Multivitamins: support for gut flora

The subject of extensive research in recent years, gut flora is now recognised as playing many roles within the body. Yet studies increasingly warn of the risks of dysbiosis - an imbalance in this intestinal flora - which prevents microbiota from fulfilling its normal functions and promotes the development of certain health problems. Fortunately, scientific research on the subject has led to the discovery of natural solutions for maintaining or restoring the balance of gut flora. In particular, the efficacy of supplementing with probiotics has been widely demonstrated. More recently, a study has shown that a course of multivitamins may also be helpful in preventing dysbiosis. Read on to find out more about this research!

Nutritional deficiencies – risk factors which should not be ignored

Published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the study looked at the effects on gut flora of nutritional deficiency¹. While intestinal flora has attracted much scientific attention in recent years, few studies have so far focused on how nutritional deficiencies affect its balance, despite some alarming statistics. According to the latest estimates, almost 2 billion people may be affected by nutritional deficiency – in other words, their nutrient intake may be insufficient to meet their body’s needs. Though frequently ignored, the consequences of nutritional deficiency can impair many of the body’s functions and may, in particular, be responsible for imbalances in intestinal microbiota.

Effects of nutritional deficiencies on gut flora

Scientists investigating the effects of nutritional deficiency on gut flora focused on a number of micronutrients such as vitamins A and B9, iron and zinc. Evaluating the effects of a lack of these nutrients in mice with a similar gut flora to humans, their research produced significant results, revealing that vitamin A deficiency promoted an imbalance in gut flora by increasing the presence of certain bacterial strains.

Benefits of preventive vitamin supplementation

To better understand the link between nutritional deficiency and the proliferation of bacteria in the gut, they carried out a number of additional tests. Using genetic, multi-omic and pharmacological analyses to establish vitamin A’s role in intestinal flora, they observed that intake of retinol, a form of vitamin A, affected the growth of the Bacteroides vulgatus strain of intestinal bacteria. Their findings suggested that vitamin A supplementation reduced the growth of certain bacteria and lowered the risk of dysbiosis.

These preliminary findings open up new avenues of research in preventing the risk of dysbiosis. They also confirm the benefits of supplementation in preventing or correcting nutritional deficiency. In this context, a number of multivitamins have been developed which provide a concentrate of nutrients essential for good health. These include SuperSmart’s vitamin formulations Daily 3®, Daily 6® and the new supplement Daily 2® Timed Release.

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> Source :
1. Matthew C. Hibberd, et al., The effects of micronutrient deficiencies on bacterial species from the human gut microbiota, Science Translational Medicine, 17 Mai 2017, Vol. 9, Issue 390, eaal4069.