New clinical research indicates that a widely used food additive, carboxymethylcellulose, alters the intestinal environment of healthy persons, perturbing levels of beneficial bacteria and nutrients.
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Processed Food Might Boost Risk for Chronic Infection Diseases
Processed diets, which are low in fiber, may initially reduce the incidence of foodborne infectious diseases such as e. Coli infections, but might also increase the incidence of diseases characterized by low-grade chronic infection and inflammation such as diabetes, a study with mice shows.
Citrobacter rodentium, which resembles
Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections in humans.
Written by James Kingsland on May 5, 2021 Fact checked by Catherine Carver, MPH
New research in mice examines the effects of a Western diet on colon health. Dulin/Getty Images
Diets that are high in fat and low in fiber reduce the number of bacteria in the gut, which may increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic syndrome, and cancer.
One benefit of a healthy gut microbiota is that it protects the large intestine from colonization by pathogenic bacteria, such as
Escherichia coli.
In a new study in mice, researchers found that a Western-style diet frequently led to more persistent infections.