The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has launched a new diet focusing on improving ‘gut’ health.
Director of Health and Biosecurity at CSIRO, Rob Grenfell said a growing body of research linked gut health with conditions such as cancer, obesity, and auto-immune diseases.
“Based on decades of research from CSIRO, the CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet includes a series of meal plans based on wholefoods with higher amounts of fibre, especially resistant starch, for improving gut health,” Dr Grenfell said.
“After the brain, the gut is really the next most crucial and complex part of the human body.”
He said maintaining a healthy gut could lead to enormous benefits.
“Beyond digesting our food, it is the coal face of the nutrients our body absorbs, regulates hormones used throughout our body, and is a frontline of our immune response system,” Dr Grenfell said.
Researcher and co-author of the CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet, Michael Conlon said having a healthy gut was not as simple as just increasing fibre intake.
“There are many factors which influence gut health, but diet appears to have the greatest influence. Dietary fibre in particular is vital for a healthy gut,” Dr Conlon said
“For years we’ve thought all fibre was good for keeping our bowel movements regular, but we now know that fibre offers more health benefits than this, many of which support our gut bacteria in a healthy way.”
However, not all fibres were equal.
“Our research shows resistant starch is real fibre gold and a major piece of the gut health puzzle that may be missing from many diets,” he said.
“The recipes and meal plans have been designed with higher amounts of fibre and resistant starch to feed the gut bacteria,” Dr Conlon said.
The CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet book is available in bookshops and online and can be purchased for $34.99 at www.csiro.au/healthygut.
