Eating plenty of wholegrain bread, vegetables and beans could minimise the chances of suffering potentially deadly food poisoning, British research suggests.
University of Cambridge researchers said eating foods high in fibre helps nurture beneficial bacteria that naturally live in our guts which protect against bugs that invade via contaminated food.
They came to this conclusion after examining the microbiome — a term for the ecosystem of microscopic organisms in our digestive system — of 12,000 people from 45 countries.
The scientists said whether or not a person suffered food poisoning was dependent on the presence of a particular type of protective bacteria in their guts called Faecalibacterium.
These friendly bugs helped in the destruction of some of the most common culprits behind the dreaded food poisoning symptoms — a group of bugs called Enterobacteriaceae, which includes Shigella and E.coli.
Writing in the journal Nature Microbiology, the experts explained that Faecalibacterium feed on fibre and convert it into beneficial compounds called short-chain fatty acids.
These acids are said to help protect against a hostile takeover by the bugs that cause food poisoning.
Dr Alexandre Almeida, an expert in veterinary medicine and an author of the paper, said the results demonstrated the importance of what we eat.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge said eating lots of fibre helped nurture beneficial bacteria that naturally live in our guts, helping protect against those might invade via contaminated food.
‘By eating fibre in foods like vegetables, beans and wholegrains, we can provide the raw material for our gut bacteria to produce short chain fatty acids — compounds that can protect us from these pathogenic bugs,’ he said.
While food poisoning is normally a mild ailment, some members of the Enterobacteriaceae family can trigger serious conditions like pneumonia and meningitis.
And worryingly a number are growing increasingly resistant to the drugs deployed to combat them.
Dr Almeida this was another reason for keeping the microbiome healthy so it could act as a preventative measure.
‘With higher rates of antibiotic resistance there are fewer treatment options available to us,’ he said.
‘The best approach now is to prevent infections occurring in the first place, and we can do this by reducing the opportunities for these disease-causing bacteria to thrive in our gut.’
Another finding in the study, and at odds with previous research, was that types of bacteria found probiotics and sold as healthy gut supplements could co-exist with harmful Enterobacteriaceae pathogens.
The previous thinking was these bugs would compete for resources in the gut with the probiotic ones impeding the growth of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria as a result.
The experts said this discovery had potentially important implications for probiotic-based treatments and suggested it was better to naturally change the environment through a healthy diet instead.
Food poisoning is a common ailment in Britain with an estimated nearly 2.5million cases recorded in the UK per year
Fellow author Dr Qi Yin, another expert in veterinary medicine, said: ‘This study highlights the importance of studying pathogens not as isolated entities, but in the context of their surrounding gut microbiome.’
Food poisoning is a common ailment in Britain with an estimated nearly 2.5million cases recorded in the UK per year.
The vast majority of these are mild but for some vulnerable people, like the elderly, it can be far more serious with an estimated 200 fatalities per year.
Last year the UK was hit by a serious E.coli outbreak which resulted in one death and dozens more hospitalisations which was eventually traced back to contaminated lettuce.
Fibre, also called roughage, is the part of plant-based foods that our small intestine can’t digest so it reaches the large intestine and helps prevent constipation.
The latest data from the British Dietetic Association suggests the average Brit consumes just 18g of fibre per day, far lower than the 30g recommended by the NHS.
