Phew — this much simpler habit is better at fixing your gut health than a poop transplant, say scientists
Turns out that fecal transplants are No. 2.
It's hard to imagine, but these transplants are really hot right now. Clinical trials have shown promising results for treating cancer, reversing the effects of aging and healing the gut.
Luckily, a new study suggests there's a much simpler and more appetizing way to optimize gut health.
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3 A new study suggests there's a much simpler and more appetizing way to optimize gut health than fecal transplants.
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The research — recently published in the journal Nature — found that a healthy diet does a better job of restoring gut health than transferring someone else's poop into your body.
'There's a big emphasis on treating a depleted microbiome with things like fecal transplants right now, but our study shows that this will not be successful without a healthy diet, and in fact, a healthy diet alone still outperforms it,' Joy Bergelson, executive vice president of the Simons Foundation's Life Sciences division, said in a statement.
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An international team of researchers set out to investigate how diet influences gut recovery after a round of antibiotics, which often nuke the good bacteria along with the bad.
They hopped up some mice on a model of the Western diet — which tends to be high in fat and low in fiber — while the rest of the mice were bequeathed the joys of clean eating.
The results were stark.
3 Eating a diet rich in fiber is better for your gut health than a poop transplant, according to science.
aamulya – stock.adobe.com
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'In the mice that were on the healthy diet, within a week after antibiotic treatment, they recovered to almost their normal state,' said study co-author Megan Kennedy of the University of Chicago.
'By comparison, the microbiomes of the mice on the Western diet remained completely obliterated. They only had one type of bacteria left, and it dominated for weeks. They never really got back to the place they began.'
Attempts to fix things with fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) didn't help much unless the recipient mice were already eating well.
3 Meanwhile, ultra-processed food is likely to wreck your gut microbiome.
Drobot Dean – stock.adobe.com
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'The idea of an FMT is that you can take the good microbes from somebody who is healthy, plop them in, and that will fix them,' said Kennedy.
'It has gotten a lot of enthusiasm, but we weren't sure how it would interact with a Western-style diet.'
Turns out — not great.
Without the right fuel — like dietary fiber — good bacteria simply couldn't flourish.
'It totally doesn't stick,' Kennedy said. 'On a healthy diet, the transplant works, but on the unhealthy one, the mice show basically no signs of recovery.'
The researchers believe their discovery could shed some light on why some fecal transplants work better than others.
And, for the rest of us, it's a good reminder that eating foods rich in fiber — such as berries, beans, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, lentils and avocado — will keep your gut happy.
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Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Who's in charge? CDC's leadership 'crisis' apparent amid new COVID-19 vaccine guidance
WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a notable absence last week when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a 58-second video that the government would no longer endorse the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the person who typically signs off on federal vaccine recommendations — was nowhere to be seen. The CDC, a $9.2 billion-a-year agency tasked with reviewing life-saving vaccines, monitoring diseases and watching for budding threats to Americans' health, is without a clear leader. 'I've been disappointed that we haven't had an aggressive director since — February, March, April, May — fighting for the resources that CDC needs,' said Dr. Robert Redfield, who served as CDC director under the first Trump administration and supported Kennedy's nomination as the nation's health secretary. $9.2 billion-a-year agency without leader as nomination awaits The leadership vacuum at a foremost federal public health agency has existed for months, after President Donald Trump suddenly withdrew his first pick for CDC director in March. A hearing for his new nominee — the agency's former acting director Susan Monarez — has not been scheduled because she has not submitted all the paperwork necessary to proceed, according to a spokesman for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who will oversee the nomination. HHS did not answer written questions about Monarez's nomination, her current role at the CDC or her salary. An employee directory lists Monarez, a longtime government employee, as a staffer for the NIH under the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Redfield described Kennedy as 'very supportive' of Monarez's nomination. Instead, a lawyer and political appointee with no medical experience is 'carrying out some of the duties' of director at the agency that for seven decades has been led by someone with a medical degree. Matthew Buzzelli, who is also the chief of staff at the CDC, is 'surrounded by highly qualified medical professionals and advisors to help fulfill these duties as appropriate,' Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. Adding to the confusion was an employee-wide email sent last week that thanked 'new acting directors who shave stepped up to the plate." The email, signed by Monarez, listed her as the acting director. It was was sent just days after Kennedy said at a Senate hearing that Monarez had been replaced by Buzzelli. The lack of a confirmed director will be a problem if a public health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic or a rapid uptick in measles cases hits, said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. 'CDC is a crisis, waiting for a crisis to happen,' said Osterholm. 'At this point, I couldn't tell you for the life of me who was going to pull what trigger in a crisis situation." An acting director rarely seen, and stalled decisions At CDC headquarters in Atlanta, employees say Monarez was rarely heard from between late January – when she was appointed acting director – and late March, when Trump nominated her. She also has not held any of the 'all hands' meetings that were customary under previous CDC chiefs, according to several staffers. One employee, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media and fears being fired if identified said Monarez has been almost invisible since her nomination, adding that her absence has been cited by other leaders as an excuse for delaying action. The situation already has led to confusion. In April, a 15-member CDC advisory panel of outside experts met to discuss vaccine policy. The panel makes recommendations to the CDC Director, who routinely signs off on them. But it was unclear during the meeting who would be reviewing the panel's recommendations, which included the expansion of RSV vaccinations for adults and a new combination shot as another option to protect teens against meningitis. HHS officials said the recommendations were going to Buzzelli, but then weeks passed with no decision. A month after the meeting ended, the CDC posted on a web site that Kennedy had signed off on recommendations for travelers against chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted to humans by mosquitos. But there continues to be no word about a decision about the other vaccine recommendations. Controversial COVID-19 vaccine recommendations bypassed CDC panel The problem was accentuated again last week, when Kennedy rolled out recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine saying they were no longer recommended for healthy children or pregnant women, even though expectant mothers are considered a high-risk group if they contract the virus. Kennedy made the surprise announcement without input from the CDC advisory panel that has historically made recommendations on the nation's vaccine schedule. The CDC days later posted revised guidance that said healthy kids and pregnant women may get the shots. Nixon, the HHS spokesman, said CDC staff were consulted on the recommendations, but would not provide staffer's names or titles. He also did not provide the specific data or research that Kennedy reviewed to reach his conclusion on the new COVID-19 recommendations, just weeks after he said that he did not think 'people should be taking medical advice' from him. 'As Secretary Kennedy said, there is a clear lack of data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,' Nixon said in a statement. Research shows that pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness, mechanical ventilation and death, when they contract COVID-19 infections. During the height of the pandemic, deaths of women during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth soared to their highest level in 50 years. Vaccinations also have been recommended for pregnant women because it passes immunity to newborns who are too young for vaccines and also vulnerable to infections. Nixon did not address a written question about recommendations for pregnant women. Kennedy's decision to bypass the the advisory panel and announce new COVID-19 recommendations on his own prompted a key CDC official who works with the committee – Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos – to announce her resignation last Friday. 'My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role,' she wrote in an email seen by an Associated Press reporter. Signs are mounting that the CDC has been 'sidelined' from key decision-making under Kennedy's watch, said Dr. Anand Parekh, the chief medical adviser for The Bipartisan Policy Center. 'It's difficult to ascertain how we will reverse the chronic disease epidemic or be prepared for myriad public health emergencies without a strong CDC and visible, empowered director,' Parekh said. 'It's also worth noting that every community in the country is served by a local or state public health department that depends on the scientific expertise of the CDC and the leadership of the CDC director.'
Forbes
15 minutes ago
- Forbes
At Sante Fe's Native American Fashion Week, It's 'Not Just About Style, It's About Presence.'
Relative Arts NYC runway Tira Howard "Native people are still here. We always have been. But too often, this country acts like we're not. That erasure doesn't just happen in textbooks. It happens on runways, in museums, in the media and in fashion houses," says Amber Dawn, founder of Native Fashion Week. Though Indigenous practices, cultural values, and art have long been marginalized and forcibly distanced from the Western mainstream, the emergence of an Indigenous Fashion Week asserts its' presence, and keeps the culture very much alive. In Santa Fe, over the course of four days filled with fashion, panels, and parties, Native Fashion Week opened at the Santa Fe Railyard, a clever homage to Native peoples' complicated history with the railroad systems built throughout the 19th century. These tracks remain symbolic of colonization, territorial expansion, environmental devastation, and cultural erasure. During the event's opening, 'Runway on the Rails,' designers Nonamey and Ayimach Horizons previewed snippets of their collections aboard the Sky Railway during a two-hour ride into the desert. From this moment, it became clear: the clothes showcased throughout the week would be less about craftsmanship or spectacle, and more about storytelling and history. Runways to Rils Tira Howard "Native Fashion Week is not just about style. It's about presence. About pushing back on invisibility with creativity, excellence, and joy," says Amber Dawn. She continues, "Unlike the common theme in the US, which are featuring Indigenous designers in museums and making us out to exclusively be of times past, we're building a platform for the future. The exposure of modern Indigenous design is so important to this work." For Dawn, a feeling of erasure, even from runways, has happened for Indigenous culture. "Native Fashion Week Santa Fe is a reclamation of space. A space where Indigenous designers lead. And it's happening here in Santa Fe, a city that already holds a reputation for art, culture and storytelling," she says. "This is about bringing new eyes and new energy to Santa Fe. Fashion editors, buyers, stylists, celebrities, photographers, major industry figures from places like New York, LA, and beyond." One of the key figures and new eyes paying attention was CFDA CEO Steven Kolb. 'Coming to Native American Fashion Week has given me the chance to step into the community and get a sense of Indigenous culture and Native design,' Kolb said. While the CFDA currently has no plans to provide funding for Santa Fe's Native Fashion Week, Kolb emphasized, 'We can bring knowledge, advice, connections, and awareness, we want to create visibility for this within the greater fashion world.' Native American Fashion Week Tira Howard Outside of Warehouse 21, a large event space in Santa Fe, Korina Emmerich wrapped up her runway show, which featured large tassels, tribal prints, and earthy tones. 'This collection was called Seeds, and was based on the concept of 'they tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds.'' She continues, 'I wanted to focus on reinvigoration and reclamation of Indigenous culture, I used orange a lot to bring attention to Orange Shirt Day and boarding schools. Every Native person knows someone who went to those boarding schools, so I wanted to bring attention to that.' Possibly the most memorable piece was a closing statement of rebellion: a dress made out of the Palestinian flag. 'I think it's important that we keep paying attention to what's happening in Palestine, in Gaza, as they keep blocking out the news. It's an act of genocide, and it's something we [Native people] have also gone through.' Native American DFashion Week Tira Howard Emmerich, who says she was 'working on her collection until the very last minute,' draws inspiration from her heritage: the Palouse people of Washington state. She credits her father, an art teacher, as her biggest inspiration, encouraging her to embrace both her Indigenous identity and creativity. 'The first dress I made was my jingle dress for my powwow regalia, and I think a lot about putting stories into the clothing. For me, it's about storytelling more than it is about commerce.' 'Growing up, we didn't see any Native fashion designers besides Dorothy Grant, so how did you know it's a possibility if you don't see it? But the recognition is phenomenal,' she says. 'We're so lucky that we have room for everyone.' Native American Fashion Week Tira Howard On the second day of Fashion Week, in the same event space, Nonamey, who originally premiered on the Skyrails train, debuted a larger collection aimed at telling a more fully realized story. 'The name of this collection is Threaded Lineage, and it's the story of my family,' he says. 'It's an Indigenous story—my story. It begins with the Ancestor Dress, a story about my grandmother and a relative of mine who was shot by police.' Midway through the show, Nonamey presented a blinding orange, structured jacket emblazoned with the words 'DON'T SHOOT' across the back. This piece, like others in the collection, serves as a kind of "connective tissue"—memories and histories that have either directly affected him or live on through his lineage. Nonamey, who is of the Anishinaabe people of Northern Wisconsin, tells a deeply personal story of his family's forced relocation, his time in the foster care system, and the loss of identity that came with it. That journey intensified after learning he had lost both his mother and grandmother. 'It was this loss I didn't know what to do with, so I started applying it to my art,' he says. Originally trained in sculpture, Nonamey ultimately discovered that the language of clothing spoke to him more. Throughout the collection, he presented pieces that followed traditional 18th-century European dress silhouettes, layered with tribal prints, a visual merging of histories and heritages that reflect both his identity and the complex, often painful relationship with Native ethnicity in a colonized world. "I am a result of colonial action, I am an attempt at cultural genocide, but by reconnecting I stepped further away from an edge and I feel that by creating art and sharing it, i'm decolonizing this industry." Nonamey for Native American Fashion Week Tira Howard That spirit carried throughout the week. While Indigenous traditional wear is far from a monolith, with many of the designers representing diverse tribes and regions across the Americas, the shared goal of representing their heritage across time and geography remained central. Acts of rebellion, fine tailoring, streetwear, tribal prints, traditional tassels and suedes, moccasins, and sustainable fashion approaches like fur and multi-use materials were all present on the runway. 'The industry needs to know more and invest in the original designers of America. There is not one way to define Native fashion arts; the diversity is beautiful and complex,' says Amber Dawn. 'We had over 25 nations represented among the 30 Indigenous designers this season at Native Fashion Week Santa Fe. Within each of those nations, there are specific designs, colors, and intentional symbolism. Our designers blend their personal fashion with these traditional motifs, creating a modern interpretation of Indigenous fashion that embodies such a personal journey for everyone.' Nonamey NAFW Tira Howard As the week came to a close, the audience was left with a powerful message from the creator of the programming: 'From the streetwear motifs to the use of furs, which are all sustainable and sourced from Indigenous farmers in Canada, the meaning behind what our designers do, and the incredible attention to detail and purpose, must be understood through context as we enter a global forum. ' She continues, 'That's where you begin to see the vast range of performances down the runway, from Apache Skateboards to Shoshoni's Nar Rew Ekar, which went viral on social media, to the protest staged by Alex from Scrd Thndr. There was so much beauty and so many different expressions of fashion to witness. That background information is essential as we scale our exposure. We can't wait to continue expanding next season with more symposia and auxiliary events to keep sharing our designers' stories and work.'
Associated Press
20 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Who's in charge? CDC's leadership 'crisis' apparent amid new COVID-19 vaccine guidance
WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a notable absence last week when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a 58-second video that the government would no longer endorse the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the person who typically signs off on federal vaccine recommendations — was nowhere to be seen. The CDC, a $9.2 billion-a-year agency tasked with reviewing life-saving vaccines, monitoring diseases and watching for budding threats to Americans' health, is without a clear leader. 'I've been disappointed that we haven't had an aggressive director since — February, March, April, May — fighting for the resources that CDC needs,' said Dr. Robert Redfield, who served as CDC director under the first Trump administration and supported Kennedy's nomination as the nation's health secretary. $9.2 billion-a-year agency without leader as nomination awaits The leadership vacuum at a foremost federal public health agency has existed for months, after President Donald Trump suddenly withdrew his first pick for CDC director in March. A hearing for his new nominee — the agency's former acting director Susan Monarez — has not been scheduled because she has not submitted all the paperwork necessary to proceed, according to a spokesman for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who will oversee the nomination. HHS did not answer written questions about Monarez's nomination, her current role at the CDC or her salary. An employee directory lists Monarez, a longtime government employee, as a staffer for the NIH under the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Redfield described Kennedy as 'very supportive' of Monarez's nomination. Instead, a lawyer and political appointee with no medical experience is 'carrying out some of the duties' of director at the agency that for seven decades has been led by someone with a medical degree. Matthew Buzzelli, who is also the chief of staff at the CDC, is 'surrounded by highly qualified medical professionals and advisors to help fulfill these duties as appropriate,' Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. Adding to the confusion was an employee-wide email sent last week that thanked 'new acting directors who shave stepped up to the plate.' The email, signed by Monarez, listed her as the acting director. It was was sent just days after Kennedy said at a Senate hearing that Monarez had been replaced by Buzzelli. The lack of a confirmed director will be a problem if a public health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic or a rapid uptick in measles cases hits, said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. 'CDC is a crisis, waiting for a crisis to happen,' said Osterholm. 'At this point, I couldn't tell you for the life of me who was going to pull what trigger in a crisis situation.' An acting director rarely seen, and stalled decisions At CDC headquarters in Atlanta, employees say Monarez was rarely heard from between late January – when she was appointed acting director – and late March, when Trump nominated her. She also has not held any of the 'all hands' meetings that were customary under previous CDC chiefs, according to several staffers. One employee, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media and fears being fired if identified said Monarez has been almost invisible since her nomination, adding that her absence has been cited by other leaders as an excuse for delaying action. The situation already has led to confusion. In April, a 15-member CDC advisory panel of outside experts met to discuss vaccine policy. The panel makes recommendations to the CDC Director, who routinely signs off on them. But it was unclear during the meeting who would be reviewing the panel's recommendations, which included the expansion of RSV vaccinations for adults and a new combination shot as another option to protect teens against meningitis. HHS officials said the recommendations were going to Buzzelli, but then weeks passed with no decision. A month after the meeting ended, the CDC posted on a web site that Kennedy had signed off on recommendations for travelers against chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted to humans by mosquitos. But there continues to be no word about a decision about the other vaccine recommendations. Controversial COVID-19 vaccine recommendations bypassed CDC panel The problem was accentuated again last week, when Kennedy rolled out recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine saying they were no longer recommended for healthy children or pregnant women, even though expectant mothers are considered a high-risk group if they contract the virus. Kennedy made the surprise announcement without input from the CDC advisory panel that has historically made recommendations on the nation's vaccine schedule. The CDC days later posted revised guidance that said healthy kids and pregnant women may get the shots. Nixon, the HHS spokesman, said CDC staff were consulted on the recommendations, but would not provide staffer's names or titles. He also did not provide the specific data or research that Kennedy reviewed to reach his conclusion on the new COVID-19 recommendations, just weeks after he said that he did not think 'people should be taking medical advice' from him. 'As Secretary Kennedy said, there is a clear lack of data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,' Nixon said in a statement. Research shows that pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness, mechanical ventilation and death, when they contract COVID-19 infections. During the height of the pandemic, deaths of women during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth soared to their highest level in 50 years. Vaccinations also have been recommended for pregnant women because it passes immunity to newborns who are too young for vaccines and also vulnerable to infections. Nixon did not address a written question about recommendations for pregnant women. Kennedy's decision to bypass the the advisory panel and announce new COVID-19 recommendations on his own prompted a key CDC official who works with the committee – Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos – to announce her resignation last Friday. 'My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role,' she wrote in an email seen by an Associated Press reporter. Signs are mounting that the CDC has been 'sidelined' from key decision-making under Kennedy's watch, said Dr. Anand Parekh, the chief medical adviser for The Bipartisan Policy Center. 'It's difficult to ascertain how we will reverse the chronic disease epidemic or be prepared for myriad public health emergencies without a strong CDC and visible, empowered director,' Parekh said. 'It's also worth noting that every community in the country is served by a local or state public health department that depends on the scientific expertise of the CDC and the leadership of the CDC director.'
