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How the Western Diet Has Derailed Our Evolution - Issue 30: Identity - Nautilus
Digesting Fibre
The Western world has stomach microbial communities that could digest junk food and might re-diversify and recover (to a limited extent) if we just ate more whole grains and veggies.
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Microbes
Research found the following difference in stomach microbes of different individuals:
- Intestinal microbes of people living in villages, having a natural diet, are much more complex, and can degrade fiber.
- People in cities, eating a western diet, have microbes in their stomach adapted towards processing protein, fats, and sugars.
Wrong Baseline Data
Due to the new kinds of microbes discovered in villagers, all the previous research on diet and microbes, which used the baseline data of the Western civilization microbe, thought to be the healthy and normal microbe, is now incorrect.
Internal Extinction
The microbial die-outs, a form of mutation inside our stomach due to our specific diets, gets compounded across generations.
This is leading to a sort of internal 'extinction' of microbes, which were abundant inside our ancestors, but are not present in us.
Microbial Extinction
As Western civilization fails to nourish key microbes, the type of food taken is starving them out of existence. Many factors cause this:
- Antibiotics 'nuke' our internal ecosystems, killing all good microbes.
- Sanitary facilities of the modern age prevent the sharing of disease, along with health-promoting microbes.
- City life limits our exposure to soil, plant and animal microbes.
New Kinds of Diseases
As the Medical and Pharma industries get equipped with better research and technology, there should ideally be a decline in diseases. Instead, we have an increase in non-communicable diseases.
This rise can be blamed partly to the microbial extinction inside us, altered by Sanitation, Antibiotics and Junk food.
A Stronger Immunity
Westerners who grew up in villages, in farms, living among livestock at a ranch, or are exposed to certain infections at an early age, tend to have a lower risk of autoimmune diseases.
Fiber-Rich Diet
Americans consume less fiber than what is recommended, eating fewer nuts, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
A fiber-rich balanced diet is known to prevent colon cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
Chronic inflammation
Regular poor diet leads to a rise in endotoxins in our bloodstream, making the immune system respond to this by inflammation.
Chronic inflammation, every time we eat junk food, leads to cellular dysfunction and diseases of the stomach and organs.
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Paleo concept
Humans evolved on a diet very different from today's eating habits. To be healthier, leaner, stronger and fitter, we must re-think our diet and remove some of the food groups we ...
What to eat
- Animals (especially a "whole animal" approach, including organs, bone marrow, cartilage, and organs).
- Animal products (such as eggs or honey).
- Vegetables and fruits.
- Raw nuts and seeds.
- Added fats (like coconut oil, avocado, butter, ghee).
What to avoid
- Grains, although research suggests eating whole grains improve our health and appear to be neutral when it comes to inflammation.
- Heavily processed oils, such as canola and soybean oil.
- Legumes, although research suggests the benefits of legumes outweigh their anti-nutrient content. Cooking eliminates most anti-nutrient effects. Some anti-nutrients may even be good.
- Dairy.
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Fiber gap
Only 5 percent of people in the US meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommended daily target of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. That amounts to a population-wide deficiency.
Benefits of a fiber-rich diet
Eating a fiber-rich diet is associated with better gastrointestinal health and a reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, obesity, type 2 diabetes, even some cancers. Fiber slows the absorption of glucose — which evens out our blood sugar levels — and also lowers cholesterol and inflammation.
Fiber doesn’t just help us poop better — it also nourishes our gut microbiome.
Processed foods and fiber
Instead of munching on fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, more than half of the calories Americans consume come from ultra-processed foods. On any given day, nearly 40 percent of Americans eat fast food. These prepared and processed meals tend to be low in fiber, or even fiber free.
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Our Microbiome Affects Our Mood
Our state of mind gets affected by our gut bacteria, which is part of our Microbiome.
Probiotics are live bacterial supplements and Prebiotics are the dietary fiber that promotes bacterial growth. In various experiments, scientists have been able to alter our stress response, anxiety levels and reduce mental health problems by administering Probiotics/Prebiotics in our stomach.
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Psychobiotics is an upcoming class of medicines geared towards promoting psychological health through the alteration of your microbiota (Gut Bacteria).
Doctors have known since long that certain mental health problems do have their origin in the gut, like inflammation, but a detailed study on mice is now being done, with large-scale studies on humans in the offing.
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