Contributors within the MINA Research monitor a toddler in Cruzeiro do Sul, within the state of Acre. The group has undergone well being assessments since beginning, in 2015 and 2016. Credit score: Bárbara Prado/USP
A Brazilian research of 728 kids as much as one 12 months of age reveals that the consumption of ultra-processed meals can negatively have an effect on the variety and abundance of the intestinal microbiota, with a extra pronounced impact in kids who should not breastfed.
The outcomes have been printed within the journal Medical Diet, as a part of the “MINA Study—Maternal-Infant in Acre: birth cohort of the Brazilian Western Amazon,” which is following a gaggle of kids born between 2015 and 2016 in Cruzeiro do Sul, within the state of Acre, Brazil.
Kids who have been nonetheless receiving breast milk had larger ranges of Bifidobacterium, a genus of micro organism identified to be related to good intestine well being.
Alternatively, those that weren’t breastfed and consumed ultra-processed merchandise, similar to packaged snacks, crammed cookies, chocolate drinks, tender drinks, synthetic juices, ice cream, instantaneous noodles, amongst others, had a better abundance of genera similar to Selimonas and Finegoldia, which aren’t very ample within the group of breastfed kids and are sometimes current in people with weight problems or gastrointestinal illnesses in adolescence and maturity.
“We also found that breastfeeding attenuated the harmful effects of consuming ultra-processed foods on the composition of the gut microbiota. The group of children who received breast milk and did not consume ultra-processed products had a more stable microbiota and better health markers, mainly due to the greater abundance of Bifidobacterium,” says the primary writer of the research, Lucas Faggiani, who’s doing his doctoral research on the College of Public Well being of the College of São Paulo (FSP-USP).
“To date, there hasn’t been a study with so many participants that has analyzed the composition of the intestinal microbiota during the first year of life in relation to the consumption of ultra-processed products, just when the immune system is forming. Although the region is difficult to access, these products can be easily obtained and end up replacing traditional foods and even breastfeeding,” explains Marly Cardoso, professor at FSP-USP and coordinator of the undertaking.
Along with the pattern dimension, Faggiani provides, the research stands out for being a population-based cohort in an Amazon area with a excessive degree of social vulnerability, which contributes to the research of variables which are little explored within the literature on this topic.
Long run
The researchers collected samples between 2016 and 2017, when the youngsters participating within the cohort turned one 12 months outdated. The samples have been collected and saved in response to a protocol developed on the Institute of Tropical Medication (IMT) of the USP College of Medication, coordinated by Ester Sabino, a professor on the establishment. The anal swabs with the stool samples have been saved at low temperatures and despatched to São Paulo.
Whereas gathering these samples and information similar to the youngsters’s weight and peak, the moms answered a questionnaire that included whether or not or not they have been breastfeeding and the consuming habits of the household and the kid.
The microbiota samples have been despatched to a specialised firm in South Korea for automated genome sequencing, which is way quicker than conventional sequencing. In Brazil, with the information in hand, the researchers carried out the evaluation utilizing bioinformatics instruments.
Along with the degrees related to Bifidobacterium (ample in breastfed kids and low in weaned kids), Selimonas and Finegoldia (excessive in non-breastfed kids and people consuming ultra-processed meals), the researchers additionally detected a better incidence of the Firmicutes genus within the group of kids who have been not breastfed, even in those that didn’t devour ultra-processed meals. The genus is a possible marker of an grownup microbiota, suggesting early maturity.
One other genus present in abundance within the weaned and ultra-processed client group was Blautia. Though some research have discovered the identical affiliation, there may be nonetheless no consensus on whether or not it’s helpful or dangerous. “There’s a lack of robust studies to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between this genus and health outcomes,” feedback Faggiani.
“We’d noticed that consumption of ultra-processed products occurred in more than 80% of the children taking part in the study in the first year of life, when the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation is not to offer these products before the age of two. Given these results, we’re continuing to follow these children to monitor possible adverse health outcomes in the long term,” concludes Cardoso.
Extra data:
Lucas D. Faggiani et al, Impact of ultra-processed meals consumption on the intestine microbiota within the first 12 months of life: Findings from the MINA–Brazil beginning cohort research, Medical Diet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2025.01.030
Quotation:
Consumption of ultra-processed meals by younger kids favors dangerous micro organism within the intestine, research finds (2025, Might 5)
retrieved 6 Might 2025
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