Dieting in adolescence due to weight dissatisfaction and insecurities on outer appearances is alarming as it is a growing concern for parents and practitioners. Of the various dieting methods, crash dieting is known to be a popular, yet dangerous fad among females, including young girls. Individuals are driven by celebrity-endorsement, media and social pressures to resort to crash diets despite lack of scientific evidence of efficacy, and studies of their mental and physical harm. What remains to be elucidated is the impact crash dieting has to the commensal microbial community within the gut of crash-dieters. These microorganisms of the human gut microbiome are deeply involved in human metabolism, and hence, human health and wellness. This
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Known as the gut flora, gut microbiome or gut microbiota, the bacteria of this microbial community are mostly commensal, obligate or facultative anaerobes that outnumber the cells of their human host by an estimated ratio of 10:120. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing have demonstrated the essential roles that our resident gut microflora play in human disease, health and metabolism12. The relationship between the gut microbiota and its host can be mutualistic, such that they protect the host from antagonizing enteropathogenic bacteria through a variety of methods: the gut microbiota activates host innate immunity, they compete with pathogens for space and nutrients when highly abundant and diverse, and they produce antimicrobials to inhibit growth of pathogens25. Moreover, the gut flora plays an important role in digestion, as well as producing metabolites that effects the health of the …show more content…
in 2011 and are irrelevant of host origin, age, body weight or sex2. These enterotypes were identified by the relative abundance of three bacterial genera, and the relative proportion of each microbial community is associated to host diet. Species from the genus Bacteroides (enterotype 1) dominate the composition of the gut microbiome, and predominantly metabolize proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Prevotella (enterotype 2), correlates with the intake of carbohydrates and simple sugars. Lastly, Rumoinococcus (enterotype 3) degrade mucins2. The diversity in substrate utilization demonstrates the diverse metabolic functions of bacteria in the human gut
Known as the gut flora, gut microbiome or gut microbiota, the bacteria of this microbial community are mostly commensal, obligate or facultative anaerobes that outnumber the cells of their human host by an estimated ratio of 10:120. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing have demonstrated the essential roles that our resident gut microflora play in human disease, health and metabolism12. The relationship between the gut microbiota and its host can be mutualistic, such that they protect the host from antagonizing enteropathogenic bacteria through a variety of methods: the gut microbiota activates host innate immunity, they compete with pathogens for space and nutrients when highly abundant and diverse, and they produce antimicrobials to inhibit growth of pathogens25. Moreover, the gut flora plays an important role in digestion, as well as producing metabolites that effects the health of the …show more content…
in 2011 and are irrelevant of host origin, age, body weight or sex2. These enterotypes were identified by the relative abundance of three bacterial genera, and the relative proportion of each microbial community is associated to host diet. Species from the genus Bacteroides (enterotype 1) dominate the composition of the gut microbiome, and predominantly metabolize proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Prevotella (enterotype 2), correlates with the intake of carbohydrates and simple sugars. Lastly, Rumoinococcus (enterotype 3) degrade mucins2. The diversity in substrate utilization demonstrates the diverse metabolic functions of bacteria in the human gut