Gut Health and Longevity
The gut microbiome, made up of trillions of “friendly” bacteria and other microbes, is proving to be central to our health. A thriving gut microbiome not only contributes to your overall gut health but can affect dementia risk and support mental health, promote good sleep and influence the health of your skin, muscles, heart and immune system. And when your gut microbiome is disrupted, it can trigger conditions like diabetes and obesity. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen studied the intestinal bacteria of 176 healthy Japanese centenarians to determine whether their gut microbiome had any influence on their longevity. “Previous research has shown that the intestinal bacteria of old Japanese citizens produce brand new molecules that make them resistant to pathogenic — that is, disease-promoting — microorganisms,” says Joachim Johansen, a postdoc and first author of the study. What these researchers discovered was that these centenarians had a unique combination of intestin