Vegans can’t claim to have healthier guts than meat eaters, because research shows that people’s daily food choices are more important than whether they eat meat and dairy.
A study of 656 vegans, comparing them to more than 1,000 vegetarians and nearly 20,000 meat eaters, found that those who have sworn off meat, dairy and eggs don’t necessarily have a healthier balance of gut bacteria.
Many vegans may think they have the best gut bacteria: the bacteria that live inside us and are influenced by our diets, which can prevent dangerous inflammation in the body linked to heart problems, stroke and cancer.
But meat eaters who don’t eat excessive amounts of meat and who also consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables have similar types of ‘good’ bacteria in their guts as healthy vegans, new research shows.
Vegans with an unhealthy diet appeared to have less beneficial intestinal bacteria.
This finding was based on a large group of people from Britain who signed up for ZOE’s personal nutrition app and study and tracked what they ate before having their gut bacteria analyzed from stool samples.
The study, involving researchers from King’s College London and published in the journal Nature Microbiology, also found that vegans had few gut bacteria that enter the body when people eat dairy products.
These insects are so important that they are included in some probiotic drinks to improve people’s gut health.
Pro-vegan campaigners have long advocated the benefits of plant-based diets for the millions of microbes in our gut. But experts say this is not, strictly speaking, the case.
Professor Nicola Segata, senior author of the study from the University of Trento in Italy, said: ‘Being a vegan or vegetarian, as opposed to a meat eater, is not as important for your gut bacteria as what you actually eat.
‘When it comes to the bacteria living in your gut, this research suggests there is no reason to be vegan or vegetarian and to cut out individual foods such as meat or dairy from your diet.
‘Meat and dairy products, like all foods, will not substantially alter the balance of bacteria in the gut in a negative way if eaten in moderation.
‘Vegans who eat a lot of ultra-processed foods may have unhealthy guts, while meat eaters who eat a varied diet containing lots of different plants can have healthy guts.’
However, the authors note that in practice, vegans and vegetarians tend to eat healthier than meat eaters and have a better balance of gut bacteria.
The study, which analyzed the gut bacteria of 21,561 people from Britain, the US and Italy, found that vegans generally have more gut bacteria needed to break down the fiber in fruits and vegetables.
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These gut bacteria typically produce short-chain fatty acids, which are linked to reducing inflammation in the gut and body, which may reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Unsurprisingly, meat eaters have gut bacteria that help digest meat, which has been linked to a greater risk of colon cancer (which is more common in people who eat too much red and processed meat) and a greater risk of inflammatory bowel cancer . diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
But vegans had lower levels than vegetarians and meat eaters of bacteria that enter the body when people eat dairy, called Streptococcus thermophilus and lactic acid bacteria.
These bacteria are important for the immune system and reduce inflammation in the body, which could reduce the risk of inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis, as well as inflammatory medical conditions such as arthritis and heart problems.
The study looked at both the variety and quantity of plant-based foods people ate, finding this was more related to the health of gut bacteria than whether they were vegan, vegetarian or an omnivore.
Professor Segata said: ‘From a gut bacteria perspective, we can generally recommend that it is important to eat significant amounts of as many different plant foods as possible, especially those high in fibre, and that food diversity is important. important.’