When FIBER isn't just for "NAVIGATION"

For several years now, a very popular topic in veterinary medicine has been the study of the role that the microbiota plays in the well-being and health of our dogs and cats.
The discovery of the microbiota has revolutionized internal medicine, and gastroenterology in particular, so much so that it has changed the clinical approach to gastrointestinal problems.

But what is the microbiota?
The microbiota is the set of microorganisms that live in the body, residing practically throughout the body: for the most part (more than 70%) it is found in the gastrointestinal tract, but it is also present on the skin, hair, oral cavity, genitals, and in various parts of the airways as well as in the eye cavity.
The microbiota is made up of a very large population, it is estimated that there are around 103 million bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that "inhabit" it, ten times the number of cells in the organism,

It is almost entirely made up of bacteria (98%), the remaining 2% is made up of all other microorganisms (viruses, protozoa and fungi).

The factors that control and modify the microbial composition are often individual; an individual's microbiota is highly specific, even if they are of the same species, race, or kin.
The microbiota is usually acquired at birth within the first 24 hours and, for the first three years of life, develops to a fairly stable plateau.

Some external events, whether physiological such as aging or pathological such as stress, drug abuse, metabolic disorders (obesity and diabetes), and, above all, an inappropriate diet, can lead to an imbalance in the bacterial population, causing dysbiosis.

What functions does the microbiota have?
The microbiota lives in a certain sense in harmony with the body but changes and evolves in parallel with the type of diet consumed by the animal and with changing environmental conditions.

The functions of the microbiota are multiple,
• prevents colonization of the intestinal wall by promoting epithelial growth
• contributes to the development of the immune system.
• regulates emotional states, due to the influence it exerts on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
• Promotes the synthesis of vitamins (B1, B6, folates, arginine, glutathione and vitamin K)
• Reabsorption of bile acids
• Fermentation of fibers, absorption of nutrients and minerals, degradation of proteins, production of indoles, ammonia, phenols and amino acids;

NUTRITION AFFECTS THE NUMBER AND POPULATION OF THE MICROBIOTA

How then can we properly feed the MICROBIOTA?
There is a clear two-way relationship between diet, the nutrients it contains, and the composition of the intestinal microbiota, as each can influence the other.
Specific dietary changes may have different effects on different individuals due to individual differences in their gut microbiota.
The nutrients contained in foods represent potential substrates for microbial growth.

Each type of nutrient can have the ability to exert pressure on the intestinal microbiota, promoting or, on the contrary, inhibiting the development of some of the thousands of microbial strains that compose it.

Studies have shown that increasing dietary fiber induces an increase in microbial diversity (Jandhyala et al., 2015). A high-fiber diet can, for example, activate the transcription of microbial genes responsible for the utilization of polysaccharides. Furthermore, with the consumption of a high-fiber diet, the intestinal microbiota produces short-chain fatty acids, which improve the host's metabolism and immune function.

Thus, there is much scientific evidence that seems to point in a specific direction: the health of the microbiota is influenced by the quantity and quality of fiber ingested.

This is why fiber becomes an indispensable tool for managing the correct development of the microbiota.

DISCOVER THE QDIET SOLUTION TO BEST INTEGRATE FERMENTABLE FIBER AND BEST NOURISH YOUR PET'S MICROBIOTA!

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