The relationship between diet and gastrointestinal health is the theme of the World Gastroenterology Organisation‘s World Digestive Health Day (WDHD) on May 29th, 2016. WDHD 2016 Co-chairs, Dr. David Sanders (UK) and Dr. Govind Makharia (India) say this year’s initiative aims to provide gastroenterologists with an understanding of recent research how food affects the health of the human gut.
“We want to ensure that patients receive appropriate dietary and lifestyle advice as well as appropriate investigations and treatment relevant to their condition,” say Sanders and Makharia.
In the past decade, one of the main factors responsible for the breakthroughs in understanding how diet affects gut health has been knowledge about the human gut microbiota. Researchers have uncovered relationships between diet and gut microbiota, and in turn, between gut microbiota and health. Although many of the details are not yet clear, the research to date provides compelling evidence that the role of diet in a patient’s overall health cannot be ignored.
On the occasion of WDHD, Gut Microbiota for Health is pleased to present a collection of resources from our web platform that highlight some of the most important research in the domain of diet and gut health.
Physicians can check out the links below for resources to help answer a number of patient questions:
How do probiotics work?
See this video interview with Dr. Philippe Marteau of France.
What are the possible problems with a low-fibre diet?
See this article on how a low-fibre diet may devastate gut microbiota diversity, and this video on how a low-fibre, high-fat diet increases biomarkers of colon cancer risk.
How much dietary fibre is necessary on a daily basis?
See this article arguing for changes to dietary fibre recommendations.
How much diet ‘cheating’ is allowed for those who eat a good diet most of the time?
See this article on unhealthy weekend eating habits.
What lifestyle changes contribute to health by increasing gut microbiota diversity?
See this list of science-based practical recommendations for increasing the diversity of microbes in the gut.
For more in-depth reading, be sure to check out our “Gut Microbiota, Diet & Nutrition” document with a summary editorial by Canadian researchers Elena Verdú and Heather Galipeau.
