Soda changes the DNA of bacteria in the intestine and affects the immune system

Our intestines are inhabited by trillions of bacteria that play a key role in digestion, protection from inflammation, and even in the development of immunity. They are able to quickly adapt to environmental changes with the help of functional plasticity, including through the mechanism of DNA inversions, peculiar switches that regulate their behavior.

In an experiment, scientists observed how white sugar affects the Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron bacteria, one of the most important types of microbiota. It turned out that sugar provokes a rearrangement of the DNA of these bacteria, which disrupts their immunomodulatory function.

This caused:

• changes in T cells (cells of the immune system),
• violation of intestinal barrier function,
• changes in the level of inflammatory cytokines, molecules that control the immune response.

The most important discovery is that these effects are not permanent. When the mice were switched to a sugar-free diet, the DNA of the intestinal bacteria returned to its original state, and the immune system returned to normal.

The microbiome is not something abstract. It is an active participant in health, which instantly reacts to what we eat. Soda, sugar, processed foods — all this affects not only weight, but also inflammation, immune defenses and the general condition of the body.