Reading time: 3 minutes

🌈 Eat the rainbow: The importance of plant diversity for all diets

🌱 Plants for your gut

One of the largest and most comprehensive studies on the gut microbiome (the bacteria living in the gut) has published its results.

Samples from 10,000 citizens and scientists from different countries were studied to compare the differences in the human microbiome between samples.

The researchers wanted to compare the gut microbiome diversity between groups and understand which dietary pattern (e.g. veganism, vegetarianism) is associated with better gut health.

They found that diets containing various types of dietary fibre are likely to support a more diverse gut microbiota (often seen as a sign of a long and healthy life) and are also associated with fewer antibiotic resistance genes.

The magic number is 30 plants per week.

🏠 Take home message

It doesn't really matter what type of diet you follow, whether vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, or carnivore. What matters is how many different plant-based foods you eat.

The best advice for gut health is to try to consume 30 different real plants a week. This includes vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, spices, and herbs.

This does not include processed plant foods, which are often manufactured for shelf life and taste at the expense of vital nutrients.

This advice has recently replaced the outdated "5 fruits and veggies a day" recommendation, which does not promote the diversity of plant-based foods that is important for gut health.

Are you enjoying this newsletter? Share it 🔀 

🤢 Curcumin works for indigestion but no better than current drug

🟠A colourful diet

Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is believed to have powerful anti-inflammatory properties and has been used to treat indigestion in Asia for years.

A study was carried out to determine if curcumin is effective at improving symptoms of indigestion when compared to omeprazole, a drug used for reflux.

For 28 days, 206 patients were divided into three groups: one group received a high dose of curcumin, one group received a standard dose of omeprazole, and the final group received a combination of curcumin and omeprazole.

No significant difference was found in the effectiveness of curcumin and omeprazole.

🏠 Take home message

Both curcumin and omeprazole are effective at reducing symptoms of indigestion, but one is no better than the other.

Understandably, we all want to use natural remedies whenever possible. However, it is important to note that curcumin is not a substitute for medical treatment, and this study has three main limitations:

1. Curcumin was tested for managing symptoms of indigestion, not for preventing or curing indigestion.

2. A very high dose of 1 gram of curcumin was used in this study. For context, the average Indian diet provides 10 times less curcumin (from 2 to 2.5 grams of turmeric). Even in India, where use of turmeric is high, normal intakes are nowhere near the supplementation levels used in the study.

3. This study only enrolled patients from Thailand. We do not know if these results can be generalized to people from different ethnic and genetic backgrounds.

4. The study only lasted for 28 days. We do not know the long-term effects of heavy curcumin supplementation for prolonged periods of time.

If you have indigestion, it is always best to speak to a healthcare professional for personalized guidance. However, you can now ask your healthcare professional if taking curcumin could be an effective way to manage your symptoms!

Are you enjoying this newsletter? Share it 🔀 

🧫 Lab grown meat: the ethical debate

Lab-grown meat is meat that is grown in a laboratory from animal cells.

Research and manufacturing in this area has exploded in recent years. However, the consumption of lab-grown meat faces many challenges, including cost, scale of manufacturing, regulatory approvals, and taste preferences.

Now, mass adoption faces another ethical challenge: theological opinions.

Is lab-grown meat halal and kosher? Currently not.

To adhere to religious rules, animal cells must be harvested from animals slaughtered according to halal and kosher rules, and the incubation medium in the lab must be kosher approved.

This is big business! For context, halal food was worth up to $2.2 trillion and kosher food $41 billion in annual global sales.

As a result, we can expect a lot of lobbying from large food manufacturers. Halal and kosher certification is not just a matter of faith, but also a big business opportunity.

Did you land here by chance but enjoyed this article?

Sign up to get the next ones straight in your inbox!

🥤 And finally!

Before you rush outside to buy any food or drinks with turmeric, remember that turmeric is expensive, and the average use in products is less than 1 gram (or 20 times less curcumin than the study used). Not nearly enough to improve indigestion!

Stay Healthy!

Paolo