High-Fiber Diets: Benefits for People with Lupus?

High-Fiber Diet & Gut Health A 2018 Yale study explored how high-fiber diets effect the bacteria in the guts of laboratory mice. First, the scientists identified a type of bacterium, Lactobacillus reuteri, in the gut of mice which triggered an immune response, and perhaps even the development of an autoimmune disease. Then, the researchers altered the diet of the mice to see how the change would impact the bacteria present. The mice were fed a “resistant starch” diet. This mimics high-fiber diets in humans. Resistant starch is not fully absorbed in the small intestine. It continues into the large intestine where it ferments, enriches good bacteria, and secretes fatty acids. The presence of these good bacteria “suppresses both the growth and movement of L. reuteri bacteria outside the gut that would otherwise lead to autoimmune disease.” This study builds off of a 2013 study on meat-based diet. When mice were given meat-based diets, symptoms of colitis (an autoimmune condition in the intestines and colon) worsened. When given resistant starch along with the meat, however, the mice had lower levels of inflammation.

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