Gut Health Beyond Fiber Researchers are trying to determine
mechanisms of bioactive compounds in foods and have found the
gut to be a “black box” that needs to be investigated.
Breakthroughs in understanding interactions happening in the gut
will bring health and wellness research of foods to a new level.
Various dietary phenolic compounds have antimicrobial,
antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cholestemic, anti-diabetic,
and anti-cancer activities. Are many of these activities
interrelated? Are these phenolic compounds precursors of simpler
molecules that are then absorbed into the bloodstream to perform
their bioactivities? How does the gut microflora change with
what we eat? What is currently known about these and many other
questions that can be posed about this black box will be
discussed during Session 248 The Microbiome: Beyond Fiber on
Thursday morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Room N109.