Jo YoungJae, Lee GyuDae, Ahmad Sajjad, Son HyunWoo, Kim Min-Ji, Sliti Amani, Lee Seungjun, Kim Kyeongnam, Lee Sung-Eun, Shin Jae-Ho
Department of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Fisheries Science, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, Republic of Korea.
Microorganisms. 2023 Aug 18;11(8):2106. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11082106.
An intermittent fasting regimen is widely perceived to lead to various beneficial health effects, including weight loss, the alleviation of insulin resistance, and the restructuring of a healthy gut microbiome. Because it shares certain commonalities with this dietary intervention, Ramadan fasting is sometimes misinterpreted as intermittent fasting, even though there are clear distinctions between these two regimens. The main purpose of this study is to verify whether Ramadan fasting drives the same beneficial effects as intermittent fasting by monitoring alterations in the gut microbiota. We conducted a study involving 20 Muslim individuals who were practicing Ramadan rituals and assessed the composition of their gut microbiomes during the 4-week period of Ramadan and the subsequent 8-week period post-Ramadan. Fecal microbiome analysis was conducted, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were assessed using liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry. The observed decrease in the levels of SCFAs and beneficial bacteria during Ramadan, along with the increased microbial diversity post-Ramadan, suggests that the daily diet during Ramadan may not provide adequate nutrients to maintain robust gut microbiota. Additionally, the notable disparities in the functional genes detected through the metagenomic analysis and the strong correlation between and SCFAs provide further support for our hypothesis.
间歇性禁食方案被广泛认为会带来各种有益的健康效果，包括体重减轻、胰岛素抵抗的缓解以及健康肠道微生物群的重塑。由于斋月禁食与这种饮食干预有某些共同之处，它有时会被误解为间歇性禁食，尽管这两种方案之间存在明显区别。本研究的主要目的是通过监测肠道微生物群的变化来验证斋月禁食是否能产生与间歇性禁食相同的有益效果。我们开展了一项研究，涉及20名正在进行斋月仪式的穆斯林个体，并在斋月的4周期间以及斋月后的8周期间评估了他们肠道微生物群的组成。进行了粪便微生物群分析，并使用液相色谱 - 质谱法评估了短链脂肪酸（SCFAs）。斋月期间观察到的短链脂肪酸水平和有益细菌数量的下降，以及斋月后微生物多样性的增加，表明斋月期间的日常饮食可能无法提供足够的营养来维持强大的肠道微生物群。此外，通过宏基因组分析检测到的功能基因的显著差异以及与短链脂肪酸之间的强相关性为我们的假设提供了进一步支持。
