Recently I got acquainted with an interesting company “Atlas”, which provides genetic testing services in Russia and promotes the principles of personalized medicine. In the coming days, I will tell you a lot of interesting things about what genetic testing is, how it helps us live longer and stay healthy and vigorous, and in particular about what Atlas does. By the way, I passed their analysis and am looking forward to the results. At the same time, I will compare them with what the American analogue 23andme told me three years ago. In the meantime, I decided to share some data that I found in the articles on the Atlas website. There are many interesting things!
One of the articles deals with research that links metabolic syndrome and colitis with the consumption of food emulsifiers. Scientists speculate that it is food emulsifiers that play a role in the rise in inflammatory bowel disease since the mid-XNUMXth century.
Let me remind you that emulsifiers are substances that allow you to mix immiscible liquids. In food products, emulsifiers are used to achieve the desired consistency. Most often they are used in the production of chocolate, ice cream, mayonnaise and sauces, butter and margarine. The modern food industry uses mainly synthetic emulsifiers, the most common are mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471), esters of glycerol, fatty and organic acids (E472). Most often, such emulsifiers are indicated on the packaging as EE322-442, EE470-495.
A group of researchers from the United States and Israel has proven that food emulsifiers affect the composition of the intestinal microbiota of mice, causing colitis and metabolic syndrome (a complex of metabolic, hormonal and clinical disorders associated with insulin resistance, obesity, arterial hypertension and other factors).
In general, the microbiota (microflora) of the human intestine consists of hundreds of types of microorganisms, they are in a state of dynamic equilibrium with each other. The mass of microbiota can be equal to 2,5-3 kilograms, most of the microorganisms – 35-50% – are in the large intestine. The common genome of bacteria – the “microbiome” – has 400 thousand genes, which is 12 times more than the human genome.
The gut microbiota can be compared to a huge biochemical laboratory in which many processes take place. It is an important metabolic system where intrinsic and foreign substances are synthesized and destroyed.
Normal microflora plays an important role in maintaining human health: it protects against pathogenic microflora and its toxins, detoxifies, participates in the synthesis of amino acids, a number of vitamins, hormones, antibiotic and other substances, participates in digestion, normalizes blood pressure, suppresses the development of colorectal cancer, affects metabolism and the formation of immunity and performs a number of other functions.
However, when the relationship between the microbiota and the host is disrupted, numerous chronic inflammatory diseases occur, in particular bowel diseases and diseases associated with obesity (metabolic syndrome).
The main defense of the gut against gut microbiota is provided by multilayer mucous structures. They cover the surface of the intestines, keeping most of the bacteria inhabiting it at a safe distance from the epithelial cells lining the intestines. Therefore, substances that disrupt the interaction of the mucous membrane and bacteria can cause inflammatory bowel disease.
The authors of the Atlas study hypothesized and demonstrated that relatively low concentrations of two common dietary emulsifiers (carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80) provoke nonspecific inflammation and obesity / metabolic syndrome in wild-type mice as well as persistent colitis in mice. predisposed to this disease.
The results of the study indicate that the widespread use of food emulsifiers may be associated with an increase in the prevalence of obesity / metabolic syndrome and other chronic inflammatory diseases.