Feeding melancholic microbes: MyNewGut recommendations on diet and mood

Summary: Depression is a highly prevalent disorder which exerts a major economic impact in all European countries. The brain-gut-microbiota axis has been described as a new paradigm for advancing understanding and treatment of the disorder. There is now over-whelming evidence to support the fact that gut microbes have a major impact on central neurochemistry and behaviour, especially stress related disorders such as depression. Recent studies indicate that patients with depression have a gut dysbiosis. The reason for this dysbiosis is uncertain. Over recent decades, dietary patterns in Europe and elsewhere have undergone major compositional changes, with increased intakes of red meat, high fat foods, and refined sugars. Individuals who consume a Mediterranean diet have lower rates of depression and a recent study suggests that a Mediterranean diet may have antidepressant properties. Assuming this to be the case, which components of the Mediterranean diet mediate the effects? Highly levels of polyphenols or polyunsaturated fatty acids are obvious candidates. We in the MyNewGut consortium recommend that patients with depression or vulnerability to depression should be encouraged to enhance a plant-based diet with a high content of grains/fibres and fish

Whole Grain Wheat Consumption Affects Postprandial Inflammatory Response in a Randomized Controlled Trial in Overweight and Obese Adults with Mild Hypercholesterolemia in the Graandioos Study

BACKGROUND: Whole grain wheat (WGW) consumption is associated with health benefits in observational studies. However, WGW randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies show mixed effects. OBJECTIVES: The health impact of WGW consumption was investigated by quantification of the body's resilience, which was defined as the "ability to adapt to a standardized challenge." METHODS: A double-blind RCT was performed with overweight and obese (BMI: 25-35 kg/m2) men (n = 19) and postmenopausal women (n = 31) aged 45-70 y, with mildly elevated plasma total cholesterol (>5 mmol/L), who were randomly assigned to either 12-wk WGW (98 g/d) or refined wheat (RW). Before and after the intervention a standardized mixed-meal challenge was performed. Plasma samples were taken after overnight fasting and postprandially (30, 60, 120, and 240 min). Thirty-one biomarkers were quantified focusing on metabolism, liver, cardiovascular health, and inflammation. Linear mixed-models evaluated fasting compared with postprandial intervention effects. Health space models were used to evaluate intervention effects as composite markers representing resilience of inflammation, liver, and metabolism. RESULTS: Postprandial biomarker changes related to liver showed decreased alanine aminotransferase by WGW (P = 0.03) and increased β-hydroxybutyrate (P = 0.001) response in RW. Postprandial changes related to inflammation showed increased C-reactive protein (P = 0.001), IL-6 (P = 0.02), IL-8 (P = 0.007), and decreased IL-1B (P = 0.0002) in RW and decreased C-reactive protein (P < 0.0001), serum amyloid A (P < 0.0001), IL-8 (P = 0.02), and IL-10 (P < 0.0001) in WGW. Health space visualization demonstrated diminished inflammatory (P < 0.01) and liver resilience (P < 0.01) by RW, whereas liver resilience was rejuvenated by WGW (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Twelve-week 98 g/d WGW consumption can promote liver and inflammatory resilience in overweight and obese subjects with mildly elevated plasma cholesterol. The health space approach appeared appropriate to evaluate intervention effects as composite markers. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02385149.</p

Towards microbiome-informed dietary recommendations for promoting metabolic and mental health: opinion papers of the MyNewGut project

The gut microbiota coexists in partnership with the human host through adaptations to environmental and physiological changes that help maintain dynamic homeostatic healthy states. Break-down of this delicate balance under sustained exposure to stressors (e.g. unhealthy diets) can, however, contribute to the onset of disease. Diet is a key modifiable environmental factor that modulates the gut microbiota and its metabolic capacities that, in turn, could impact human physiology. On this basis, the diet and the gut microbiota could act as synergistic forces that provide resilience against disease or that speed the progress from health to disease states. Associations between unhealthy dietary patterns, non-communicable diseases and intestinal dysbiosis can be explained by this hypothesis. Translational studies showing that dietary-induced alterations in microbial communities recapitulate some of the pathological features of the original host further support this notion. In this introductory paper by the European project MyNewGut, we briefly summarize the investigations conducted to better understand the role of dietary patterns and food components in metabolic and mental health and the specificities of the microbiome-mediating mechanisms. We also discuss how advances in the understanding of the microbiome's role in dietary health effects can help to provide acceptable scientific grounds on which to base dietary advice for promoting healthy living

Editorial for the Special Issue “Dietary Fibre: New Insights on Biochemistry and Health Benefits”

When the term dietary fibre was first coined, over sixty years ago, it only referred to plant cell walls in the diet. [...

Next Generation Health Claims Based on Resilience: The Example of Whole-Grain Wheat

Health claims on foods are a way of informing consumers about the health benefits of a food product. Traditionally, these claims are based on scientific evaluation of markers originating from a pharmacological view on health. About a decade ago, the definition of health has been rephrased to &lsquo;the ability to adapt&rsquo; that opened up the possibility for a next generation of health claims based on a new way of quantifying health by evaluating resilience. Here, we would like to introduce an opportunity for future scientific substantiation of health claims on food products by using whole-grain wheat as an example. Characterization of the individual whole wheat grain food product or whole wheat flour would probably be considered as sufficiently characterized by the European Food Safety Authority, while the food category whole grain is not specific enough. Meta-analysis provides the scientific evidence that long-term whole-grain wheat consumption is beneficial for health, although results from single &lsquo;gold standard&rsquo; efficacy studies are not always straight forward based on classic measurement methods. Future studies may want to underpin the scientific argumentation that long-term whole grain wheat consumption improves resilience, by evaluating the disruption and rate of a selected panel of blood markers in response to a standardized oral protein glucose lipid tolerance test and aggregated into biomarkers with substantiated physiological benefits, to make a next-generation health claim for whole-grain wheat achievable in the near future

Beyond whole grain: The European HEALTHGRAIN project aims at healthier cereal foods

Cereal foods are an important source of carbohydrates and dietary fiber in our diet. Epidemiological evidence increasingly demonstrates that a diet rich in whole grain is protective against development of diet-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The majority of cereal foods today, however, are made from refined wheat flour. The grain processing industry therefore faces challenges and opportunities to produce new ingredients and foods with added value for consumer health. Against this background, the European Community decided to support the HEALTHGRAIN project (www.healthgrain. org) over the 2005-2010 period as part of the 6th Framework Food Research Program. HEALTHGRAIN aims to improve the well-being of humankind and to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome-related diseases in Europe by increasing the intake of protective compounds in whole grains or their fractions. It presents an integrated, multidisciplinary effort to determine the variation in composition, process-induced changes, and human metabolism of bioactive compounds in the major European bread grains wheat and rye and to reveal the physiological mechanisms underlying their role in the prevention of metabolic syndrome and related diseases. The target bioactive compounds are vitamins (folate, tocols, choline), phytochemicals (lignans, sterols, alkylresorcinols, phenolic acids), and indigestible carbohydrates (dietary fiber). Also, other product characteristics that may add to the metabolic benefits of whole grain products are promoted. The work is carried out in 17 work packages, distributed over five modules, and carried out by 43 organizations from 15 European countries. © 2006 AACC International, Inc.status: publishe