A particular group of gut bacteria promoted by diets that are high in different types of fibers resulted to lipid levels in type 2 diabetes patients, greater weight loss, and better blood glucose control according to Science research.
What are dietary fibers? They are portions of food that cannot be digested and they are gotten from plants. They are found commonly in vegetables, whole grains and fruits, they can be eaten raw, cooked or eaten whole.
Fruits including apple skin, pears, prunes, bananas, berries, some vegetables like carrots and the insoluble fibers consisting of whole grains, the corn bran, green peas, cauliflower e.t.c.
Gut bacteria these are group of microorganism that live in our digestive system and in other animals even insects example of these bacteria is Escherichia coli, the gut microbiota in humans have the largest population than in other parts of the body.
Diabetes is formed as a result of too much glucose (an important source of energy for the cells in our body) or sugar in the blood.
Many bacteria in the gut break down carbohydrates like dietary fibers and makes short-chain fatty acids that build up our intestinal lining and helps us to control our appetite and reduces inflammation.
This high blood sugar can lead to stroke, kidney failure, blindness and disease of the heart, the type 1 diabetes results from the lack of insulin while the type 2 diabetes results from when the pancreas makes small insulin or when the body does not use insulin well.
Now the difference between these two types of diabetes is the absence of insulin and the inability of the body to use insulin despite being present.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes known and it is known to develop well from not exercising and from being overweight.
People with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medicines and they may also need insulin. Those that are at high risk of having stroke and heart attack are mostly adults.
The metabolite profile of these two groups of diabetes were compared by researchers and the result was the difference in their levels of indolepropionic acid and some lipid metabolites.
More studies recommended that when a person has high blood levels of indolepropionic acid which is a waste product of gut bacteria, he/she can be protected against developing the type 2 diabetes.
These high levels of indolepropionic acid is as a result of a diet rich in fiber and whole grain foods.
These study which was in progress for six years gives evidence that when a person eats plenty of the right dietary fibers it rebalances the gut microbiota or the environment of the bacteria in the intestinal tract or the digestive system and is also very important for the general human health.
Lack of short-chain fatty acids is related with different type of diseases including the type 2 diabetes. In in a study based in china, a research assistant professor in Zhao’s laboratory placed patients that had type 2 diabetes in two groups which included a control group and a treatment group.
The control group was given dietary recommendations and standard patient education while the treatment group were given many types of dietary fibers. The high -fiber diet consisted of traditional Chinese medicinal foods that are rich in probiotics and dietary fibers.