person on the planet but, in fact, the lack of diversity in our diets could have an adverse affect on our health.
Leading international mucosal immunologist and naturopath Mr Michael Ash, BSc(Hon) DO ND DipION, reveals that our gut health is being negatively compromised by our modern lifestyles, especially due to food production and a rise in our direct and indirect antibiotic intake.
“The world has over 50,000 edible plants and just three of them – rice, maize and wheat – provide 60% of the world’s food energy intake” says Mr Ash.
“In addition, our tastes buds have been manipulated through the manufacturing of food to crave salt, sugar and fat which is great for the food industry, but bad for our health. Due to our modern lifestyles, our gut bacteria and our related immune tissues are in a state of constant flux.”
This has a detrimental effect on our immune system, the majority of which lives in our gut and plays a direct role on our overall health. A primary reason for this change is a reduction in consumption of food varieties over the last few centuries.
Mr Ash believes that regularly consuming a variety of foods particularly those rich in fibre and specific molecular messages will move us towards health recovery and away from disease.
A study published in Nature Communications (2014)* compared the bacterial composition of Italians to the Hadza Tribe, a hunter gatherer community in Africa. The study found an alarming difference in the state of our gut health, which was in synch with the rising rates of western disease.
The reduction in plant diversity in our diets has contributed to gut dysbiosis (a loss of microbial balance) which has led to a significant increase in disease generation through the induction of unnecessary inflammation.
The human gastrointestinal tract is increasingly understood to operate as the gateway to many of the pathogenic, metabolic and immunologic diseases that trouble the populations of developed countries.
6 WAYS TO MAKE YORU DIET MORE DIVERSE
- Include lots of vegetables in the diet, especially those of the cruciferous type, such as onions, sprouts and cauliflower as they specifically improve mucosal immunity and increase microbial diversity. Where possible look for ‘older ‘ style plant based foods such as the ones that are not genetically modified to tolerate herbicides. The Okinawan sweet potato is a typical food to try and include.
- Include more foods grown organically – why? Because they have to work harder to defeat pathogens than plants treated with insecticides, so they manufacture more defence chemicals and our bodies use these as messengers to enhance immune function in the gut. Look for grains such as amaranth, quinoa and different rice varieties.
- Eat sprouting foods, such as sprouting broccoli which is rich in molecular switches that enhance cell defences, increase detoxification and reduce inflammation
- Eat berries, including olives and blueberries as well as others. They have chemicals that reduce inflammation.
- I especially like apples as a source of fibre as they also change the bacterial composition in the gut quickly. Look for regional specialities and stew the apples for quick results.
- Eat nuts, seeds and smaller amounts of meats and fish, but try different varieties and species for the protein diversity you need.
Mr Michael Ash will be spoke at the 3rd BioCeuticals Research Symposium in April 2015.
References
*https://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140415/ncomms4654/full/ncomms4654.html
**https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24405683?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg
