Allergies through western diet

Incorrect diet as the cause of allergies and intestinal diseases.

(04.08.2010) Paolo Lionetti, a pediatric gastroenterologist from the Journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) at the University of Florence, has studied the effects of childhood nutrition on the bacterial cultures of the colon to reduce the susceptibility of Western children to To discuss allergies and inflammatory bowel disease in more detail.

For comparison, he studied the diet and stool samples of children from Florence and the village of Boulpon in Burkina Faso. In the latter, autoimmune diseases, allergies and inflammatory bowel disease virtually do not occur, which leads Lionetti in his study on different diets and the associated different bacterial cultures in the intestine.

The children from Florence follow the study, as most children in western industrialized countries, with a maximum of one year breastfeeding changes the diet and henceforth based mainly on animal proteins (meat), starch, sugar and fat. Only 0.9 percent of the food is made up of vegetable fibers (dietary fiber), compared to around 10 percent of the dietary fiber in African children. This is much higher among the children from Boulpon, as they breastfed on the one hand on average for about two years and then on the other hand, mainly with vegetable food such. B. millet porridge be nourished with vegetables and herbs.

This is accompanied by very different manifestations of intestinal bacteria, with 95% of all bacteria accounting for four categories in both groups: Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes (B) and Firmicutes (F) and Proteobacteria. Among the children from Burkina Faso the bacteria dominated the category B while in the Italian children those of the F-category were more strongly represented. This in itself is a problematic finding, since a high F / B ratio is considered to be the hallmark of obesity, while a high B / F ratio in leaner people outweighs, so the expert Lionetti.

In addition, the bacterial diversity in African children was far greater and some of the intestinal bacteria found in them such. B. Prevotella, Butyrivibrio and Xylanibacter could not be detected in European subjects. These bacteria are suitable for breaking up plant fibers and providing additional energy sources, resulting in short-chain fatty acids, which are said to have a preventive role in inflammatory bowel disease. Here Lionetti also sees a possible explanation for the absence of inflammatory bowel disease in the children of Burkina Faso. In addition, he suggests that increased bacterial diversity also makes the intestine more resistant to diarrhea, as it limits the spread of pathogens in the gut.

Lionetti also attributes the low rate of allergic diseases to the increased diversity of intestinal bacteria, as the presence of various antigens in the intestine preoccupies the immune system and prevents it from developing defense reactions against harmless allergens. Thus, a healthy fiber-rich diet, especially in the early childhood years, could help to protect one's life from allergies and inflammatory bowel disease.

Lionetti wants to verify these results in the coming years by further studies, but he already advises parents to make sure that their children are provided with enough fiber, because the dietary habits are the determining factor for the diversity of intestinal microbes. (Fp)

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Picture credits: Dieter Schütz