HOW PRE-DIET FASTING CAN REMODEL MICROBIOME AND IMPROVE BLOOD PRESSURE

Two new studies investigating the relationship between fasting and the microbiome offer fresh insights into how our gut bacteria composition can be remodeled by short-term dietary alterations and how this can benefit cardiovascular health. 

A number of prior studies have pointed to the community of bacteria living in our gut as playing a major role in the way the food we eat, influences our body. Newly published research is now offering more granular insights into these relationships, looking at how dietary interventions specifically fasting, can catalyze blood pressure improvements via microbiome alterations. 

The first study published in the journal Natural Communications demonstrated how a short-term fast offered acute improvements to blood pressure when followed by a longer-term Mediterranean diet. One of the first treatments often offered to patients suffering from hypertension is a dietary intervention known as DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension). The dash diet is an effective first-line treatment for hypertension, how it is still unclear exactly how it directly improves blood pressure. 

To investigate this hypothesis, a team of researchers recruited 71 subjects with hypertension. The cohort was randomly split into two groups, both tasked with following the DASH diet for three months. 

Tracking immune biomarker and microbiome changes, the researchers discovered greater blood pressure improvements in the cohort preceding their dietary change with a stretch of fasting. The researchers hypothesize the fasting diet may be rapidly altering microbiome composition and increasing the availability of short-chain fatty acids.