Intestinal flora is greatly altered by emulsifiers

02/26/2015

Emulsifiers are used today in many foods to make them creamier, more dimensionally stable or more durable. Like a study by scientists around Dr. Benoit Chassaing of Georgia State University, published in the journal Nature, found that "the food additives could be linked to modern diseases such as chronic intestinal inflammation and the metabolic syndrome".

Emulsifiers could play a significant role in the dramatic increase in diseases with changes in the intestinal flora
As the scientists report, the common emulsifiers polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose seem to exert a negative influence on the intestinal flora. Thus, in experiments with mice fed with the emulsifiers, it could be shown that the food additives change the composition of the intestinal bacteria and in this way promote the development of inflammation. The researchers discovered "more types of bacteria that could migrate into the thick mucus layer of the intestine interior and degrade this". Normally, hardly any bacteria penetrate into this mucus layer, so that the intestine is protected.

On the pathogens, the mice, which were hereditary for chronic intestinal inflammation, reacted with distinct symptoms. In non-preloaded mice, the complaints were in a mild form of enteritis as well as a metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome is defined as certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, severe overweight and obesity, elevated blood glucose levels and impaired lipid metabolism.

Emulsifiers affect the composition of the bacteria in the intestine
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease includes Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. These, like the metabolic syndrome, are accompanied by changes in the intestinal flora. The incidence of these modern diseases has increased dramatically in recent years. From this it can be concluded that environmental factors play an essential role in the development of these diseases, quotes the news agency "dpa". Benoit Chassaing. "Food interacts closely with the intestinal flora," says the expert. "That's why we considered which new food additives could change the bacterial composition to make it more pro-inflammatory."

"These results support the concept that the interactions of disturbed microbiota lead to mild inflammation, which may promote obesity and the associated effects on the metabolism," write the researchers in the journal. "Furthermore, they suggest that the widespread use of emulsifiers could promote overweight and the metabolic syndrome as well as other chronic inflammatory diseases." Further studies must now show how emulsifiers affect the human intestinal flora. (Ag)

Picture: Sigrid Rossmann