Eating a Mediterranean Diet may Help Boost Gut Bacteria Linked to 'healthy Ageing'

Following the Mediterranean diet later in life appears to promote "healthy" gut bacteria, which have been tied to decreased frailty and cognitive decline, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Gut.

As aging is associated with deteriorating bodily functions and increasing inflammation, both of which herald the onset of frailty, this diet might act on gut bacteria in such a way as to help curb the advance of physical frailty and cognitive decline in older age, suggest the researchers.

Med-Pork Diet: New Mediterranean Diet Allows You Eat Meat Without Guilt
Guilt-free meat eating: Adding pork to the Mediterranean diet (Mediterranean-Pork or Med-Pork Diet) can boost your cognitive function, reveals a new study.

‘A Mediterranean diet can promote a range of gut bacteria and aid a healthier body and mind ageing. ’
Read More..

Tweet it Now

Previous research suggests that a poor/restrictive diet, which is common among older people, particularly those in long term residential care, reduces the range and types of bacteria (microbiome) found in the gut and helps to speed up the onset of frailty.

The researchers, therefore, wanted to see if a Mediterranean diet might maintain the microbiome in older people’s guts, and promote the retention or even proliferation of bacteria associated with ’healthy’ aging.

They analyzed the gut microbiome of 612 people aged 65 to 79, before and after 12 months of either eating their usual diet (n = 289) or a Mediterranean diet (n = 323), rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, olive oil, and fish and low in red meat and saturated fats and specially tailored to older people (NU-AGE diet).

Plant-based Foods and Mediterranean Diet Boost Gut Microbiome
Specific foods could provide protection for the gut, by helping bacteria with anti-inflammatory properties to thrive, reports a new study.

The participants, who were either frail (n=28), on the verge of frailty (n=151), or not frail (n=433) at the beginning of the study, lived in five different countries: France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and the UK. Sticking to the Mediterranean diet for 12 months was associated with beneficial changes to the gut microbiome.

It was associated with stemming the loss of bacterial diversity; an increase in the types of bacteria previously associated with several indicators of reduced frailty, such as walking speed and handgrip strength, and improved brain function, such as memory; and with reduced production of potentially harmful inflammatory chemicals.

Mediterranean Diet Improves Maternal & Fetal Health Outcomes
Women who followed a Mediterranean-style diet during pregnancy had a 35 percent lower risk of gestational diabetes and on average, gained 2.75 pounds less.

More detailed analysis revealed that the microbiome changes were associated with an increase in bacteria known to produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids and a decrease in bacteria involved in producing particular bile acids, overproduction of which are linked to a heightened risk of bowel cancer, insulin resistance, fatty liver and cell damage.

What’s more, the bacteria that proliferated in response to the Mediterranean diet acted as ’keystone’ species, meaning they were critical for a stable ’gut ecosystem,’ pushing out those microbes associated with indicators of frailty.

Mediterranean Diet May Enhance Academic Performance in Teens
Mediterranean diet may improve academic performance and verbal ability in teens and the effect may relate to sleep quality.

The changes were largely driven by an increase in dietary fiber and associated vitamins and minerals--specifically, C, B6, B9, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and magnesium.

The findings were independent of the person’s age or weight (body mass index), both of which influence the make-up of the microbiome.

And while there were some differences in the make-up of a person’s gut microbiome, depending on the country of origin to start with, the response to the Mediterranean diet after 12 months was similar and consistent, irrespective of nationality.

The study findings can’t establish a causative role for the microbiome in health, added to which some of the implications are inferred rather than directly measured, say the researchers.

"The interplay of diet, microbiome, and host health is a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors," they emphasize.

"While the results of this study shed light on some of the rules of this three-way interplay, several factors such as age, body mass index, disease status, and initial dietary patterns may play a key role in determining the extent of success of these interactions," they explain.

Older people may have dental problems and/or difficulty swallowing, so it may be impractical for them to eat a Mediterranean diet, they add. But the beneficial bacteria implicated in healthy aging found in this study might yet prove useful therapeutic agents to ward off frailty, they suggest.

Source-Eurekalert