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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #97: Human immunity and the role of fermented foods and drinks

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One of the keys to boosting immunity and fighting off disease is increasing the diversity of one’s microbiota -- the bacteria found in the human digestive tract (the “gut”). A diet high in processed, calorie-rich, fatty foods translates to a low level of diversity in the microbiome, which has been linked to obesity and diabetes. A study conducted by researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine and published in Cell on Monday found that a diet rich in fermented items – yogurt, kefir, fermented cottage cheese, kimchi, vegetable brine drinks, and kombucha tea – boosted diversity. This is a stunning finding,” said Justin Sonnenburg, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford, in a news release. “It provides one of the first examples of how a simple change in diet can reproducibly remodel the microbiota across a cohort of healthy adults.” Notably, the study also found that a high-fiber diet, which has a range of health benefits, had a limited impact on the diversity of the microbiome.