Gut health for older consumers summary
- Gut health is increasingly being seen as essential for overall health
- Older people have fewer beneficial microorganisms and more potentially harmful ones
- To improve gut health, older consumers need foods rich in fibre, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals
- Fibre can reduce constipation and suppress potentially harmful microbes
- Polyphenols can release beneficial compounds with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects
Gut health is increasingly recognised as an important part of many different aspects of health.
This is why the gut health trend has been growing so significantly over the past few years.
The microbiomes of older consumers are affected by their age and because of this, their gut health needs are unique.
Age-related microbiome changes
As consumers – indeed, all human beings – get older, the microbiome changes. The number of beneficial bacteria diminishes, whereas the amount of potentially harmful bacteria grows.
“This shift coincides with immune system dysfunction. Collectively, this can tip the balance and drive inflammatory processes which can accelerate the development and progression of many chronic health conditions,” explains dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association (BDA), Dr Sammie Gill.
This can have a number of effects on older people. It can reduce appetite and change taste and smell, resulting in lower food intake.
One study suggests that between 15% and 30% of older people lose their appetite.
Furthermore, chronic health conditions may impact digestibility and absorption of nutrients, increasing the risk of nutritional deficiencies and even leading to gut-related problems such as constipation.
Gut-friendly diets for older consumers
While older consumers must take a holistic approach when thinking about improving gut health, there are a number of key areas to focus on.
For example, they should consume a substantial amount of plant-based foods, according to Gill. Those containing high levels of fibre, vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals such as polyphenols are particularly important.
Polyphenols are found in a wide range of foods including cocoa, berries, nuts, seeds, olives, beans and even red wine. As well as being good for gut health, they can also protect against neurological disease such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, according to personalised nutrition company Zoe.
Fibre is found in foods such as beans, chickpeas, oats, wholegrains, and some fruits and vegetables such as berries and bananas. It is becoming much more popular among consumers, with the “fibremaxxing” trend dominating TikTok.
Benefits of these foods to the microbiome
Fibre and polyphenols have influence over the gut microbiome, changing both its composition and the microbes’ function.
Some types of fibre act as ‘food’ for the microbiome, explains Gill: not only fermentable fibres such as prebiotics, but resistant starches as well. These are broken down by gut microbes.
In return, they release beneficial compounds such as short-chain fatty acids into the gut environment. Short-chain fatty acids can not only support the gut lining, but also suppress the growth of potentially harmful microbes.
Fibre can also help consumers with constipation and diarrhoea by bulking out stool, improving its consistency, and normalising gut transit time (the amount of time it takes the food to go through the digestive system).
Plant polyphenols also have strong benefits for the gut. Between 90% and 95% of them remain undigested, according to Gill. Instead, they reach the large intestine, where gut microbes ferment them and turn them into compounds with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
With such clear benefits for older consumers to including these nutrients in their diets, there is a clear opportunity for industry to target these needs.
