Fruit and vegetables promotes diversity in the human gut

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Fruit and vegetables are healthy, including for the microbiome in the intestines. As the meta-study by a research team in Graz shows, regular consumption contributes to bacterial diversity in the human gut. The influence is particularly strong in the first years of life.

The human microbiome, i.e. the entirety of all microorganisms that colonize the gut, is largely transmitted to babies via the maternal microbiome and passed on with breast milk. However, other sources have not yet been proven, according to TU Graz in its press release. However, the team Wisnu Adi Wicaksono and Gabriele Berg from the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology have now collected scientific evidence. The meta-study was published in the journal “Gut Microbes”.

In the first three years
Specifically, the study showed that the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and the variety of plants eaten influence the amount of fruit and vegetable-associated bacteria in the human gut. Early childhood in particular represents a time window for colonization with plant-associated bacteria. The microorganisms of plant origin have probiotic and health-promoting properties, which have also been demonstrated.

According to first author Wicaksono, it is reasonable to assume that fruit and vegetables have a positive influence on the development of the immune system in the first three years or so of life, as the intestinal microbiome develops during this time. But even after that, a good diversity of gut bacteria is beneficial for health and resilience. “It simply influences everything. Diversity influences the resilience of the whole organism. Higher diversity conveys more resilience,” said Institute Director Berg.

For the meta-study, the team from Graz compiled a catalog of microbiome data from fruits and vegetables in order to be able to assign their bacteria. They compared this with publicly available data from two studies on intestinal flora. The TEDDY project looked at the development of babies in a long-term study and the “American Gut Project” studied the intestinal flora of adults – both projects also collected data on the food intake of the test subjects.

“One Health” concept
In total, the researchers had access to metagenome data from around 2,500 stool samples, each of which contained between one and ten million sequences – meaning that several billion sequences were analyzed. This extensive data set was used to prove the presence of fruit and vegetable microflora in the gut. According to the TU, this evidence is a crucial building block in proving the WHO’s “One Health” concept, which closely links human, animal and environmental health.

Berg is now also working on the EU-funded HEDIMED project to further investigate the connection. Together with international colleagues, an intervention study will involve people on three continents eating the same food for a certain period of time and then analyzing their excretions.