Importance Of Gut Flora For Human Wellness

It can be said that human wellness is the ultimate goal of all efforts to improve human life. Many functional foods have been studied with the goal to achieve this kind of wellness. That being said overeating can lead to obesity and diabetes which both negatively affect human health and well being. 

Dietary restriction and proper exercise were introduced to daily human life due to chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Effects of different functional foods on human health varies, prompting experts to recommend a diversified healthy diet to help keep the body healthy bringing about catch phrases such as “Eat The Rainbow” to remind people of varying their diet with nutritious choices. 

Recently a new hypothesis, “The Gut Flora Priority Principle”, has also emerged suggesting that hunger is influenced by the gut microbiota, which has been demonstrated in several studies through the use of special food components including polysaccharides and dietary fibers. Responses to food needing signals from the gut flora to these nutrients indicates the importance of healthy gut microbial communities for improving human wellness, and the gut flora may be a factor for the regulation of hunger and proper nutrition. 

Modern techniques such as 16S rNA sequencing and mass spectrometry are believed to be able to be used to help identify beneficial gut microorganisms which can guide scientists to new paths for new health and well being that are based on gut microbiota wellness, according to the researchers. 

Abstract:

“Different foods cause various effects on the human health. The diversification of diet is a priority for nutritionists to keep our body healthy. To avoid diabetes mellitus, special foods for ketogenic diet, low-carbon diet, and low-calorie intake are also gradually attracting attention. In addition, the hypothesis that “hunger sensation comes from gut flora” brings new light to the research on the biological motivation for humans to eat food. This hypothesis has been gradually demonstrated using the flexible fasting technology by providing special foods, such as plant polysaccharides and dietary fibers. The response to food-needing signals from the gut flora to these foods demonstrates the importance of the gut flora in improving human wellness. The gut flora is probably an essential factor for translating the food-eating signals and converting the nutrition to our body. Therefore, “gut flora priority principle” is developed to guarantee human wellness. The 16S rRNA sequencing and mass spectrometric techniques can be used to identify the gut flora, which may guide us to a new era of human wellness based on gut flora wellness.”

The authors of this study concluded that:

“In this paper, we briefly introduced the GFCT theory and its potential application in food science to maintain the human wellness. Irregular eating behaviors and abnormal lifestyles will directly or indirectly injure the gut flora health and in turn influence the translation of foods into nutrition by the gut flora. Therefore, maintaining the gut flora health is critically important for digesting foods according to current studies. In addition, the suggestions of “dietary restriction and proper exercise” should be the golden rule and precept for human wellness, where the gut flora is the hidden factor for maintaining the human health. Altogether, we will probably enter a new era to enjoy human wellness based on the gut flora wellness and on the basis of the “GFPP” to develop and utilize special foods as specific nutrition sources for human wellness.”