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Author: George Bryant

Merry microbes: how might festive feasting affect your gut microbiota?

Updated Wednesday, 4 December 2024

During the festive period, our food choices may change from what we usually eat. But what does this do to our gut microbiota? Let’s explore the impact of festive feasting on the gut and how what we eat can affect the microbial populations in our guts.

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Microbes are tiny, microscopic organisms that live all throughout the body, inside and out. They are essential for maintaining our health and they keep our bodies in balance; having healthy, diverse gut microbiota means we are less likely to get diseases because we are better equipped. They help us to maintain essential functions such as blood glucose control, metabolic rates and provide essential vitamins as well as helping us to ward off invading pathogens (microbes that can cause disease). 

Research has linked the gut microbiota with various health-related factors, including immune system function and regulation, energy regulation, and even complex conditions such as Autism and Alzheimer’s disease as well as inflammatory conditions. Inflammation is how the body naturally reacts to infection. It is a protective mechanism designed to help the body heal and combat harmful invaders. Inflammation is a complex process that involves the activation of immune cells leading to pro-inflammatory conditions, which might exacerbate or increase the likelihood of diseases. While it is essential for healing, when it becomes excessive or uncontrolled, it can contribute to various diseases. Our gut microbial population grows and develops with us. Their population changes throughout our lives, from when we are born until we die. There are multiple factors that can affect our gut microbes, including our age, our sex, how we are born (e.g. vaginal delivery or via caesarean section), where we live, what drugs we have taken, what pets we have, and what we eat. 

During the festive period our diets tend to change a little, or even a lot, as we might indulge in a few more luxuries. Imagine the scene. You’ve sat down for Christmas lunch, and before you is a delightful feast: roast potatoes salted and crisped to perfection, maybe some stuffing (hopefully sage and onion), roasted parsnips, maybe a Yorkshire pudding and the main event, for me some kind of vegetable dish, but for many it might be turkey and pigs in blankets, all nicely dowsed in some thick gravy. We might even force ourselves to eat some brussels sprouts (I personally love them, especially raw in a slaw, where they are less likely to release the stinky compounds they are famed for). Later, we might tuck in to a chocolate selection box or fish out that tub of sweets we’d been saving.

Photograph of lots of different plates of food on a dinner table with candles. Photograph of lots of different plates of food on a dinner table with candles.

Each of these Christmas dishes are packed full of different nutrients and compounds that our bodies and our microbes will use to keep us (and them) alive. They’re a complex matrix of components, often including fibre, protein, fats, carbohydrates, and several other chemicals. Microbes are typically a fussy bunch, as different microbial species prefer specific conditions and certain foods over others. While everything is in balance in the gastrointestinal environment, our microbes tend to quietly get on with their work, keeping themselves to themselves and keeping each other in check. This stable community typically remains unchanged throughout our lives, being shaped by our long-term diets or disruption from infections or antibiotic treatments. However, their numbers and diversity do change quickly and temporarily, immediately after we have eaten. For example, microbes that prefer sprouts might momentarily bloom, increasing in numbers as they have an increase in their preferred food source, while the sprout-hating population might retract and shrink. 

Similarly, microbes that love chocolate might live their best life as we tuck into the selection boxes, while other microbes prefer the cheese and biscuits. All the while releasing their metabolites, these include Short Chain Fatty Acids, which are essential for health, and gases that are often released as flatulence or burps; both are signatures of their presence in our guts.

Some of the microbes might be referred to as beneficial, they are typically associated with good health, for example regular immune function; keeping pathogenic bacteria at bay and protecting our bodies from potentially harmful infections and disease. They can reduce our risk of cancer, maintain good blood glucose control and decrease inflammation. Typically, the best foods for our gut microbes and our overall health are unprocessed, whole foods: things that are high in fibre and packed with nutrients, vitamins and polyphenols which are natural antioxidants. Usually, they take the form of vegetables, fruits, pulses, lentils and nuts. Some foods are described as ‘superfoods’ because they have a higher abundance of beneficial nutrients. For example that glass of red wine with Christmas dinner, or a square of dark chocolate as you watch your favourite festive film for the millionth time, can be beneficial due to their high polyphenol content. These foods are defined as ‘super’ because they encourage the growth of the beneficial, gut-friendly bacteria. 

As with most things there is another side to the scale, the detrimental microbes. These are associated with poorer health, often linked with poor blood glucose control, more inflammation, greater risk of cancer and susceptibility to disease. These foods are usually highly processed, having their structure, taste and nutritional profile completely changed beyond recognition. They might contain artificially elevated levels of fat, sugar and animal fats and proteins. These foods can create the environments where detrimental bacteria can flourish. 

In my research I am investigating how different conditions can affect the gut microbe population and whether it is possible to monitor changes in the gut microbiota, by monitoring changes in the gases they release as a part of their metabolic process.

So, as you tuck into your festive feast, why not treat your microbes to some luxury, and add a few more crunchy Christmas carrots or a helping of some steamed cabbage to your plate, and imagine the party in your gut!

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