Eating a diet very high in tomatoes for two weeks can lead to a healthy gut microbiota, according to a recent US study.
In soup, salad or in a pie, tomatoes regularly delight young and old, especially as part of a balanced diet. Recognized to attack bad fats and eliminate them more easily, they may also have other previously unsuspected benefits. According to a recent study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum on November 8, two weeks of eating a diet rich in tomatoes will increase the diversity of gut microbes and change gut bacteria to a more favorable profile.
For now, this finding has been established in young pigs. Similar studies in men should be conducted soon to confirm or refute these results. For scientists, the effect of tomatoes on the intestinal microbiota still remains a mystery today, but they hope that the benefits observed in these animals will be the same in humans.
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More effective dietary recommendations
“Tomatoes may confer benefits by modulating gut microbiota,” said lead author Jessica Cooperstone, assistant professor of horticulture, crop production and food science and technology at The Ohio State University. She believes that a better understanding of this phenomenon can lead to more effective dietary recommendations.
In total, tomatoes make up about 22% of vegetable intake in Western diets. As the government reminds us on its Eat and Move website, the consumption of fruit and vegetables is essential to our diet because they are rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals and because their beneficial effects on health have been proven. They have a protective role in the prevention of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes.
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