The Nutritional Efficacy of Chlorella Supplementation Depends on the Individual Gut Environment: A Randomised Control Study

Bibliographic Details
Title: The Nutritional Efficacy of Chlorella Supplementation Depends on the Individual Gut Environment: A Randomised Control Study
Authors: Yuichiro Nishimoto, Tatsuhiro Nomaguchi, Yuka Mori, Masaki Ito, Yuya Nakamura, Masaki Fujishima, Shinnosuke Murakami, Takuji Yamada, Shinji Fukuda
Source: Frontiers in Nutrition, Vol 8 (2021)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Nutrition. Foods and food supply
Subject Terms: prebiotics (sources:MeSH), gut microbiome, gut metabolome, dietary fibre, Chlorella, Nutrition. Foods and food supply, TX341-641
More Details: Recent studies have accumulated evidence that the intestinal environment is strongly correlated with host diet, which influences host health. A number of dietary products whose mechanisms of influence operate via the gut microbiota have been revealed, but they are still limited. Here, we investigated the dietary influence of Chlorella, a green alga commercially available as a dietary supplement. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial including 40 Japanese participants with constipation was performed. In this study, the primary outcome and secondary outcome were set as defecation frequency and blood folate level, respectively. In both outcomes, no significant differences were detected compared to the control intake. Therefore, we analysed the gut microbiome, gut metabolome, and blood parameters in an integrated manner as an exploratory analysis. We revealed that the consumption of Chlorella increased the level of several dicarboxylic acids in faeces. Furthermore, the analysis showed that individuals with low concentrations of faecal propionate showed an increase in propionate concentration upon Chlorella intake. In addition, increasing blood folate levels were negatively correlated with defecation frequency at baseline. Our study suggested that the effect of Chlorella consumption varies among individuals depending on their intestinal environment, which illustrates the importance of stratified dietary management based on the intestinal environment in individuals.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2296-861X
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.648073/full; https://doaj.org/toc/2296-861X
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2021.648073
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/e61a8ea09b094ddd956f69c08cc386b5
Accession Number: edsdoj.61a8ea09b094ddd956f69c08cc386b5
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:2296861X
DOI:10.3389/fnut.2021.648073
Published in:Frontiers in Nutrition
Language:English