Intestinal microbiota is composed by all the bacteria that live in our gut. Far away from being just a digestion organ, the gut and the microbiota determine the health of the whole body, the proper functioning of the immune system and of the brain. In addition to this, according to recent scientific researches, such as the work published a few weeks ago in The American Journal of clinical nutrition (Jennings et al, Dec 2019), the microbiota affects also the abdominal fat.
The abdominal fat, more than the fat distributed in the rest of the body, is considered a true active organ and not an inert thing, it produces hormones, increases the levels of inflammations and the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Therefore, counteracting the so called pot belly isn’t just an esthetic problem but related to health and several researches are focusing their attention on this field. In the study that we propose today, the scientists have analyzed the habits, the diet and the health of more than 600 people, both men and women, aged between 25 and 83. In particular, the scientists have focused their attention on the intake of foods rich in anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants, and in this way they could observe that all those people, among the participants to the study, that ate more anthocyanin rich foods had also a more varied microbiota. But the most interesting part was that those who ate more anthocyanin rich foods, and therefore had a varied microbiota, showed also less abdominal fat.
For this reason, according to the study, anthocyanin rich foods, such as, for example berries, black grape, red cabbage and purple potatoes, are beneficial for the health of microbiota and a healthy microbiota determines also less visceral fat!
