Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health
Scientists have solved a 50-year mystery by discovering an enzyme that reveals how good gut bacteria works, giving us another reason to eat our greens
A critical discovery about how bacteria feed on an unusual sugar molecule found in leafy green vegetables could hold the key to explaining how ‘good’ bacteria protect our gut and promote health. The finding suggests that leafy greens are essential for feeding good gut bacteria, limiting the ability of bad bacteria to colonise the gut by shutting them out of prime gut 'real estate'.
The research, published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, was led by Prof Spencer Williams from the School of Chemistry, Dr Ethan Goddard-Borger from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, and Prof Gideon Davies from the University of York, UK.