Bacteria found in human guts that a leading expert has called ‘The Four Horseman of longevity’ could help you live to 100.
Doctor and Harvard University scientist Dr William Li recently appeared on a podcast to discuss how bacteria living in the digestive system could contribute to ‘super-agers’ — people who live to 100 and beyond.
He also revealed the types of food that cultivate these bacteria in the body — potentially providing anyone who eats them with a longevity boost.
Speaking on the Dhru Purohit Show Dr Li highlighted a research in Italy that analysed gut bacteria in volunteers, the oldest of which had reached 114.
These bacteria form part of the gut microbiome, an ecosystem of microorganisms that live in the digestive system and are vital for a range of bodily processes — from helping in digestion, to fighting off infection to stabilising mental health.
Dr Li said researchers found four type of bacteria were particularly abundant in the guts of centenarians.
‘These bacteria — Odoribacter, Oscillobacter, Christensenella and Akkermansia — are so high in these people there must be something going on,’ he said.
While bacteria aren’t proven to be increasing people’s lifespans, Dr Li said there were a number of ways they were known to help improve health generally.
Doctor and Harvard University scientist Dr William Li recently appeared on a podcast to discuss how bacteria living in the digestive system could contribute to ‘super-agers’, people who live over 100 years, long lifespans
‘We don’t know everything they do but we do know that some of them like the Odoribacter improves your immune system against E. coli against other bacteria that might take you out as you get older,’ he said.
He even said there is some suggestion that Odoribacter could even protect against cancer, though cautioned this was still being researched.
Research, from Japan has also found Odoribacteraceae, the family of bacteria which Odoribacter belongs to, helps boost longevity.
Dr Li continued, describing Oscillobacter as ‘mother nature’s Statin’ as it helps lower bad cholesterol while improving good cholesterol, protecting heart health.
He added that Oscillobacter helped make your body more ‘insulin sensitive’ which could have important implications for longevity when combined with a healthy diet.
Having good insulin sensitivity means your body responds better to the hormone insulin and can access sugar in the blood more easily, in contrast insulin resistance means the opposite and is a risk factor for the health problems like type 2 diabetes.
Dr Li said Akkermansia was linked to a range of health benefits,
‘Lowering inflammation. improving metabolic health, helping you to fight off cancer,’ he said.
The microbiome is the ecosystem of microorganisms like bacteria that live naturally in the digestive system and are involved in a range of bodily processes — from helping in digestion, to fighting off infection to stabilising mental health
‘It actually plays a role probably in brain health and cognition protecting cognition as well.’
While Dr Li didn’t list the benefits of Christensenella directly, research has suggested it helps support a health metabolism, helping prevent disorders like diabetes and obesity and potentially inflammatory bowel disease.
But the expert did detail the foods you may want to incorporate more of in your diet to ‘cultivate’ these types of bacteria.
For Akkermansia he said pomegranates, dried cranberries, concord grapes, either whole or juiced, chilis, black raspberries and Chinese black vinegar were good options.
‘These are achievable ways to actually cultivate this one bacteria,’ he said.
For the other three bacteria, Dr Li recommended people store cooked carbohydrates, like rice, potatoes pasta, overnight in the fridge to turn them into the resistant starch the microorganisms needed to thrive.
He explained this cooling process causes a reaction in the food which makes slower to digest to the better of positive bacteria growth in your digestive system.
‘That temperature change changes the chemistry of the starch the next day,’ he said.
‘When you have it, even if you heat it up again, it’s resistant starch that grows some of these healthy four players.’
Dr Li said fruits like pomegranates, dried cranberries and grapes were a good way to cultivate the helpful bacteria Akkermansia
Dr Li added that these longevity boosting bacteria are likely to only have a significant affect in the long term when a person is younger, meaning a person who tries to cultivate them in their 70s will likely not see a major boost to their lifespan.
Scientists suspect a healthy microbiome helps keep us healthy thorough two mechanisms.
The first is that certain bacteria produce chemicals that interact with our body’s systems, like our immune response, brain, hormones and so on in a positive way, improving their performance.
Secondly, the presence of such good bacteria, prevents harmful microorganisms that could damage our health from taking root by competing with them for space and resources.
There about 15,000 centenarians living in England and Wales, according to the latest data.
The vast majority of British centenarians, about four out of five, are women.
While the number of centenarians has, overall, increased overtime they still remain a fraction of the overall population however, only accounting for about 0.02 per cent.
Scientists are still exploring what combination of factors such as genetics, lifestyle and aspects like the make-up of the microbiome contribute to total lifespan.