Livestock Changes at the Beginning and End of the Roman Period in Britain: Issues of Acculturation, Adaptation and ‘Improvement’

This article reviews aspects of the development of animal husbandry in Roman Britain, focusing in particular on the Iron Age/Roman and Roman/early medieval transitions. By analysing the two chronological extremes of the period of Roman influence in Britain we try to identify the core characteristics of Romano-British husbandry by using case studies, in particular from south-eastern Britain, investigated from the perspective of the butchery and morphometric evidence they provide. Our aim is to demonstrate the great dynamism of Romano-British animal husbandry, with substantial changes in livestock management occurring at the beginning, the end, and during the period under study. It is suggested that such changes are the product of interactions between different cultural and social traditions, which can be associated with indigenous and external influences, but also numerous other causes, ranging from ethnic origins to environmental, geographic, political, and economic factors

Gut microbiota and health: connecting actors across the metabolic system

Overweight-related metabolic diseases are an important threat to health in the Western world. Dietary habits are one of the main causative factors for metabolic syndrome, CVD and type 2 diabetes. The human gut microbiota is emerging as an important player in the interaction between diet and metabolic health. Gut microbial communities contribute to human metabolism through fermentation of dietary fibre and the result of intestinal saccharolytic fermentation is production of SCFA. Acetate, propionate and butyrate positively influence satiety, endocrine system, glucose homeostasis, adipogenesis, lipid oxidation, thermoregulation, hepatic gluconeogenesis, endothelial function and gut barrier integrity, and these mechanisms have all been linked to protection from type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular health. The gut microbiota is also involved in bile acid metabolism and regulating their cell signalling potential, which has also been shown to modify pathways involved in metabolic health. Similarly, the gut microbiota renders recalcitrant plant polyphenols into biologically active small phenolic compounds which then act systemically to reduce metabolic disease risk. This review summarises how dietary patterns, specific foods and a healthy lifestyle may modulate metabolic health through the gut microbiota and their molecular cross-talk with the host

Insulin resistance in non-diabetic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: sites and mechanisms

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Impact of diet in shaping gut microbiota revealed by a comparative study in children from Europe and Rural Africa

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