Swedish researchers from the Chalmers University of Technology have designed a new mathematical model to improve diet plans for patients with imbalanced gut bacteria. According to Jens Nielsen, one of the study’s authors and a professor at the university, gut bacteria play a crucial role in gut health and the development of diseases.
Using bacteria to treat diseases
The study, which was published in the PNAS journal, involved infants and obese adults in Sweden. Prof. Nielsen adds that an efficient mathematical model can help create diet plans that will balance out the bacteria and prevent disease.
The study accurately predicts changes in bacteria for both groups of participants. For example, there was a change in gut bacteria when infants switched from liquid to solid food. The same case applied when obese adults switched to a more strict diet.
Medical Express reported that as they created the new mathematical model, the researchers need to consider several other factors that might affect intestinal bacteria growth. They, however, studied how intestinal bacteria interact with each other, their human host, and their diet.
They also studied how adding bacteria or changing diet can impact intestinal composition. Another consideration they made as if the bacteria would still be alive and how they would interact with a new diet.
Nielsen explained that their mathematical model accounted for all these possibilities and how food travels through the gastrointestinal tract and how it affects bacteria as it does so. This could only be measured by checking metabolites from blood samples.
Big News Network reported that studies on gut bacteria and diet are an excellent way to treat many gut-related diseases better. Nielsen added to this by saying that success in gut health research could open new doors for treating diseases like obesity and even cancer.
How scientists are using the model
The new method works by selecting probiotics, bacteria beneficial to the gut, and creating healthier diet plans. The team is also using their plan to calculate the right amount of bacteria required to treat several diseases.
