While it has been suspected that the GI microflora have a profound effect on human physiology, there has not been a lot of data supporting that the changes in physiology determine the resulting composition of the microflora. Now there is a study supporting that the microflora can be altered and this can change insulin sensitivity and decrease the risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
Scientists made up a combination of inulin (fiber), beta glucan (an immune stimulant and also a fiber), and antioxidants and tested to see if it changed insulin sensitivity in 28 adults with pre-diabetes. It did! It also decreased appetite. While this is a small study, it adds to the growing body of literature supporting that by changing the microflora we can alter human biochemistry and physiology.
This information came from a scientific paper that was conducted by a company called Microbiome Therapeutics, a Colorado based biotechnology company and was presented at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society at their June 2014 meeting.
