Dr. Michael Greger, a co-founder of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, which prominently supports the whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet for the control of non-communicable diseases (NCD), describes type 2 diabetes as ‘the Black Death of the 21st century’ in terms of its devastating complications, be they loss of vision, loss of limbs, and heart or kidney failure. 

In our last column, we highlighted the beneficial role played by regularly consuming oatmeal as a cheap and highly effective tool to achieve better blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes. As we pointed out, it has long been known that higher consumption of whole grains, including oats, is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, in addition to lowering cholesterol levels. 

Research has pointed to the fermentable fiber in oats called beta-glucan that is responsible for this beneficial effect. It has now been clarified exactly how this fiber does that. The fiber gets digested by the multitude of bacteria that live in your intestinal tract (also called your ‘microbiome’). If you eat some oatmeal for supper, your good gut bacteria are feasting on it for breakfast the next morning! Not all bacteria can digest the fiber. The oat fiber itself has been shown to act as a ‘prebiotic’ (defined as a non-digestible food ingredient that promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines) that boosts the growth of beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus that selectively are able to digest the oat fiber. 

In return for the courtesy of the ‘yummy meal’, the bacteria produce, through fermentation, what are called ‘short chain fatty acids’ (SCFA), of which acetate, propionate, and butyrate are the main metabolites that cause multiple beneficial effects throughout our body. SCFA have in addition a wide-ranging anti-inflammatory action, which makes them essential in efforts to prevent and control cancer. The mechanism whereby gut bacteria digest the food we eat has been part of the animal kingdom for millions of years, including the production of SCFA. 

It is no wonder then that our cells, throughout our body, have specific ‘receptors’ that bind with the SCFA and welcome them inside, where they contribute to cellular health, leading to protection against type 2 diabetes, reduced risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases. So, between the lack of animal protein, lack of animal fat, and bursting at the seams with prebiotic fiber, it’s no wonder that oatmeal has become an integral part of the whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet that METI promotes. 

The laboratory analysis of our feces can determine what types of bacteria are living in our gut. As we mentioned earlier, not all bacteria are able to digest the oat fiber. But the good thing is that if you change your diet, you can change your gut flora within one day. We feed them with fiber, and in return, they feed us right back with these short-chain fatty acids, that lead to beneficial effects throughout the body. Put people on a diet packed with oats, beans, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and the number of fiber-feeders churning out the beneficial short-chain fatty acids shoots up, and fasting diabetic blood sugar levels drop about 25 percent within one month: the more fiber-feeders you have in your gut, the better your blood sugar control. 

Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, believed that ‘all disease begins in the gut.’ Think of all the vitamins, minerals, plant chemicals, and fiber that a WFPB diet offers you: a real symphony of health! As a final point, we need to highlight: where in the WFPB diet is fiber found’? Note that fruits and leafy vegetables are the poorest source of plant fiber because they’re 90 percent water! Root vegetables such as taro, taamu, yams, and sweet potatoes have more fiber as well as breadfruit and green bananas, but the real superstars as far as fiber is concerned include legumes, such as beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, and of course whole grains, which include oats. 

In our next Column, we will focus on the problems we could face by not eating enough fiber, so stay connected! We invite you to visit METI’s Healthy Living Clinic at House No. 51 at Motootua (across from the Kokobanana Restaurant) and become acquainted with METI’s whole food plant-based diet and Lifestyle Change program. Or call us at 30550. Learning how to follow these Programs might be your ‘game changer’!