Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome as been linked to better health in a number of areas. In 2024 alone studies have demonstrated a positive association with cognitive health, weight loss, irritable bowel syndrome and markers of stress.
In another notable 2024 study, a team of researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in cooperation with scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, found that certain microbes that exist in healthy guts can also provide protection against heart disease.
The benefit is provided via certain gut flora that were shown to modulate cholesterol levels.
In a study published in Cell, the research team said they had identified a specific species of bacteria that was able to “consume cholesterol” in the gut.
Notes on cholesterol
It should be noted that there is much debate among experts when it comes to what constitutes healthy cholesterol levels.
While many people have come to believe all cholesterol should be eliminated from the body, it is important to understand that cholesterol is actually a vital substance in the body. Cholesterol serves as a fundamental building material for cell membranes and acts as a precursor for various essential hormones.
It is also serves as a catalyst in the production of Vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Still, while the precise “healthy level” is often debated, any finding that sheds light on cholesterol modulation would garner attention—at least by those seeking natural alternatives to cholesterol-lowering drugs and their dangerous side effects.
To conduct the study researchers analyzed metabolites and microbial genomes from more than 1,400 participants in the Framingham Heart Study—a decades-long project focused on risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The team discovered that certain bacteria “take up and metabolize” cholesterol from their surroundings—and that people maintaining higher levels of the microbe in their gut had lower levels of cholesterol.
The findings suggest that interventions that manipulate the microbiome in specific ways could eventually be incorporated to help decrease cholesterol in people.
The findings are also certain to serve as the foundational groundwork for more targeted investigations of how changes to the microbiome affect cardiovascular health.
Building on past research
In the past decade, other researchers have uncovered links between the composition of the gut microbiome and elements of cardiovascular disease. An earlier 2024 Korean study found probiotic supplementation was associated with improvements in serum triglyceride levels.
However, in the new study the research team detailed a more complete picture of the impact of gut microbes on metabolism.
The researchers combined shotgun metagenomic sequencing, which profiles all of the microbial DNA in a sample, with metabolomics, which measures the levels of hundreds of known and thousands of unknown metabolites. These tools, which were used to study stool samples from the Framingham Heart Study, provided details that were unattainable previously.
In the future more detailed studies, including placebo-controlled trials, may pave the way for tailored supplement plans in lieu of statins for lowering cholesterol; in the meantime, the study compliments the mounting evidence that a healthy gut microbiome affects almost all aspects of health.
Building a healthy gut microbiome can be accomplished by consuming fermented foods, taking probiotic supplements, exercising regularly, and including high-fiber prebiotic foods in the diet.
It is also critical to avoid the harmful habits that are known to disrupt the gut microbiome: junk food, antibiotics, excessive stress, smoking, and poor sleep habits—to name a few.
– – –
Optimal Health Systems offers a number of probiotic products to meet all your probiotic supplement needs. Click links below to learn more.
• Optimal Flora Plus
• Optimal Flora Blitz 100
• 21-Day Blitz Challenge Package
• Exposure Protection Pack
– – –
Sources: Cell (via ScienceDirect.com), Food & Function, JustAPedia (Framingham Heart Study).