Lawrence David and Teresa McDonald to Study Infant Gut Health in Nicaragua
Lawrence David, Sylvia Becker-Dreps, Teresa McDonald and colleagues, together with Filemon Bucardo and Samuel Vilchez in Nicaragua, will use their Global Grant for Gut Health to measure the diversity of plant-based foods consumed by infants in Nicaragua, and how this modulates the maturation of the gut microbiome and overall child health.
In adults, a diet with a greater diversity of plants has been associated with a more diverse microbiota, which in turn is often associated with good health. In infants, diverse diets are associated with a lower risk of developing allergies later in life. A main component in plant-based foods is dietary fibre (complex carbohydrates), but humans lack the enzymes to break fibre down — we can’t absorb it like we do simple sugars or proteins. Plant fibre survives ingestion and travels to the large intestine, where most gut bacteria reside. Fibre is an important resource for these bacteria; when deprived of fibre, they eat more intestinal mucus. This can compromise the function of the intestinal barrier and increase the risk of pathogens taking hold. But we’re still learning exactly how these dietary components shape the development of the infant and child microbiome, and whether specific plants benefit young children more than others. As it is feasible to rapidly change the composition of the microbiome in a few days, interventions could work very quickly to improve infant gut health.