Food intake plays a vital role in a human’s well-being and maintains our health. Diet directly impacts our gut health, and an unbalanced diet can have numerous adverse effects. This is because diet has consequences on the metabolic activity of human gut microbiota. Gut microbes are important as they ensure the availability of nutrients and provide energy for bacteria. With an unbalanced diet, metabolic activity is negatively affected, and as a result, so are the gut microbes. Many of these issues stem from dietary habits. Many of these habits include an excess of fats and sugar and a lack of fiber from fewer fruits and vegetables. This unbalanced diet is correlated with obesity and cardiovascular issues. To mediate these issues, the cost of food and the accessibility of fast food must be addressed.
Our diet can have both short-term and long-term effects on our gut. Since our gut microbiota responds rapidly to dietary change, different diets can be researched. In a study, by David et al., two diets were tested. In the animal-based diet, there were increased carbohydrate fermentation metabolites and decreased amino acid fermentation metabolites compared to the plant-based diet. Another study examined the effects of a high-fat/low-fiber and a high-fiber/low-fat diet. From this, it was concluded that fiber has a great impact on the gut microbiota and more fiber was beneficial. These two studies were done for around ten days and thus, we can only see the short-term effects of diet. However, based on the short-term effects, it was decided that microbial composition was more correlated with food choices rather than a traditional nutrient profile.
With an unbalanced diet, metabolic activity is negatively affected, and as a result, so are the gut microbes.
The cerebrum can be further explored and includes many different lobes contributing to different areas. These include the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. The frontal lobe controls personality, decision-making, and movement of the body. The parietal lobe includes identifying objects and relativity of the things as well as language comprehension. The occipital lobe involves vision and finally, the temporal lobe is the seat for memory storage and speech function. The cerebellum is located in the back of your brain and is involved with motor skills and coordination. Lastly, the brain stem oversees many involuntary functions, such as heart rate and breathing. Going deeper into the brain, the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and pineal gland emerge. The hippocampus is where memory function occurs, the amygdala controls emotional reactions such as the “fight or flight” response, and the hypothalamus influences body temperature, impulses for food or water, and sleep patterns using chemical signals.
The pituitary gland regulates hormones being released and the pineal gland manages circadian rhythm and sleep cycles. Another critical part of the brain are neurons. Neurons are classified as nerve cells that signal to and from the brain. Neurons have many different structures but can be grouped into three major types. These are sensory, motor, and interneurons. Sensory neurons relate to reactions to the physical environment, motor neurons involve the movement of the body, and interneurons send signals between motor and sensory neurons.
All in all, the brain is made up of different parts each related to a specific function. They carry out these functions with the help of neurons and as a whole control many of our bodies’ functions.
Bibliography
Long-term effects of diet have been proven to have more substantial effects on the gut. In a study done by Hollister et al., it was displayed that children had a greater diet diversity than adults. However, even though adults have a more regular diet, the quality and quantity of the nutrients still have an impact. In many diets, adults often eat meals with a high fat and low fiber content. Long-term, this has a negative effect on the gut microbiota as the excess fat causes an imbalance in the gut and leads to numerous diseases. Some of these include obesity, cardiovascular risks, and cardiometabolic diseases.
In conclusion, the food we consume has a multitude of effects on the gut and some of these effects are harmful. These problems are a result of certain dietary habits which are caused by easy access to fast food, the cost of healthy food, and food desserts. Statistics have shown that over one-third of the American population consumes fast food on any day, which was stated to be around 85 million people eating fast food. Additionally, the cost of healthy food plays into this. The price of healthy food is $1.50 more per day than unhealthy food. Therefore, many people reach for fast food over healthy food, as it is easier to access and cheaper. Since fast food has high amounts of fats and sugar, this leads to negative effects on the gut microbiota. To ameliorate this, government subsidies to make healthy food more affordable are promising solutions. Enacting this policy addresses not only the problem of dietary habits but also aids in food desserts. Food desserts are when an area does not have easy access to fresh food such as fruits and vegetables. Along with subsidies, the government can provide tax incentives for produce stores to keep healthy food which assists in a food desert. With these different policies, the causes of poor dietary habits can be greatly helped and as a result, the gut microbiota will be balanced and the risk of harmful diseases will be lessened.
Bibliography
Conlon, Michael, and Anthony Bird. 2014. “The Impact of Diet and Lifestyle on Gut Microbiota and Human Health.” Nutrients 7 (1): 17–44. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7010017.
Leeming, Emily R, Abigail J Johnson, Tim D Spector, and Caroline I Le Roy. 2019. “Effect of Diet on the Gut Microbiota: Rethinking Intervention Duration.” Nutrients 11 (12): 2862. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122862.
