Page 54 - EatingWell Special Edition Superfoods 2019

Y O U R H E A L T H I E S T M E A L T I M E

the leading researchers looking at the connection by meat bingeing. What remains constant is
between inflammation and gut microbes. their average daily fiber intake: more than 100
His work has shown that a high-fat, low-fiber grams. Most comes from the seeds and pulp of
diet increases inflammation—that’s probably not the fructan-rich baobab fruit and fibrous tubers.
a big surprise. The real shocker came when he It’s here with the Hadza that Leach sees the
and his colleagues fed gut-friendly plant fibers puzzle pieces fitting together—how the “dirty”

to mice on a high-fat diet: they were able to stop world of the Hadza mirrors the robust world of
the whole inflammation cycle that fuels metabolic their gut. “Once you’ve sat under a baobab tree
syndrome. for two weeks and watched how they drink water,
build their houses, handle animals, travel—and
Our Original Microbiome the things they don’t do—there’s a lot of eureka
After our fireside dinner, Leach invites me into moments.”
his adobe ruin to show me photos of the people Fieldwork to help understand the bigger pic-

he says will help us better understand the gut ture is what Leach does best. For the analysis and
microbiome. They carry a gut microbe mix that’s lab work, he has brought together a global “dream
close to the one our ancestors had, Leach believes. team,” as he calls them.
Photos of men hunting, straw huts and smiling “Intellectually, [Leach’s] background and per-
children cover the walls. Leach is animated and spective are huge assets to the project,” says Justin
starts pulling out souvenirs Sonnenburg, Ph.D., a micro biologist at Stanford
to show me: a drum, sandals University who collaborates with Leach and runs
When researchers made of old tires. one of the labs involved in the Human Food Proj-
fed gut-friendly Then he brings out the ar- ect. He receives some of the stool samples Leach
plant fibers rows. Colorful feathers dec- collects from the tribe. Other samples arrive to
to mice on a orate the tail ends and the other dream-team members.
high-fat diet, metal tips are sharp—and The first report on the Hadza micro biome

they were able covered with dried blood. was published in 2014, and it showed that the
to stop the whole “Careful, don’t touch the tips. hunter-gatherers probably have the most diverse
inflammation They’re poison.” The arrows gut microbiomes in the world, with hundreds
cycle. belong to the Hadza of Tan- more species than most other people. “It sug-

zania, “the last true hunter- gests that the microbiome is going through ex-
gatherers in the world,” he tinctions as food becomes more processed and
says. “They live where humans evolved; it’s as close less diverse,” notes Sonnenburg. “What does it
as we can get to the original microbiome.” mean if the world is heading down a path of re-
For the past year, Leach has been spending duced microbiome diversity?” He points to the
time with this dwindling tribe of roughly 300 peo- fact that most Western diseases are spurred by
ple. The Hadza still hunt and gather the majority inflammation. This is why, taking a few lessons
of their food, have limited access to antibiotics, from the Hadza, we could do with a little re-

are born naturally, breastfeed for two-plus years, wilding of our gut microbiome.
drink untreated water and live outdoors 24-7—all There’s certainly more to be discovered in this
things that encourage a diverse gut micro biome. diverse world tucked inside our bellies. But Leach
While infant mortality—as in many developing believes we should already feel empowered. His
countries—is high, Hadza adults are healthy and basic message: increase and diversify your plant
rarely suffer from “modern” diseases like heart intake. The foods you pick “should be chewy,
disease, diabetes, allergies and cancer, accord- should get stuck in your teeth,” he says. “Eat the

ing to Leach. Their diet shifts dramatically over end of the asparagus, the stalk of the broccoli. Be-
the year: during the rainy season from February come a little more adventurous in the produce
to April, as much as 80% of their calories comes section. This is a part of your health you can con-
from honey; in contrast, late fall is characterized trol. You can shift your microbiome.” •

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