benefits of tomato: According to a recent study, the gut microbes of young pigs were changed to a more favorable profile after two weeks of consuming a diet high in tomatoes.
The research was published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
After seeing these results with a short-term intervention, the research team plans to progress to similar studies in people, looking for health-related links between tomatoes in the diet and changes in the human gut microbiome — in the gastrointestinal. “It is possible that tomatoes confer benefits through modulation of the gut microbiome,” said senior author Jessica Cooperstone, an assistant professor of horticulture and crop science and food science and technology at The Ohio State University.
“Overall dietary patterns have been associated with differences in microbiome composition, but food-specific effects have not been studied extensively,” Cooperstone said. “Ultimately we would like to identify what is the role of these particular microorganisms in humans and how they may contribute to potential health outcomes.”
The tomatoes used in the study were developed by Ohio State plant breeder, tomato geneticist and co-author David Francis, and are the type commonly found in canned tomato products.
Ten recently weaned control pigs were fed a standard diet and 10 pigs were fed a standard diet fine-tuned so that 10 percent of the food consisted of freeze-dried powder made from tomatoes.
Fiber, sugar, protein, fat and calories were similar for both diets. The control and study pig populations lived separately, and the researchers running the study reduced their time spent with the pigs—a series of precautions designed to ensure that none of those observed with the study diet Microbiome changes can be attributed to chemical compounds in tomatoes.
Microbial communities in the gut of pigs were detected in stool samples taken before the start of the study and again at seven and 14 days after the start of the diet.
The team used a technique called shotgun metagenomics to sequence all the microbial DNA present in the samples. The results showed that the microbiome of pigs fed a tomato-heavy diet—the diversity of microbes in their guts—increased, and the concentrations of two types of bacteria in common in the mammal microbiome shifted to a more favorable profile. .
This higher proportion of the phyla Bacteroidetes (formerly known as Bacteroidetes) compared to Bacillusta (formerly known as Firmicutes) present in the microbiome has been found to be associated with positive health outcomes, whereas other studies have found this to be associated with positive health outcomes. The ratio is added in contrast to the higher basilota. Obesity compared to Bacteroideta.
Tomatoes account for about 22 percent of vegetable intake in Western diets, and previous research has linked tomato consumption with a lower risk for developing a variety of conditions including heart disease and some cancers.
But the effect of tomatoes on the gut microbiome is still a mystery, and Cooperstone said these findings in pigs — whose gastrointestinal tract is more similar to the human GI system than that of rodents — suggest it is an avenue worth exploring.
“This was our first investigation into how tomato consumption may affect the microbiome, and we have uncovered which microbes are present, and how their relative abundance has been changed by this tomato intervention.”
“To really understand the mechanism, we need to do more work like this over the long term in humans. We also want to understand the complex interplay — how micro-organisms are present and functionally structured to consume these foods.” What does he do?” A better understanding could lead to more evidence-based dietary recommendations for long-term health.”
According to a recent study, the gut microbes of young pigs were changed to a more favorable profile after two weeks of consuming a diet high in tomatoes.
The research was published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
After seeing these results with a short-term intervention, the research team plans to progress to similar studies in people, looking for health-related links between tomatoes in the diet and changes in the human gut microbiome — in the gastrointestinal. “It is possible that tomatoes confer benefits through modulation of the gut microbiome,” said senior author Jessica Cooperstone, an assistant professor of horticulture and crop science and food science and technology at The Ohio State University.
“Overall dietary patterns have been associated with differences in microbiome composition, but food-specific effects have not been studied extensively,” Cooperstone said. “Ultimately we would like to identify what is the role of these particular microorganisms in humans and how they may contribute to potential health outcomes.”
The tomatoes used in the study were developed by Ohio State plant breeder, tomato geneticist and co-author David Francis, and are the type commonly found in canned tomato products.
Ten recently weaned control pigs were fed a standard diet and 10 pigs were fed a standard diet fine-tuned so that 10 percent of the food consisted of freeze-dried powder made from tomatoes.
Fiber, sugar, protein, fat and calories were similar for both diets. The control and study pig populations lived separately, and the researchers running the study reduced their time spent with the pigs—a series of precautions designed to ensure that none of those observed with the study diet The microbe changes can be attributed to chemical compounds in tomatoes.
Microbial communities in the gut of pigs were detected in stool samples taken before the start of the study and again at seven and 14 days after the start of the diet.
The team used a technique called shotgun metagenomics to sequence all the microbial DNA present in the samples. The results showed that the microbiome of pigs fed a tomato-heavy diet—the diversity of microbes in their guts—increased, and the concentrations of two types of bacteria in common in the mammal microbiome shifted to a more favorable profile. .
This higher proportion of the phyla Bacteroidetes (formerly known as Bacteroidetes) compared to Bacillusta (formerly known as Firmicutes) present in the microbiome has been found to be associated with positive health outcomes, whereas other studies have found this to be associated with positive health outcomes. The ratio is added in contrast to the higher basilota. Obesity compared to Bacteroideta.
Tomatoes account for about 22 percent of vegetable intake in Western diets, and previous research has linked tomato consumption with a lower risk for developing a variety of conditions including heart disease and some cancers.
But the effect of tomatoes on the gut microbiome is still a mystery, and Cooperstone said these findings in pigs — whose gastrointestinal tract is more similar to the human GI system than that of rodents — suggest it is an avenue worth exploring.
“This was our first investigation into how tomato consumption may affect the microbiome, and we have uncovered which microbes are present, and how their relative abundance has been changed by this tomato intervention.”
“To really understand the mechanism, we need to do more work like this over the long term in humans. We also want to understand the complex interplay — how micro-organisms are present and functionally structured to consume these foods.” What does he do?” A better understanding could lead to more evidence-based dietary recommendations for long-term health.”