ABOVE: Soy flour is one of the foods shown to spur the growth of gut bacteria that counteract the symptoms of malnourishment.
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Even once they have enough to eat, kids that have suffered from malnutrition do not grow and develop as well as kids that have always had healthy foods to eat. Two studies published today (July 12) in Science identify differences between the microbiomes of malnourished and healthy kids as well as a combination of foods that, both in animals and in a proof-of-principle study in children, helps shift the microbiome toward a healthier state.
Providing food aid tailored to microbiome health “could be a key to new strategies for improving global public health and human potential,” David Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, who was not involved in either study, tells Science.
The two studies are part of a ...
