Meanwhile other studies have linked this ratio to obesity, in contrast to the higher Bacteroidetes than Bacteroidetes.
Tomatoes make up about 22 percent of vegetable intake in the Western diet, and previous research has linked tomato consumption with a lower risk for developing a variety of conditions, including heart disease and some cancers.
But tomatoes’ effect on the gut microbiome is still a mystery, and Cooperstone said these findings in pigs — whose gastrointestinal tract is more similar to the human GI system than that of rodents — suggest it’s worth exploring.
“This was our first investigation into how tomato consumption might affect the microbiome, and we characterized which microbes are present, and how their relative abundance changed with this tomato intervention,” she said.
“To really understand the mechanisms, we need to do more work like this over the long term in humans. We also want to understand the complex interplay – how consuming these foods changes the composition of the microbes present is, and functionally, what does it do?”
“A better understanding could lead to more evidence-based dietary recommendations for long-term health.”
