Under-appreciated dietary nutrient affects gut health and microbiome!
While we often focus on plant fiber as an essential aspect of a healthy diet, a new research paper has highlighted the importance of an under-appreciated nutrient that affects our gut health and the activity of our microbiome! The article, published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), describes a class of proteins produced by plants they call “Prif”, or proteins imitating fiber. In the same way that fiber contains very complex carbohydrates that cannot be easily digested by the humans, plants also create complex proteins that are equally complex and indigestible. What is most interesting about these Prifs is that they can change the metabolic activity of our gut microbiome (bacteria that normally live in our gastrointestinal tract) to produce molecules (phenols) that enhance gut health and healthy body weight! (for a good review of the health effects of dietary phenols check out this paper - here)
For some background on this important topic, let’s briefly review why plant fiber is beneficial for our health. While our gastrointestinal (GI) tract has difficulty digesting plant fibers (due to limitations in the type of digestive enzymes we produce as humans), resulting in the fiber passing through our small intestines undigested, upon reaching the large intestine we have bacteria that can consume and break down the fiber. The end products of this bacterial digestion of fiber include molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), like butyrate and acetate, that provide energy to our colon cells, protect the gut barrier, lower inflammation, and help control blood sugar and body weight! Pretty amazing.
Prifs are similarly beneficial, but through a different mechanism—> when our body is lacking these complex plant proteins, the gut bacteria will turn to our own proteins for nutrition! Yes— the bacteria will actually consume a small bit of us! (well, they actually consume the mucous produced by our GI cells) When the bacteria consume mucous the researchers found they will produce harmful phenol metabolites, which have been implicated in worsening gastrointestinal problems, kidney disease, and worse outcomes in cancer patients! On the other hand, when Prifs are present, the gut bacteria will shift their consumption to the Prifs, and away from our internally produced proteins, resulting in the production of healthy phenol metabolites.
Yet another compelling reason to increase the consumption of plant-based foods— fiber + Prifs!
For more details on the health benefits of fiber in the diet check out my book, Optimized.
