Gut Microbiota Research May Lead To New Metabolic Disorder Treatments, Study Suggests.

New research is helping to unravel the mystery of how disruptions to the bacteria in our gut, caused by an unhealthy diet or irregular sleep, can lead to a number of diseases. Such research could someday result in new treatments for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions by restoring the health of the gut-microbe community, known as the microbiota. Researchers are exploring how to do this through individualized diets and mealtimes or other interventions. When gut microbiota are healthy, they maintain regular daily cycles of activities such as congregating in different parts of the intestine and producing metabolites, molecules that help the body function properly. A disruption of the gut’s circadian rhythms is communicated through the bloodstream and upsets many of the body’s other circadian clocks, especially in the liver, one of the main metabolic organs, according to a study by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science published in the journal Cell in December. The gut’s circadian rhythms and those in other organs “dance together in a very profound way and go up and down in coordination with each other,” says Eran Elinav, a physician and immunologist at the Weizmann Institute and one of the study’s lead investigators. “By controlling the gut microbiota, you can modify many physiological capabilities” throughout the body, he says. http://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674%2816%2931524-0 https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-disrupting-your-guts-rhythm-affects-your-health-1488164400 Being able to predict how different foods affect people’s blood-sugar level, based on the composition of their microbiota, also could potentially help maintain metabolic health. The Personalized Nutrition Project, another study led by Drs. Elinav and Segal, studied 1,000 people and about 50,000 meals and snacks for a week. People’s metabolisms varied widely, it found. After eating ice cream, for example, blood-sugar levels would soar for some participants while hardly budging for others, Dr. Segal says.