Gut-wrenching

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Modern life in cities has eroded the human gut’s ability to digest fibers from plant matter, Science Alert reported.

In 2003, scientists discovered that the human gut could digest the fibers in plant matter via a bacterium capable of breaking down cellulose. This compound, the most abundant on Earth, lines cell walls in plants. Before this discovery, the common belief had been that only cows, horses, sheep, and other mammals had that ability.

Using the genes of the bacterium found in 2003, researchers analyzed fecal samples from humans living in different places and times. They found more species of microbes feeding on cellulose, also found in ruminants and primates, belonging to the genus Ruminococcus.

Samples from hunter-gatherers, rural populations, and humans around 2,000 years ago all had an abundance of Ruminococcus microbes. The same microbes were “conspicuously rare” in modern humans living in industrialized areas, according to a recent study which highlighted how people living in cities were losing the ability to digest plants,

Some studies have noted that urban humans’ diets are low in fiber, exposing them to health risks. But research on addressing this discrepancy and the health benefits of cellulose supplements is still scarce.

In the current study, evolutionary analysis suggested that the human strain of Ruminococcus microbes was transferred from the guts of animals. This indicates that living with animals may have helped us digest plants better.

Living in concrete jungles may have made our guts less hospitable for these microbes.