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Wallabills t1_j5h57d4 wrote

Reply to comment by peer-reviewed-myopia in How our microbiome is shaped by family, friends, and even neighbors. Study of the gut and mouth microbiomes of thousands of people from around the world raises the possibility that diseases linked to microbiome dysfunction, including cancer, diabetes, and obesity, could be partly transmissible. by MistWeaver80

food is a vector of microbiome transmission. if food isn't itself covered in microbiome friendly microbes (as all things are always covered in microbes if not in sanitary conditions), then it causes shifts in your microbiome. food changes what's allowed to grow inside of your gut as it can kill off or help various microbes thrive.

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peer-reviewed-myopia t1_j5h9zbx wrote

Food is more associated with microbiome composition, and relative shifts in that composition (like you said).

As for food-to-gut transmission, food has been found to be mostly a non-factor in introducing new strains to our microbiome. Mostly, this is because the microorganisms that make up our microbiome cannot survive for long outside the body.

That said, food-to-gut transmission may play a bigger role than currently theorized. As of now though, it's person-to-person strain transmission that looks to be mostly responsible for microbiome diversity.

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skillywilly56 t1_j5hrpbv wrote

Food is less of a vector of transmission, cause we cook it which kills the bacteria.

The nutrients provided by the food can accelerate the growth of bacteria, so foods high in fiber provide a substrate for bacteria to grow on, get the right kind of fiber and you can get the beneficial bacteria to grow faster and out pace the non beneficial bacteria.

Unless of course you’re eating all your food raw only certain foods which aren’t cooked like lettuce, would contain surface bacteria at very low concentrations.

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