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Pistachios help growth of beneficial gut bugs
Thursday April 26, 2012 07:41:30 PM,
IANS
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Washington: Eating
pistachio nuts may help the growth of potentially beneficial gut
bugs and promote digestive health, says a new study.
Pistachios are also an excellent source of vitamin B6, copper and
manganese and a good source of phosphorus and thiamin. Gut bugs
help in digestion of food in the stomach.
They may play a role in "modifying microbiota (microbial
environment in the gastrointestinal tract) ... for supporting
intestinal health," said Volker Mai, assistant professor at the
University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences.
To examine this link between prebiotics in pistachios and the gut,
researchers conducted a study at the Beltsville Human Nutrition
Research Center in Maryland. Prebiotics are a functional food that
stimulates the growth of healthy bugs, helping produce digestive
enzymes.
A group of healthy individuals were randomly assigned to eat an
American-style, pre-planned diet that included either 0 ounces,
1.5 ounces or 3 ounces of pistachios or almonds per day, according
to a Florida statement.
Each participant's diet was calorie-controlled to ensure they
neither gained nor lost weight during the intervention. Multiple
stool samples were collected throughout the study and analyzed for
bacterial community composition.
After controlling for age, dietary factors and other relevant
variables, the researchers observed that after 19 days, people who
ate up to three ounces of pistachios (about 147 nuts or 2
servings) per day had increased changes in levels of various gut
bacteria.
The difference in gut microbes was stronger in people who ate
pistachios rather than almonds. The researchers used "modern high
throughput sequencing" to quantify specific gut bacterial DNA
signatures before and after nut consumption.
According to the researchers, this is the first study using this
method to observe that pistachios and almonds may have the ability
to help change the amounts of bacteria thriving in the gut.
These findings were presented at the Experimental Biology
conference in San Diego, US.
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