Insect food proved to be good for gastrointestinal health by increasing bad bacteria in the intestines

by Tirachard Kumtanom

Insect food has attracted attention in recent years, such as the development of " power wheat flour ", a new ingredient that can save food crises originating from insects. Meanwhile, new studies have shown that insects not only have abundant nutrition but also prepare the intestinal environment.

Impact of Edible Cricket Consumption on Gut Microbiota in Healthy Adults, a Double-blind, Randomized Crossover Trial | Scientific Reports
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29032-2

Eating crickets can be good for your gut, according to new clinical trial
https://news.wisc.edu/eating-crickets-can-be-good-for-your-gut-according-to-new-clinical-trial/

Eating Crickets Does Something Really Good to Your Gut Bacteria, Study Finds
https://www.sciencealert.com/eating-crickets-good-for-gastrointestinal-health-microbiome-inflammation-double-blind-randomised

As one solution to the world's food problems, "insect diet" has attracted attention, and cricket farming has already started as a protein source for general family indeed.

"Insects" coming soon to the table - GIGAZINE

Insects contain vitamins, minerals, proteins, high-quality fat, not only being rich in nutrition but also being said to be suitable for the human body in terms of digestion. It is also a merit that it is sustainable food and environmentally friendly compared with conventional livestock.

And furthermore, Valerie Stull, a nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focuses on a fiber called "chitin nanofiber" which is different from vegetables and fruits that insects have on the exoskeleton. Dietary fiber is said to promote a good bacterium " probiotics " present in the stomach, but what kind of action does the chitin nanofiber perform on the gastrointestinal tract? The research team of Stull et al. Investigated that.

The research team used 20 healthy adults aged 18 to 48 years as subjects, half of the subjects had muffins as breakfast and "shaking with cricket powder mixed" and half included muffin and cricket powder I did not have a shake.

by Lisa Fotios

Subjects were asked to send designated diet for 2 weeks, blood tests and stool tests were conducted, and a questionnaire asked about the condition of the stomach before and after the test was performed.

As a result, none of the people reported questionnaire on changes in the sense of tummy due to changes in diet. In addition, it was said that no person whose overall composition of intestinal bacteria changed by stool test was found.

However, further examination by researchers on enzymes related to liver function and inflammation in blood tests has shown that metabolic enzymes related to gastrointestinal health increase, which is related to cancer, depression, Alzheimer, inflammatory bowel disease We found that the inflammatory protein " TNF-α " is decreasing.

In addition, researchers have found that bifidobacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of subjects who ingested cricket flour increased by an average of 5.7 times.

by Miguel Á. Padriñán

Of course, this research is small scale and we need to do even larger scale research to obtain confirmation. However, it is possible that other health benefits of "eating insects" may exist from this research, and it is worth investigating future insect food as a future sustainable protein source in the future It is said that it could be said that it was indicated.