Eating a wide variety of plants everyday could be more beneficial to the microbiome than taking a standard probiotic.
New research, published in the British Journal Of Nutrition, and led by scientists from King’s College London and ZOE has discovered that consuming a daily blend with over 30 different plants resulted in increased populations of ‘favourable’ gut bacteria compared to a probiotic control.
Clinical trial
In a randomised controlled trial, participants who consumed a supplement containing a diverse range of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, and mushrooms, showed increased populations of 57 species of ‘good’ bacteria of bacteria. Those in the probiotic and control groups saw changes in only 4 and 14 species, respectively.
Those consuming the blend of plants also reported increased energy and reduced hunger, digestive symptoms, constipation, heartburn, and flatulence.
In the trial, 349 adults from the UK were given a 30g daily plant supplement, known as Daily30, and compared against two comparators: a control of 28g of bread croutons, matched for energy (kcal), and a single-strain probiotic capsule containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a well-studied probiotic strain.
Key observations
There were significant differences in those eating the plant blend vs those in the control group, with 55% of participants in the former reporting reductions in indigestion, 35% in the severity of constipation, 18% in heartburn, and 37% in flatulence.
In addition, 51% of participants taking the plant blend reported increased energy levels, 45% reported an increase in happiness, and 35% reported a reduction in severity of constipation, compared with the control group.
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In the plant blend group, the gut bacteria species that increased were on average those linked to favorable health markers, in comparison and the toand the species that decreased were were linked to unfavourable health markers. This effect was not seen in either the control or probiotic groups.
A sub-group of 34 participants were given a carbohydrate-rich meal either with or without the plant blend added. Adding the plant blend resulted in participants reporting greater energy (43%), fullness (41%), meal satisfaction (22%) and reduced desire to eat (71%) and hunger (17%).
Gut health
Lead author Professor Sarah Berry, Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London and Chief Scientist at ZOE, said: “The fact that Daily30 altered 57 distinct bacterial species in just six weeks reshapes informs informs how we should approach gut health. Rather than introducing isolated strains through a pill, these results prove we can achieve a far greater impact on the gut microbiome composition on the gut microbiome composition by nourishing our existing microbes with a diverse array of plants.
“This research suggests we should focus on plant diversity, and the role that varied fibres play in shaping the microbiome, rather than searching for a single silver bullet.”
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Tim Spector, Scientific Co-Founder of ZOE and Professor of Epidemiology at King’s College London, said: “The global supplement industry is worth billions, yet much of it is built on marketing hype rather than robust science. For too long, consumers have been sold synthetic pills and ultra-processed powders as a quick fix. At ZOE, we are leading the way by backing our whole food nutrition with the world-class, rigorous research this industry desperately lacks.”
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