Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee - senior consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi (India) - said that the latest research by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, along with Massachusetts General Hospital, has discovered that specific types of bacteria in the gut can absorb cholesterol, reduce blood cholesterol levels, helping to eliminate the risk of plaque formation in the heart arteries.
In a decade-long study, researchers found that people with Oscillibacter bacteria in their gut had lower cholesterol levels.
So gut bacteria help control cholesterol levels.
According to Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee, gut bacteria break down cholesterol so it can't be absorbed into your blood.
Certain strains of bacteria like Lactobacillus (a common gut bacteria) can trap cholesterol, preventing it from entering your bloodstream.
Meanwhile, Oscillibacter bacteria affect bile acids, which are essential for the digestion and absorption of fats.
Once the function is completed, bile acids return to the liver for re-formation. But a small amount of bile acids remains in the intestine, becoming food for intestinal bacteria and nourishing them.
During this process, intestinal bacteria break down bile acids into secondary forms, which regulate cholesterol metabolism.
Furthermore, bacteria break down dietary fiber through fermentation and produce short-chain fatty acids. These inhibit cholesterol formation and keep cholesterol levels low.
Using probiotics to target cholesterol
Probiotics are found in fermented foods such as natural yogurt, cheese, and kimchi. They also contain strains of Oscillibacter or foods that promote the growth and activity of Oscillibacter and should be included in your daily diet.
Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee added that several studies have shown that participants who ate yogurt supplemented with Lactobacillus bacteria twice a day for 6 weeks had a nearly 5% reduction in total cholesterol and a nearly 9% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol. How long participants took probiotics and the dosage they took may also make a difference.
Probiotics can affect our cholesterol levels by reducing the absorption of cholesterol from food and reducing the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver.
In a 2018 meta-analysis, researchers found that people who took probiotics reduced their total cholesterol by 13 percent. Most of these studies used probiotics containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis, which come in capsule or powder form and are consumed daily.
