Tag Archive for: mycobiome

How the Quality of Your Diet Changes Your Mycobiome

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In the experiment I told you about on Tuesday, the researchers established that environment—exposure to light, temperature, and other environmental factors—affects the microbiome, including the fungi or mycobiome. The researchers then tested the changes in the mycobiome (the fungus part of the microbiome) after feeding the mice a highly processed diet compared with mice eating conventional mice chow. They also monitored changes in body composition, triglycerides, and other hormones related to obesity.

After eight weeks on the highly processed diet, there were differences in the quantity of fungi. Some groups of related organisms increased while others decreased. Because not every group has known roles in digestion and metabolism, the researchers examined metabolic changes in response to the dietary change; they found an increase in body fat and triglycerides in the male mice along with concurrent changes in hormones that signified a move toward prediabetes. (For some reason, the female mice in this species are protected from those effects.)

After examining the composition of the highly processed chow, I’d like to have seen one more group of mice in the experimental group. Because the highly processed chow had no fiber, it would have been helpful to see what would happen to the entire microbiome if the amount of fiber was the same in the processed chow as the conventional chow. Maybe it wouldn’t have impacted the fungi at all, or the change could have been significant.

The Bottom Line

What lessons can we learn from this study? We’re not mice after all. I think it means that a highly processed, highly-refined carbohydrate diet may cause undesirable changes in our microbiome, including the fungal levels as well. For example, Candida albicans is a primary fungus in our digestive system, but it can cause all kinds of problems if it gets out of control. Reducing refined carbohydrates has a beneficial impact on keeping that fungus at beneficial levels.

Regardless of your current age, a better diet is part of Aging with a Vengeance. Reducing processed food, especially carbohydrates, can benefit your microbiome and all that it impacts. Time to start now.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Comm Bio (2021).4:281 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01820-z

The Fungus Among Us

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The microbiome is made up of a variety of microbes. I tend to focus on the bacteria because that’s where the bulk of the research exists, but there are more microbes in and on us such as fungi, protozoa, and viruses. A recent paper provided some interesting insight into one category of microbes: the fungi, also called the mycobiome. I loved this research paper; the methodology is extremely complex, but the logic of the questions they lined up and answered was fantastic.

Researchers began with the most basic question: Are the microbiomes, including the fungi, the same when they purchase genetically identical mice from four different animal vendors? It turns out the answer is no. While the core fungi were similar, they each had subtle differences in types of fungal colonies. That means when used in research, although genetically identical, the growing environment was different enough to potentially influence outcomes when using some form of dietary intervention.

What does that mean for human research? Research using dietary changes could be impacted by the microbial differences. The researchers tested that concept, and I’ll talk about that on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

P.S. Members and Insiders: check out the latest Straight Talk on Health covering melatonin and memory, and a dog’s microbiome. Be sure to go to membership log in first.

Reference: Comm Bio (2021).4:281 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01820-z