For some time, we have known that, although we are human, our bodies host complex communities of varied microorganisms. We are beginning to unravel how intimately our health depends on the day-to-day lives of these communal microbes also known as the microbiome. Worldwide, research on the microbiome is gaining cross-disciplinary traction. And this may spark a paradigm shift in how we view, manage, and treat disease.
When we eat, we are not only feeding our human selves. We are also nurturing or depriving the microorganisms that have taken up residence in our gut. These microorganisms, collectively called the gut microbiota, feast on the food we consume. They provide our bodies with the necessary molecules to regulate our immune, neurological, and metabolic systems. When the food we eat compromises the diversity of the communities living within our digestive tract, our health takes a hit.
Understanding How the Microbiome Impacts Health
Many diseases of the body and mind correlate with a lack of diversity in our guts. We also know that the foods we eat dictate the diversity of our gut microbiota. And, as consumers turn to diet to support their health, increasingly, our food clients want and need to understand the scientific relationship between food, the microbiome, and health.
The scientific literature is vast, fast-paced, and complex. But we are up to the challenge of translating scientific findings into meaningful information. Our analysts have studied the research literature. We have extracted key points of consensus and highlighted uncertainties. It’s not always easy for our clients to communicate these big, meaty topics to stakeholders. So we translate the esoteric language into digestible, actionable insights for all audiences. We ensure our clients’ thinking accurately reflects the best thinking of the scientific community.
Our Team Helps Clients Leverage The Science
Working with our team as an extension of yours, we rally internal support for and awareness of how this emerging field (food design to feed the human gut microbiota) will impact your business. We take the science a step further and marry the research insights with real-time snapshots of the microbiome-product landscape to identify opportunities and help strategize on product development and timing.
Would you like to know what microbiome-targeted ingredients are out there? More importantly, do you want to find the ingredients that the scientific community backs? Let’s talk. We can find clarity in this massive and complex yet transformative field of research.
