How a gut molecule — fuelled by healthy foods — can protect against type 2 diabetes

Eating your broccoli, along with other beneficial foods, can help protect against Type 2 diabetes, researchers at the Ottawa Heart Institute, along with partners in France and the U.K., have discovered.

The researchers have found that a natural molecule made by gut bacteria can reduce inflammation and protect against diabetes and obesity. The molecule, called trimethylamine (TMA), is produced when gut microbes break down nutrients like choline, which is found in common foods, including broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggs, salmon and tuna, legumes, and milk and milk products.

The finding opens the door to new ways of treating diabetes, said senior co-author Dr. Peter Liu, a cardiologist who is co-scientific director of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome at the Ottawa Heart Institute.

That includes the development of new drugs, but also a better understanding of how a healthy diet can directly combat inflammation and protect against Type 2 diabetes and related illnesses, including heart disease, Liu said.

“It really reinforces the importance of having good dietary intake. Now we understand how diet combinations such as salmon, char, cod, legumes and broccoli actually protect us,” said Liu.

“In view of the growing threat of diabetes worldwide and its devastating complications for the whole patient, including the brain and heart, a new solution is direly needed.”

The study found that the natural molecule made by gut bacteria, TMA, can reduce inflammation and help the body use insulin more efficiently. It does so by blocking IRAK4, a key protein “master switch” that triggers inflammation in response to high-fat diets.

The findings challenge earlier assumptions about TMA. Its related compound TMAO is formed in the liver and has been linked to heart diseases. But TMA appears to play a protective role, improving metabolic health and reducing inflammation, which is linked to a number of serious chronic illnesses.

Because of the crucial role IRAK4 plays in inflammation, there are concerted efforts underway to develop drugs that can block it. Liu said researchers at the heart institute are evaluating some of those potential drugs. It is clear IRAK4 is a promising target for future diabetes and obesity treatments, he said.

The research shows that if IRAK4 is blocked using drugs or genetics, lab mice don’t become obese or develop diabetes no matter how much processed food they eat. Liu said researchers knew the protein IRAK4 was important “but we never thought it had such a huge impact on diabetes and obesity.”

The research is also a new way to think about how people’s gut microbiomes can strongly influence their health by creating molecules that block IRAK4 through a healthy diet.

Liu said he is already working on a project to help restore more traditional foods to Inuit communities in Nunavut, where rates of diabetes and heart disease are high, related to a change in diet away from so-called country food, such as char and berries, to more processed food.

“Natural things like Arctic char and berries are full of these natural protectors. We know diabetes is a major challenge for our northern communities. Before 1970, there was no high blood pressure and no diabetes. All these became common diseases,” he said.

“We really now think that having the right food source for the community can make a difference to their health and may be just as beneficial as all the drugs we give to everybody to treat these conditions.”

Heart attacks, strokes and heart failure are all related to inflammation in blood vessels, Liu said. The ability to prevent inflammation can prevent and treat these conditions.

Liu said the research underscores that making the right food choices is extremely important, something that many people learned from their mothers.

“I always say that our own diet is some of nature’s best medicine. We are able to help nature help ourselves.”

Related

Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.