Regardless of age, gender or nationality, we all have the same gut flora. Its composition does not depend on the diet.
Only one tenth of the cells in the human body are human cells. The rest is bacteria – most notably the 100 trillion gut bacteria. Together, they weigh almost one and a half kilograms, says Nature.
Gut bacteria help break down food and gain energy, while also helping to defend against dangerous bacterial strains. In return, we provide them with shelter and food.
Differences in gut flora can explain differences between people in digestion, drug responses, and disease resistance.
It might seem that due to a varied diet, lifestyle and genetic profile, each person has completely different bacteria in their gut. Meanwhile, it turned out that the intestinal flora is present in only three varieties – enterotypes. Perhaps further work will reveal other enterotypes.
The research was carried out as part of the international MetaHIT project supported by the European Union. Scientists analyzed the feces of 33 people from Japan, Denmark, the USA and Spain. By comparing the DNA sequence with the publicly available sequences of 1500 species of bacteria and other organisms, they identified as many bacteria as they could.
The results of the first study confirmed additional analyzes of material from 154 Americans and 85 Danes. Interestingly, the composition of the intestinal flora does not depend on the diet. The three enterotypes were named bacteriode, prevotella, and ruminococcus, respectively, from the predominant bacteria in them. The first is dominated by bacteria that use mainly carbohydrates and proteins, while the other two – sticky proteins found in the intestine. (PAP)