Herbalife Nutrition- "Plant-based diet may feed key gut microbes" Key

Hi Everyone,

We hope you are all keeping healthy and happy and safe and encouraged that thing's are now slowly starting to open up so we can start to enjoy so many of the things we have all missed in the last year or so in the UK!

We wanted to share with you a key study just released which talks about the connection between a plant-based diet and healthy gut microbes and what difference that can make for your health and also we wanted to let you hear what Herbalife Nutrition's Professor David Heber had to say about the Microbiome and the launch of a brand new product called Microbiotic Max and why that could help you become healthier and happier...

We trust you enjoy!

Plant-based diet may feed key gut microbes

Large-scale study finds gut microbes associated with lower risks for diabetes, heart disease, obesity

A diet rich in healthy and plant-based foods is linked with the presence and abundance of certain gut microbes that are also associated with a lower risk of developing conditions such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, according to recent results from a large-scale international study that was co–senior authored by Andrew T. Chan, from Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The report appears in Nature Medicine.

“This study demonstrates a clear association between specific microbial species in the gut, certain foods, and risk of some common diseases,” says Chan, a gastroenterologist, chief of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at MGH, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “We hope to be able to use this information to help people avoid serious health problems by changing their diet to personalize their gut microbiome.”

The PREDICT 1 (Personalized Responses to Dietary Composition Trial 1) metagenomic study analyzed detailed data on the composition of participants’ microbiomes, their dietary habits, and cardiometabolic blood biomarkers. The researchers found strong evidence that the microbiome is linked with specific foods and diets, and that, in turn, its composition is also associated with levels of metabolic biomarkers of disease. Further, the microbiome has a greater association with these markers than other factors, such as genetics.

“When you eat, you’re not just nourishing your body, you’re feeding the trillions of microbes that live inside your gut.”

— Tim Spector, King's College London

“Studying the interrelationship between the microbiome, diet and disease involves a lot of variables because people’s diets tend to be personalized and may change quite a bit over time,” explains Chan. “Two of the strengths of this trial are the number of participants and the detailed information we collected.”

PREDICT 1 is an international collaboration to study links between diet, the microbiome, and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health. The researchers gathered microbiome sequence data, detailed long-term dietary information, and results of hundreds of cardiometabolic blood markers from just over 1,100 participants in the U.K. and the U.S.

The researchers found that participants who ate a diet rich in healthy, plant-based foods were more likely to have high levels of specific gut microbes. The makeup of participants’ gut microbiomes was strongly associated with specific nutrients, foods, food groups, and general dietary indices (overall diet composition). The researchers also found robust microbiome-based biomarkers of obesity as well as markers for cardiovascular disease and impaired glucose tolerance.

Epidemiologist Tim Spector of King’s College London, who started the PREDICT study, says: “When you eat, you’re not just nourishing your body, you’re feeding the trillions of microbes that live inside your gut.”

For example, having a microbiome rich in Prevotella copri and Blastocystis species was associated with maintaining a favorable blood sugar level after a meal. Other species were linked to lower post-meal levels of blood fats and markers of inflammation. The trends they found were so consistent, the researchers believe that their microbiome data can be used to determine the risk of cardiometabolic disease among people who do not yet have symptoms, and possibly to prescribe a personalized diet designed specifically to improve someone’s health.

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“We were surprised to see such large, clear groups of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ microbes emerging from our analysis,” says Nicola Segata, professor and principal investigator of the Computational Metagenomics Lab at the University of Trento, Italy, and coordinator of the analysis of the microbiome data in the study. “And it is intriguing to see that microbiologists know so little about many of these microbes that they are not even named yet.”

Curtis Huttenhower, a co–senior author who co-directs the Harvard T.H. Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, adds: “Both diet and the gut microbiome are highly personalized. PREDICT is one of the first studies to begin unraveling this complex molecular web at scale.”

Francesco Asnicar and Sarah Berry are co–first authors of the study.

Hi, my name is Professor David Heber. I've been a consultant to Herbalife Nutrition for 17 years, and for more than 10 years, I have studied the microbiome in my laboratory.

And that's why I'm so excited today to talk to you about an exciting new product Herbalife Nutrition are launching today called Microbiotic Max.

You know, gut health is a growing trend, so many people are recognising the connection between gut and digestive health and overall health. And this is a priority for many customers worldwide. Across key markets in Europe and Africa, new habits are emerging where the consumption of pre-biotic and pro-biotic products is rapidly rising. And as you know, Herbalife Nutrition is always at the cutting edge.

So I'm going to tell you about what we're doing.

Now, first of all, I want to tell you about the digestive system, there's a lot more to our digestive system that you may think it is a complex set of organs, including 22 feet of small intestine, large intestine, where trillions of bacteria live,

We will talk about your stomach, which has an acid environment to digest foods.

And there's an associated immune system, and also a forgotten organ called the microbiome.

So our digestive system does more than just process food.

In fact, our gut is made of trillions of live bacteria known as gut microbiota, that help perform a variety of vital functions. They digest and extract nutrients from your food, anything you don't digest, they digest and you absorb, they maintain a well functioning gut wall by making substances that nourish the intestinal cells, they regulate the normal functioning of the immune system by interacting with about 70% of your immune system in the wall of the intestine, they have played an important role in our overall health and well being.

And an exciting new finding is there's a gut brain connection, so they positively influence your brain health.

You know, there is a gut brain connection, which is amazing, we often talk about having a gut feeling or butterflies in our stomach, and you start a feeling in your brain and somehow connects to function in your gut. And that's real. And it's often referred to as the gut brain axis, in fact there are between 200 and 600 million neurons in the human guts own nervous system, which is equal to the number of nerve cells in your spinal cord.

Therefore, it's not surprising that it has been referred to as the second brain.

The gut microbiota also produce many different compounds that can directly go to the brain and effect brain inflammation.

So gut bacteria affects brain health.

So supporting your gut health can also improve your brain health.

Now there are things we're going to talk about called prebiotics and probiotics.

I want you to remember probiotics are living good bacteria when consumed in adequate amounts support gut health.

Some probiotics like lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains that we have carefully selected for inclusion in our Herbalife Nutrition products can help balance the richness and diversity of your gut microflora based on good scientific studies.

These are among the most commonly used probiotics, we provide them in the proper amounts to have their effect. Now lactobacilli produce other substances, that's why they're called fermentative. There are several studies which have demonstrated that these strains belonging to this species can exert beneficial effects by possibly affecting the microbiota composition of the 1000 different species of bacteria and 14 trillion bacteria in your GI tract.

So this particular strain we have is called a Chan 19 strain of bifidobacterium lactis.

And that we selected that strain because it has specific studies that demonstrate that at the proper amounts of 1 billion to 2 billion colony forming units, you get increased good bacteria, decreased harmful bacteria, alleviation of gastrointestinal issues and improved functioning of the immune system.

Now prebiotics we typically think of as fibre but many phytonutrients are also prebiotic like spices and colourful fruits and vegetables, and also something called complex carbohydrates.

And the prebiotic we're going to use is called galacto oligos saccharine or G.O.S.

So this is a purified, complex carbohydrate that you don't digest, but that your bacteria do digest and it converts them into smaller and highly beneficial compounds in a process called fermentation or bacterial metabolism. And here is the product by Luna G.O.S.

This is a unique prebiotic that contains galacto oligosaccharides obtained for lactose, but if you're lactose intolerant have nothing to worry about.

These are purified when consumed and travels unchanged down to the lower intestine, where it has its beneficial effects on immune health, stress relief. cognitive health and overall gastrointestinal health as well as prevention of gastrointestinal infections.

Well, what are the signs of unbalanced gut if you've got an upset stomach gas, bloating, diarrhoea, heartburn, those could be signs of imbalanced gut microbiota, sugar cravings, believe it or not, when you eat a lot of sugar, that it feeds the sugar consuming bacteria and creates imbalances in your gut microbiome, which can lead to sugar cravings.

And then finally, unintentional weight changes. an imbalanced gut can impair your ability to absorb nutrients, regulate sugar and store fat.

So sleep disturbance or fatigue.

Because of the brain gut connection I talked about.

These bacteria have their own biological clock just as we do so getting adequate sleep, so your microbiome operates appropriately is very important and poor microbiota diversity has been linked to inability to sleep and frequent periods of wakefulness during the night.

Stress has an impact of gut bacteria because immune cells act as messengers that can convey your psychological stress to your gut, which then leads to inflammation, and even skin irritations can result this inflammation in the gut caused by poor diet can cause leaking of certain proteins and can cause skin irritation, and finally, food intolerance and food sensitivity.

You may not be able to eat certain foods due to an imbalance in your microbiota, because they're unable to digest those are significantly based on your regular diet.

So how do you maintain a balanced and healthy gut?

Exercise regularly, hydrate and avoid a high sugar diet, as sugar feeds the bad bacteria in your gut, regularly consume certain probiotics and prebiotics and when they're combined, they're called synbiotics, which is what our products going to be, and can help to alleviate abdominal discomfort, improving human cognitive health boost levels of good bacteria in your gut and help with digestion.

Long term and regular consumption of probiotics and prebiotics can help improve the condition of your gut.

And you have to take these every single day because of course your bacteria are turning over.

I'm so excited to introduce Microbiotic Max from Herbalife Nutrition. Microbiotic Max is a food supplement delivering 2 billion live good bacteria as well as the prebiotic galacto oligosaccharide.

Each serving is specifically designed to offer a combination of both good bacteria and fibre prebiotics called a symbiotic which work together in harmony to help support nutritional goals.

Here are the great features of Microbiotic Max.

First of all, it delivers 2 billion live good bacteria per serving and these are carefully selected strains are clinically shown to have these effects at this amount.

It provides us prebiotic fibre called galacto oligosaccharides works together with the bacteria there's no need for refrigeration, and these are supplied to you in individual sachets 20 per box to help maintain the integrity of the live bacteria and also highly convenient you can take this with you anywhere and mix it as I'll tell you in a few moments, anywhere you go throughout the day.

It is gluten free and it has a very light vanilla flavour so it won't affect the flavour of your Herbalife Nutrition healthy meal shakes or other fluids that you mix it with.

And there's no added sugar.

So this combination of prebiotic and probiotic as we've said, it's called a symbiotically worked together. And each serving contains 2 billion live good bacteria so many products out there that don't really deliver what they're talking about.

This product is clinically proven and also has selected strengths that are clinically effective.

So it's high in this specific prebiotic fibre called biome known as, G.O.S, which feeds the good bacteria in the gut.

It's available in convenient powdered sachets that are perfect to take everywhere and the subtle vanilla flavour makes it easy for you to add your favourite Formula One Healthy Meal shake after blending it.

So as this contains live bacteria exposure to high temperatures can destroy the light bacteria so we highly recommend you only consume it with liquids at a temperature below 25 degrees.

Avoid blending it with your shake and stir it in at the end as blending may affect the product's effectiveness.

There's two great ways to enjoy Microbiotic Max.

One is to mix it simply with water stir and enjoy or add to your favourite F1 Healthy Meal shake but remember do that after blending your shake not before and then mix it with your favourite Herbalife Nutrition product.

For example.

You can mix it with your Herbalife Nutrition Skin Collagen Booster,