CrohnsChicago
Super Moderator
Very interesting read about geography and it's influence on gut health.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/...ria_n_6994310.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000030A team of researchers are studying a remote hunter-gatherer community in the Peruvian Amazon with the express purpose of answering a single question: What did our digestive systems look like before antibiotics and fast food?
They now have some insight into how diverse ancient human gut bacteria was thousands of years ago -- and how our modern intestinal colonies have changed as a result of our industrialized lifestyles.
Compared to a traditional agricultural community living in the Andean Highlands (also in Peru) and an urban-industrialized community in Norman, Oklahoma, the hunter-gatherers -- a sovereign tribe, the Matses -- boasted stunning bacterial diversity in their guts, including the presence of the genus, Treponema. This type of gut bacteria diversity, as well as the specific genus Treponema, has been found only in non-human primates and other hunter-gatherer communities in Burkina-Faso and Tanzania. The discovery provides scientists with a theoretical baseline for how human gut bacteria flourishes away from the influences of urbanization and industrialization.
Treponema is related to other bacteria that help metabolize our food. In doing so, it also releases chemicals that are anti-inflammatory and aid in the health of the colon. While Lewis has yet to prove any beneficial link between Treponema and the health of the Matses, he speculates that this type of bacteria are likely bestowing benefits to their hosts....
..."By studying the bacteria that was lost during industrialization, we have an opportunity to discover paths to restore those bacteria, assuming that’s a good idea, or at least improve our body’s immune system,” said the study's lead researcher, Cecil Lewis of the University of Oklahom. "It’s too early to say that Treponema will have role in that restoration, but they are definitely one of the stronger candidates worth exploring."