Gutbliss Weekly Review – November 2, 2015

1. Washing dishes by hand, instead of by dishwasher, decreases food allergies in children, and the benefits increase when families eat food directly from the farm. Pediatrics

2. Scientists request international efforts for microbiome research. Yet some scientists are skeptical, including University of Michigan microbiologist, Pat Schloss, who tweeted, “We have a global effort. It’s called the scientific method.” Nature

3. The notion that babies are born sterile is untrue. Recent studies show that, like other animals, the human microbiome is colonized well before birth, and the maternal microbiome acts as a microbial “supplement” at birth and through breast-feeding. PLOS

4. Added sweeteners with nutritional benefits, like honey and maple syrup, negatively affect metabolism in similar ways as high fructose corn syrup. Sugar is sugar! American Society for Nutrition

5. A Canadian documentary, It Takes Guts, focuses on how a “healthy and diverse microbiome” is the key to maintaining an ideal weight, highlighting studies that show it’s easier to gain weight today than it was 20 years ago with the same diet and exercise routine. An imbalance in gut bacteria (dysbiosis) just might be the explanation. CBC

6. Our microbiome can affect behavior, but can our behavior affect our microbiome? A new pilot study looks at IBS patients, the behavioral strategies they use to relieve symptoms, and how these strategies affect the microbiome. Neuroscience News

7. Constipated? Chronic constipation is identified as a risk factor for more serious GI disorders, including ischemic colitis, colorectal cancer, GI cancer, and diverticulitis. Medscape

8. The World Health Organization ranks bacon, ham and sausage equal to cigarettes as a carcinogen. Yet some studies show it’s not the meat, but the lack of vegetables (indicative of a meat-centric diet) that increases cancer risk. WHO

9. Omit sugar and dramatically improve your child’s health…in just ten days! Eliminating added sugar from the diets of 43 obese children with metabolic syndrome, and replacing it with processed starches resulted in improvement in all metabolic markers – without any calorie changes. Obesity

By: Leslie Ann Berg, MSPH