The Effect of Seasonality and Transculturation on the Human Microbiome: a Pilot Study in Tanzania



Eat more fiber. Pears have lots of fiber.

"It’s also interesting to note that while the most dominant group of bacteria in the American Gut is the genus Bacteroides – by a country mile – this group of bacteria is a minor, minor player in the Hadza gut. Almost non-existent. The prevailing wisdom is that these bacteria are driven by our high protein-fat and sugary diet. However, I think it has a lot more to do with our absence of dietary fiber and resulting alkaline guts (see Going Feral). As my own self-experiments have shown, I can turn my Bacteroides up or down with the amount of fiber in my diet irrespective of the amount of other macronutrients like fat. To me at least, I think the dominance of Bacteroides in the western gut has to do with pH levels, which is “mainly” driven by fermentation of dietary fiber (fermentation of fiber equals more SCFAs and thus a more acidic colonic environment which strains of Bacteroides don’t like). So with the average American eating less than 20g of fiber a day – pitiful – we are likely lugging around the most alkaline guts in human history which in turn is allowing certain species of Bacteroides (and some opportunistic pathogens) to flourish.


http://humanfoodproject.com/rebecoming-human-happened-day-replaced-99-genes-b...


Again, if we squint for a moment and lean on the gut of the Hadza, then maybe we shouldn’t let Bacteroides dominant our gut – and by doing so, who else is getting nudged out or down and potentially dragging us closer to ill health? I suspect the Hadza keep Bacteroides levels low with their high, daily levels of dietary fiber which keeps their colonic environment very acidic. In addition the high protein-fat and sugary argument doesn’t hold with the Hadza either as they will often gorge on meat-fat and eat piles of sugary honey for weeks on end during the wet season – and we see no blooms in Bacteroides when we sample during these periods. It’s the Fiber Stupid!"