It seems simple. But it’s apparently hard for most Western diners to implement. Nevertheless… Adopting the eating habits of non-industrialised societies can significantly reduce the risk of a number of chronic diseases…
Sardinian Minestrone Soup/stew: A Blue Zone recipe that closely mimics
– or, if you like, adheres to – the ‘industrialiazed diet’ eating regime…
A little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me I’ve heard about this already. Recently. From a completely different direction. But now, scientific research has demonstrated that a primitive, totally unprocessed diet can work wonders mending damaged immune systems and gut microbiomes…
Couldn’t be simpler…
“Industrialisation has drastically impacted our gut microbiome, likely increasing the risk of chronic diseases.” explained Prof. Jens Walter, a Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, a Research Ireland centre.
“To counter this, we developed a diet that mimics traditional, non-industrialised dietary habits,” Walker continues, “and is compatible with our understanding on diet-microbiome interactions.”
In a strictly controlled human trial, participants followed this diet and consumed L. reuteri, a bene-ficial bacterium prevalent in the guts of Papua New Guineans but rarely found in the indust-rialised microbiomes.
What it is
The Non-industrialized Microbiome Restore (NiMe) diet shares key characteristics of all the non-industrialized diets the tram studied:
- Plant-based focus, but not vegetarian: Primarily made up of vegetables, legumes, and other whole-plant foods. One small serving of animal protein per day (salmon, chicken, or pork).
- No dairy, beef, or wheat: Excluded simply because they are not part of the traditional foods con-sumed by rural Papua New Guineans.
- Very low in processed foods that are high in sugar and saturated fat.
- Fibre-rich: Fiber content was 22 grams per 1,000 calories — exceeding current dietary recommend-ations.
What they found
First and foremost, the NiMe diet enhanced short-term persistence of L. reuteri in the gut. And that led to other improvements in the gut environment…
The results were immediate and amazing. In a short-term human trial of the NiMe diet, researchers found that, in just three weeks, the diet:
- Promoted weight loss,
- Decreased bad cholesterol by 17percent,
- Reduced blood sugar by 6 percent …and
- Reduced C-reactive Protein (a marker of inflammation and heart disease) by 14 percent.
The takeaway
“Everybody knows that diet influences health, but many underestimate the magnitude,” Walter sums up.
Commenting on this study, Prof. Paul Ross, Director of APC Microbiome Ireland, said: “This study shows that we […] could shape future dietary guidelines and inspire the development of new food products and ingredients, as well as therapeutics, which target the microbiome.”
My take
About half way through writing this post, I recalled where I had heard about the concept of a ‘non-industrialiazed diet’ before. Remember the Blue zones? The regions scattered around the globe where free-roaming food researcher Dan Beuttner says folks live healthiest and live longest. Beut-tner’s intuitive approach seems to replicated – as well anticipated – the Walter team’s discovery.
Beuttner already has a cook book out. Walter’s team is just beginning to prepare actual recipes that demonstrate the utility of their on-industrialized eating approach.
“The recipes from the NiMe Diet will be posted to our Instagram – @nimediet – and Facebook pages, and they will also be included in an online cookbook soon. It is important to us to make these re-cipes freely available so that everyone can enjoy them and improve their health by feeding their gut microbiome,” said Dr. Anissa Armet from the University of Alberta (Canada), a registered dietitian who designed the official NiMe diet, and co-lead author of the Walter team study report.
I’ll be looking more deeply into this whole ‘non-industrialized eating’ concept, personally and in future posts!
~ Maggie J.