{"id":8524,"date":"2024-04-30T11:18:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T15:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/?p=8524"},"modified":"2025-02-04T16:23:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T21:23:09","slug":"researchers-identify-gut-bacteria-good-for-heart-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/researchers-identify-gut-bacteria-good-for-heart-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Identify Gut Bacteria Good for Heart Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The gut microbiome has been linked to health in a variety of ways, playing a role in the development of type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cancer, and more. (<a href=\"#references\">1<\/a>) Bacteria in the gut have also been implicated in heart health. Studies have identified numerous pathways in the \u201cgut-heart connection.\u201d (<a href=\"#references\">2<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>The gut\u2019s role in heart health is not new information. However, what is new, is researchers\u2019 recent discovery of a specific type of bacteria that appears to play a role in reducing cardiovascular disease risk. It is bacteria contained within the <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> genus.<\/p>\n<h3>What Are <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> Bacteria?<\/h3>\n<p>There are several different types of bacteria within the <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> genus. Some\u00a0 include <em>Ocscillibacter ruminantium<\/em> and <em>Oscillibacter valericigenes<\/em>, among others. Scientists first became aware of the <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> genus in 2007. (<a href=\"#references\">3<\/a>) However, since that time, we\u2019ve learned much more about the bacteria in this genus and their impact on health.<\/p>\n<p>Generally, these bacteria are known to negatively affect a person\u2019s health versus helping it. For instance, some studies have connected a higher number of <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> bacteria in the intestinal microbes of children with asthma with decreased immune function. (<a href=\"#references\">4<\/a>) A high amount of <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> bacteria has also been found in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease. (<a href=\"#references\">5<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s partially what makes this new study so interesting. This same category of bacteria that has been implicated in several different chronic diseases now seems to have a positive effect on heart health.<\/p>\n<h1>Study Involving <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> Bacteria and Heart Health<\/h1>\n<p>This new research was published on April 2, 2024, in the journal <em>Cell.\u00a0<\/em>It involved 1,429 participants in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). (<a href=\"#references\">6<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhlbi.nih.gov\/science\/framingham-heart-study-fhs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The FHS study<\/a> is a multigenerational study that has been conducted since 1948. It was established to identify factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. Today it aims to better understand heart disease patterns and trends, as well as outcomes. (<a href=\"#references\">7<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Researchers in this study involving FHS participants found that species from the <em>Oscillibacter<\/em> genus appear to metabolize cholesterol in the body, breaking it down. This can potentially help individuals reduce their cholesterol levels, which can subsequently reduce their heart disease risk.<\/p>\n<p>Studies such as this highlight the value of understanding more about the gut microbiome and how different bacteria can impact health, potentially in different ways.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive alignnone wp-image-8529 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/why-gut-health-matters.jpg\" alt=\"Bacteria can impact our health in many ways.\" width=\"700\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/why-gut-health-matters.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/why-gut-health-matters-300x240.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It can also help us better identify the actions we can take to promote our heart health, in part, by creating a healthier gut.<\/p>\n<h2>Improving Heart Health by Improving Gut Health<\/h2>\n<p>Harvard Medical School provides several actions you can take to begin to create a heart-healthy gut. They include: (<a href=\"#references\">8<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Eating fiber-rich fruit, veggies, and grains, which may decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke by up to 30%<br \/>\n\u2022 Consuming foods high in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/products\/ultra-probiotics\">probiotics<\/a>, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, and tempeh<br \/>\n\u2022 Following a plant-based diet, with the Mediterranean diet being a good option<br \/>\n\u2022 Limiting the consumption of red meat<\/p>\n<p>Natural Wellness also offers a variety of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/category\/cardiovascular-health\">supplements designed to help support heart health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is often said that you should always \u201ctrust your gut.\u201d In this case, if you feed it the right diet, you may just be able to trust your gut to improve your heart health. Wouldn\u2019t that be a great trust to have?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have recently discovered a specific type of bacteria that appears to play a role in reducing heart disease risk. Discover the details!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digestion","category-heart-health"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8524"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8531,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8524\/revisions\/8531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}