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ROCHESTER — Resistance to antibiotics, such as tetracycline, is a worldwide problem. It can happen when microbes in your gut learn to survive antibiotics.
In a study from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, researchers found that a diverse diet that includes higher levels of soluble fiber and lower levels of protein, especially from beef and pork, is linked to lower levels of antimicrobial resistance genes in people's gut microbes.
Soluble fiber dissolves in water. It's found in foods such as oats, beans, lentils, peas, chia seeds, nuts carrots, berries and broccoli.
“The results lead directly to the idea that modifying the diet has the potential to be a new weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance," says Dr. Danielle Lemay with the ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, and leader of the study. "And we’re not talking about eating some exotic diet either, but a diverse diet, adequate in fiber, that some Americans already eat.”
The researchers say more study is needed to find out how nutrition may help reduce levels of antibiotic-resistance.
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The study is published in the journal mBio .
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