Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health

[Carmody]

Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health

A critical discovery about how bacteria feed on an unusual sugar molecule found in leafy green vegetables could hold the key to explaining how 'good' bacteria protect our gut and promote health.

The finding suggests that leafy greens are essential for feeding good gut bacteria, limiting the ability of bad bacteria to colonise the gut by shutting them out of the prime 'real estate'.

Researchers from Melbourne and the UK identified a previously unknown enzyme used by bacteria, fungi and other organisms to feed on the unusual but abundant sugar sulfoquinovose - SQ for short - found in green vegetables.

Each year, leafy green vegetables - such as spinach - produce the sugar on an enormous scale globally, comparable to the world's total annual iron ore production.

The research, published today in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, was led by Dr Ethan Goddard-Borger from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Spencer Williams from the Bio21 Institute and University of Melbourne, and Professor Gideon Davies from the University of York, UK.

Dr Goddard-Borger said the discovery could be exploited to cultivate the growth of 'good' gut bacteria. "Every time we eat leafy green vegetables we consume significant amounts of SQ sugars, which are used as an energy source by good gut bacteria," he said.

"Bacteria in the gut, such as crucial protective strains of E. coli, use SQ as a source of energy. E. coli provides a protective barrier that prevents growth and colonisation by bad bacteria, because the good bugs are taking up all the habitable real estate," Dr Goddard-Borger said.

"E. coli is a key bacterial coloniser needed by our gut. We speculate that consumption of this specific molecule within leafy greens will prove to be an important factor in improving and maintaining healthy gut bacteria and good digestive health."

Professor Williams said the team had revealed how bacteria extract the sugar from plants in order to fuel their growth. "We discovered the enzyme YihQ, which is used by bacteria to absorb and metabolise these sulfur-containing sugars as food," he said.

"Sulfur is critical for building proteins, the essential components of all living organisms. SQ is the only sugar molecule which contains sulfur, and 'digestion' of the molecule by bacteria releases sulfur into the environment, where it re-enters the global 'sulfur cycle' to be reused by other organisms."

Professor Williams said that the pathway was unusual, but abundant in biological organisms.

"This work answers a 50-year mystery that has surrounded how sulfur - an element essential for life on Earth - was used and recycled by living organisms," he said. "What is remarkable is that the YihQ enzyme was hiding in plain sight and is produced by the humble bacterium E. coli, present in nearly every biologist's laboratory."

The discovery also provides crucial insights that may one day be exploited to develop an entirely new class of antibiotics, Dr Goddard-Borger said. "New antimicrobial strategies are desperately needed as more and more bacteria acquire resistance to existing classes of antibiotics."

"We think it will be possible to use these widespread enzymes to enable highly specific delivery of antibiotics to harmful forms of E. coli and other pathogens, such as Salmonella, responsible for food poisoning, while leaving the good gut bacteria untouched."

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So, instead of the message of "lets get this information about the sugar to people, let's get more people ingesting this sugar".. they decide, "lets head for the billions of dollars in patent medicine while we present a situation which bacteria and other pathogens are going to eventually find a way past, because we gave them the reality of the ideal -to fight against."

On the good side, though, this may pave the way to 'lots of leafy greens' consumed and in a given person's diet...without consuming the large amounts of leafy greens. It's not just the one sugar, I'd suspect (nature is rarely that simple in human estimation), but their results seem to be saying it really is quite close to that reality, that the critical part is this given sugar/enzyme.

Most importantly, gut health is mental health is bodily health. The three are very intertwined.

[Constance]

Thanks for this Carmody

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Carmody (here)
Most importantly, gut health is mental health is bodily health. The three are very intertwined.

... and mitochondrial health, the other essential bacteria in the body, in addition to our gut bacteria.

Mitochrondria are our cells main energy source. They are apparently bacteria with their own, distinct, genetic history, that became adapted to living inside our cells, in a symbiotic relation. They provide cells with energy (ATP) much more efficiently than basic fermentation, in exchange for having "room and board" (nutrients, safe accommodations and other cellular services.)

• Life - The Epic Story of Our Mitochondria: How the Original Probiotic Dictates Your Health, Illness, Ageing, and Even Life Itself, by Lee Know Nd
• Tripping Over the Truth: The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to a Cure, by Travis Christofferson

[conk]

Psyllium Husk Powder is like candy to good gut bugs. Also adds good fiber content and is inexpensive. Bacteria play a critical role in good health all over the body, not just the gut. Eyes, mouth, armpits, everywhere. And never use mouth wash, as it kills all bacteria, not just the ones that cause bad breath.

[Olam]

Posted by conk (here)
Psyllium Husk Powder is like candy to good gut bugs. Also adds good fiber content and is inexpensive. Bacteria play a critical role in good health all over the body, not just the gut. Eyes, mouth, armpits, everywhere. And never use mouth wash, as it kills all bacteria, not just the ones that cause bad breath.

I would agree but would also not advise it for people with intestines problems such as crohn's disease or leaky gut syndrome as the husks are abrasive and do "scratch" the gut wall..

[conk]

Posted by Olam (here)

Posted by conk (here)
Psyllium Husk Powder is like candy to good gut bugs. Also adds good fiber content and is inexpensive. Bacteria play a critical role in good health all over the body, not just the gut. Eyes, mouth, armpits, everywhere. And never use mouth wash, as it kills all bacteria, not just the ones that cause bad breath.

I would agree but would also not advise it for people with intestines problems such as crohn's disease or leaky gut syndrome as the husks are abrasive and do "scratch" the gut wall..

Anyone with those intestinal issues should immediately begin the GAPS diet. Easy to find on the net. Many good books on it. Definite cure for what physicians will tell you is incurable. Never submit to drugs to control leaky gut or crohn's. The body needs nutrients, not petrochemicals. GAPS also very often cures or provides much relief from ADD, ADHD, Autism, even Bi-Polar issues. This is sound science, not pharma-science.