Pricey Docs: I’ve been listening to about one thing known as “customized diet.” They’re saying it could actually assist with all kinds of stuff, like melancholy, shedding weight and even migraines. Apparently, it begins with a poop pattern? What’s this all about?
Pricey Reader: There was a time when the time period “customized diet” referred to dietary recommendation primarily based on components comparable to somebody’s weight, health stage, physique fats share, consuming habits, exercise ranges, blood-lipid values and normal well being. A few of these diets narrowed their focus and focused the participant’s particular physique kind, blood kind and even DNA.
The customized diet you’re asking about, additionally known as precision diet, takes that form of specificity just a few steps additional. The businesses concerned are providing their purchasers dietary recommendation that they are saying relies on the distinctive composition of every particular person’s intestine microbiome. That’s the explanation for the stool samples that members are requested to offer.
Though persons are conditioned to treat fecal matter with distaste, it’s really a helpful diagnostic device. About three-fourths of stool is water. The remaining 25% consists of undigested fiber, in addition to a variety of metabolic merchandise and byproducts. Conventional stool evaluation evaluates components comparable to shade, consistency and pH, and appears for the presence of blood, fats, protein, white blood cells, meat fibers, mucus, bile or particular organisms. These might be useful within the prognosis of a spread of gastrointestinal issues, sure cancers, hidden bleeding, bacterial an infection and parasitic an infection. Stool additionally incorporates each the residing and lifeless microbes that colonize the intestine, and that’s what the brand new customized diet relies on.
Analysis into the intestine microbiome has revealed simply how a lot the trillions of microorganisms residing within us affect our bodily well being and psychological well-being. This consists of digestion, metabolism, weight reduction, immune operate, autoimmune illness, blood-sugar management and cardiovascular operate, in addition to temper, nervousness, melancholy and different psychological well being points. There’s additionally rising proof that the particular make-up of every particular person’s intestine flora impacts how — and the way nicely — they digest and metabolize completely different meals. That works the opposite approach round, too, in that the meals you eat can straight have an effect on the well being of your intestine microbiome.
The concept behind gut-based customized diet is that, with an in depth understanding of your particular microbiome, you may learn to select the meals which are finest in your microbiota, and, thus, in your total well being. As you level out, plenty of guarantees are being made about what this latest model of customized diet can obtain. These embody the power to craft diets to help in weight reduction, decrease somebody’s blood strain, lower irritation and ease gastrointestinal issues. Nonetheless, it’s vital to notice that rigorous analysis into these claims stays scarce at the moment. Contemplating the wide-reaching function that the intestinal flora in our guts play within the optimum functioning of our our bodies, it gained’t be a shock if this strategy to diet proves to be helpful. However at this time limit, there’s nonetheless so much left to study.
Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and affiliate professor of medication at UCLA Well being. Elizabeth Ko, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medication at UCLA Well being. Ship your inquiries to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Docs, c/o UCLA Well being Sciences Media Relations, 10960 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1955, Los Angeles, CA, 90024. Owing to the quantity of mail, private replies can’t be offered.
