Could Eating Tomatoes Better Your Gut Wellness?

According to researchers, the favorable results obtained from studies on pigs warrant farther investigation inwards homo subjects.

According to researchers, a diet heavy inward tomatoes for 2 weeks led to an increment inward the variety of gut microbes and a modify inward gut bacteria towards a more than favorable profile inwards young pigs.

Based on these findings from a brusque-term intervention, the research squad plans to conduct like studies in humans to explore the potential health-related connections betwixt consuming tomatoes as well as changes to the man gut microbiome.

“It’second possible that tomatoes impart benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome,” said senior author Jessica Cooperstone, assistant professor of horticulture too crop science in addition to nutrient scientific discipline and engineering science at The Ohio State University.

“Overall dietary patterns take been associated amongst differences inwards microbiome composition, simply nutrient-specific effects haven’t been studied very much,” Cooperstone said. “Ultimately we’d similar to place in humans what the function is of these detail microorganisms too how they power be contributing to potential wellness outcomes.”

The enquiry was latterly published inwards the magazine Microbiology Spectrum.

The tomatoes used in the report were developed past Ohio State establish breeder, tomato plant geneticist, together with co-author David Francis, together with are the type typically found inwards canned tomato plant products.

Ten late weaned command pigs were fed a criterion diet too x pigs were fed the criterion diet fine-tuned so that x% of the food consisted of a freeze-dried powder made from the tomatoes.

Fiber, carbohydrate, poly peptide, fat, as well as calories were identical for both diets. The control as well as report grunter populations lived separately, too researchers running the written report minimized their time spent alongside the pigs – a serial of precautions designed to ensure that any microbiome changes seen alongside the study diet could be attributed to chemic compounds in the tomatoes.

Microbial communities inwards the pigs’ guts were detected in fecal samples taken before the report began in addition to and then 7 in addition to xiv days afterward the diet was introduced.

The team used a technique called shotgun metagenomics to sequence all microbial DNA introduce in the samples. Results showed 2 principal changes inwards the microbiomes of pigs fed the tomato-heavy diet – the variety of microbe species inwards their guts increased, in addition to the concentrations of 2 types of bacteria common inwards the mammal microbiome shifted to a more favorable profile.

This higher ratio of the phyla Bacteroidota (formerly known equally Bacteriodetes) compared to Bacillota (formerly known equally Firmicutes) introduce in the microbiome has been constitute to be linked with positive wellness outcomes, spell other studies have linked this ratio in contrary, of higher Bacillota compared to Bacteroidota, to obesity.

Tomatoes account for almost 22% of vegetable intake inwards Western diets, in addition to previous research has associated the consumption of tomatoes amongst reduced gamble for the evolution of various weather condition that include cardiovascular disease and just about cancers.

But tomatoes’ touch on on the gut microbiome is nevertheless a mystery, in addition to Cooperstone said these findings in pigs – whose alimentary canal is more than similar than rodents’ to the man GI system – suggest it’sec an avenue worth exploring.

“This was our first investigation as to how tomato consumption might bear upon the microbiome, as well as nosotros’ve characterized which microbes are introduce, as well as how their relative abundance has changed alongside this tomato intervention,” she said.

“To really empathize the mechanisms, nosotros involve to make more of this variety of go inwards the long term in humans. We too want to understand the complex interplay – how does consuming these foods change the composition of what microbes are present, together with functionally, what does that do?

“A improve agreement could Pb to more than show-based dietary recommendations for long-term wellness.”

Reference: “Short-Term Tomato Consumption Alters the Pig Gut Microbiome toward a More Favorable Profile” by Mallory L. Goggans, Emma A. Bilbrey, Cristian D. Quiroz-Moreno, David M. Francis, Sheila M. Jacobi, Jasna Kovac too Jessica L. Cooperstone, eight November 2022, Microbiology Spectrum.

The written report was funded past the U.south. Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Agricultural Research together with Development Center, and the Foods for Health inaugural at Ohio State.