Study links food quality to changes in oral microbiome

A university of Buffalo study with the help of a sample of postmenopausal women is the first to investigate the association between food quality and oral microbiome.

The researchpublished earlier this year in the Journal of NutritionReports that women who followed healthier diets had a lower abundance of certain oral microbio bacteria, including Streptococcus Gordonii, which can promote gum disorders, and cardiobacterium species, associated with heart infections.

For the study, researchers have measured the overall food quality of 1,175 postmenopausal women by estimating the healthy eating index 2020 (Hei-2020) scores for every woman from a questionnaire about food frequency. Hei-2020 is a measure of dietary quality that reflects the compliance with a person to the 2020 diet guidelines for Americans.

Hei-2020 scores were associated with the composition, but not with the diversity, of the oral microbiome. However, individual Hei-2020 components were associated with both its diversity and its composition, suggesting that specific food components can have more influence on the diversity and composition of the oral microbiome than overall nutritional quality.

For example, intake of total vegetables and total protein food was associated with more diverse oral microbiomas, while the intake of dairy and added sugar was associated with less diverse oral microbiomas.

“Hoewel eerdere studies hebben onderzocht hoe specifieke voedingsmiddelen of voedingsstoffen zich verhouden tot het orale microbioom, eten mensen geen voedingsstoffen op zichzelf – voedsel worden samen geconsumeerd, hun inname kan gecorreleerd worden en hun gezondheidseffecten kunnen interactief zijn,” zegt de eerste auteur van de studie, Yihua Yue, Ph.D., die op het onderzoek werkte terwijl ze haar doctoraat in Epidemiology is van UB’s School of Public Health and Health -court of UB’s Hold -Holten on the Op Op Op on the Open Brandse Health and Health.

“That is why we have focused on the overall food quality to record a more extensive view of the food intake,” adds Yue, who is now a postdoctoral research fellow with the Clinic Cleveland. “We wanted to understand how diet quality, as assessed by the healthy food index, was associated with bacteria in their oral cavity. We wanted to see whether the diversity and composition of the oral microbiome varied considerably in high -quality people with high quality versus diets.”

Researchers have observed associations between the prevalence of parodontitis and increased risk or opportunities for diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases with inflammation indicated in their etiology, such as age-related macular degeneration, according to Amy Millen, Ph.D. and the environmental professe and the associed professed professions

But there is a discussion whether this association is causal.

“Wat we wel weten,” zegt Millen, “is dat voeding een risicofactor is voor veel ziekten met inflammatoire etiologieën. Ons onderzoeksteam heeft gewerkt om te begrijpen of voeding, zowel specifieke voedingsstoffen als dieetpatronen, een risicofactor is voor een van de voeding van de voeding van de dieet in de ontwikkeling van de rol in de ontwikkeling van de ontwikkeling van de ontwikkeling van het Ontwikkeling van parodontitis of andere resultaten zoals cariës voor dental.

The Hei-2020 includes 13 components, each representing different aspects of diet quality. Although higher, which means more favorable, scores for individual components are generally recommended and considered favorable for overall health, this does not necessarily mean that these 13 components have consistent effects on the oral microbial composition, says Yue.

“Our findings suggest that the recommendations of the nutritional guidelines for Americans for certain types of food-especially for the intake of sugar, vegetables and seafood and vegetable proteins and play a role in shaping the oral microbiome,” she adds. “These findings provide evidence for the US Department of Agriculture to consider and evaluate the relevance of the Hei-2020 in the context of oral health.”

The authors note that although the sample only includes postmenopausal women, the findings are particularly relevant to this group, which has an increased risk of gum disorders and tooth loss as a result of hormonal changes and aging. Future studies can take advantage of the inclusion of participants with a broader range of food habits and lifestyle factors.