How the food you eat affects your gut - Shilpa Ravella

Translator: Sandra Mariño Reviewer: Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

Trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi live on or inside of us,

Billóns de bacterias, virus e fungos viven sobre ou dentro de nós

and maintaining a good, balanced relationship with them

e manter unha relación boa e equilibrada con eles

is to our advantage.

é unha vantaxe para nós.

Together, they form the gut microbiome,

Xuntos, forman o microbioma intestinal,

a rich ecosystem that performs a variety of functions in our bodies.

un ecosistema rico que desempeña diversas funcións no noso corpo.

The bacteria in our guts can break down food the body can't digest,

As bacterias intestinais descompoñen a comida que o corpo non pode dixerir,

produce important nutrients,

producen nutrientes importantes,

regulate the immune system,

regulan o sistema inmunitario

and protect against harmful germs.

e protéxennos contra xermes daniños.

We don't yet have the blueprint

Aínda non coñecemos

for exactly which good bacteria a robust gut needs,

que bacterias beneficiosas precisa un intestino rexo,

but we do know that it's important for a healthy microbiome

pero sabemos que para ter un microbioma san é importante

to have a variety of bacterial species.

ter unha ampla variedade de especies bacterianas.

Many factors affect our microbiomes,

Moitos factores afectan á nosa microbiota,

including our environment,

incluído o noso contorno,

medications like antibiotics,

os fármacos, como os antibióticos,

and even whether we were delivered by C-section or not.

e incluso se nacemos por cesárea ou non.

Diet, too, is emerging as one of the leading influences

Tamén se pensa que a dieta é un dos principais factores que inflúen

on the health of our guts.

na saúde intestinal.

And while we can't control all these factors,

Mesmo sen poder controlar todos estes factores,

si podemos manipular o equilibrio dos microbios

we can manipulate the balance of our microbes

by paying attention to what we eat.

prestando atención ao que comemos.

Dietary fiber from foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains

A fibra dietética de alimentos

como as froitas, verduras, froitos secos, legumes e cereais integrais

is the best fuel for gut bacteria.

é o mellor combustible para a flora intestinal.

Cando as bacterias dixiren a fibra,

When bacteria digest fiber,

they produce short chain fatty acids that nourish the gut barrier,

producen ácidos graxos de cadea curta que nutren a barreira intestinal,

improve immune function,

melloran a función inmune

and can help prevent inflammation, which reduces the risk of cancer.

e poden axudar a previr a inflamación, o que reduce o risco de cancro.

And the more fiber you ingest,

Canta máis fibra tomes,

the more fiber-digesting bacteria colonize your gut.

máis bacterias que a dixiran colonizarán o teu intestino.

In a recent study, scientists exchanged the regular high-fiber diets

Nun estudo recente, os científicos substituíron a dieta rica en fibra

of a group of rural South Africans

dun grupo do rural de Suráfrica

with the high-fat, meat-heavy diets of a group of African-Americans.

por unha rica en graxas e carne dun grupo de afroamericanos.

After just two weeks on the high-fat, low-fiber, Western-style diet,

Logo de dúas semanas coa dieta occidental de moita graxa e pouca fibra,

the rural African group showed increased inflammation of the colon,

o grupo de africanos rurais amosaron un incremento da inflamación no colon,

as well as a decrease of butyrate.

así como un descenso do butirato.

That's a short chain fatty acid thought to lower risk of colon cancer.

Este é un ácido graxo de cadea curta que reduce o risco de cancro de colon.

Meanwhile, the group that switched to a high-fiber, low-fat diet

Mentres, o grupo que cambiou a unha dieta rica en fibra e con pouca graxa

had the opposite result.

obtivo o resultado contrario.

So what goes wrong with our gut bacteria when we eat low-fiber processed foods?

Logo, que ocorre coa microbiota intestinal ao tomar comida procesada con pouca fibra?

Lower fiber means less fuel for the gut bacteria,

Menos fibra significa menos combustible para as bacterias,

polo que, basicamente, morren de fame.

essentially starving them until they die off.

This results in less diversity

Isto dá lugar a unha menor diversidade

and hungry bacteria.

e a bacterias famentas.

De feito, algunhas ata empezan a alimentarse da envoltura mucosa.

In fact, some can even start to feed on the mucus lining.

We also know that specific foods can affect gut bacteria.

Tamén sabemos que hai alimentos que afectan en concreto ás bacterias.

Nun estudo recente sobre o microbioma, os científicos acharon que as froitas,

In one recent microbiome study,

scientists found that fruits,

vegetables,

as verduras, o té, o café, o viño tinto e o chocolate negro

tea,

coffee,

red wine,

and dark chocolate

were correlated with increased bacterial diversity.

se correlacionaban cunha maior diversidade bacteriana.

Estes alimentos conteñen polifenois,

These foods contain polyphenols,

which are naturally occurring antioxidant compounds.

que son compostos antioxidantes naturais.

Por outra banda,

On the other hand,

alimentos ricos en graxas lácteas,

foods high in dairy fat,

like whole milk, and sugar-sweetened sodas

como o leite enteiro, e refrescos azucrados

were correlated with decreased diversity.

relacionáronse cunha caída na diversidade.

How food is prepared also matters.

Tamén importa como se prepara a comida.

Os alimentos frescos ou pouco procesados

Minimally processed, fresh foods generally have more fiber

adoitan ter máis fibra e son combustibles de mellor calidade.

and provide better fuel.

So lightly steamed,

Entón, as verduras cocidas ao vapor, salteadas ou crúas

sautéed,

or raw vegetables

are typically more beneficial than fried dishes.

adoitan ser máis beneficiosas que os pratos fritidos.

There are also ways of preparing food that can actually introduce good bacteria,

Hai xeitos de preparar a comida

cos que se poden inserir bacterias beneficiosas,

also known as probiotics, into your gut.

tamén coñecidas como probióticos, no intestino.

Fermented foods are teeming with helpful probiotic bacteria,

Os alimentos fermentados están cheos de bacterias probióticas beneficiosas,

like lactobacillus

como os lactobacillus

and bifidobacteria.

e as bifidobacterias.

Originally used as a way of preserving foods

A fermentación usábase para conservar os alimentos

before the invention of refrigeration,

antes da invención da refrixeración,

fermentation remains a traditional practice all over the world.

e aínda é unha práctica tradicional en todo o mundo.

Comidas como o kimchi, o chucrute, o tempeh ou a kombucha

Foods like kimchi,

sauerkraut,

tempeh,

and kombucha

proporcionan variedade e vitalidade á nosa dieta.

provide variety and vitality to our diets.

O iogur é outro alimento fermentado que ten bacterias útiles para o intestino.

Yogurt is another fermented food that can introduce helpful bacteria into our guts.

That doesn't necessarily mean that all yogurt is good for us, though.

Así e todo, isto non supón que todos os iogures sexan bos para nós.

Brands with too much sugar and not enough bacteria

As marcas que levan moito azucre e poucas bacterias

may not actually help.

non van axudar, realmente.

These are just general guidelines.

Estas só son directrices xerais.

More research is needed before we fully understand

Precísanse máis estudos para entender ben

exactly how any of these foods interact with our microbiomes.

como calquera destes alimentos interactúa coa nosa microbiota.

We see positive correlations,

Existen correlacións positivas,

but the insides of our guts are difficult places to make direct observations.

mais é difícil observar directamente o interior do intestino

For instance, we don't currently know

Por exemplo, actualmente non sabemos

whether these foods are directly responsible for the changes in diversity,

se a comida é a responsable dos cambios na diversidade

or if something more complicated is happening.

ou se acontece algo máis complexo.

While we're only beginning to explore the vast wilderness inside our guts,

Inda que estamos comezando a estudar a inmensidade do noso interior intestinal,

we already have a glimpse of how crucial our microbiomes are for digestive health.

xa albiscamos a importancia da microbiota na saúde intestinal.

The great news is we have the power to fire up the bacteria in our bellies.

A gran noticia é que temos o poder de avivar as bacterias da nosa barriga.

Fill up on fibers,

Énchete de fibra,

alimentos frescos e fermentados

fresh and fermented foods,

and you can trust your gut to keep you going strong.

e ten por seguro que o teu intestino te manterá forte.