Can Sugar Flip Your Gut’s DNA? New Study Says Yes
New research from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology reveals how the presence of white sugar in soft drinks can alter the DNA of gut bacteria and disrupt the immune system, although these effects may be reversible.
How Gut Bacteria Respond to Change
The human gut is constantly exposed to various environmental influences, including diet, illness, medications, and other microbes. In response, gut bacteria have a remarkable ability to adjust rapidly through a process called functional plasticity. This means they can change how they behave or what they do based on what’s happening around them.
One way they do this is by flipping parts of their DNA, a process known as DNA inversion. This helps them turn certain genes on or off depending on what the situation requires, allowing them to survive and maintain balance in the gut.
What the New Study Found
In a new study published on May 28 in Nature Communications, researchers from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology—led by Professor Naama Geva-Zatorsky and Ph.D. student Noa Gal-Mandelbaum—explored how diet, especially white sugar from soft drinks, affects gut bacteria and immune health.
They focused on a key type of gut bacteria called Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. This bacterium plays a protective role by reducing gut inflammation, maintaining the gut’s mucus lining, and preventing harmful bacteria from causing infections.
By studying cells in the lab, mice, and even humans, the team found that consuming soft drinks with white sugar triggers DNA changes in these bacteria. These changes were linked to shifts in immune responses, including changes in T-cell activity, cytokine levels (which are signalling proteins in the immune system), and gut wall permeability.
In simpler terms, drinking sugary soft drinks can cause gut bacteria to behave differently, and this disrupts the immune system.
A Reversible Effect
When mice in the study stopped consuming sugar, their gut bacteria returned to a normal DNA state, and their immune systems also returned to normal functioning.
This shows that while sugar can negatively affect gut health, the body can recover when sugar intake is reduced or eliminated.
Why This Matters
This research highlights how diet directly influences the microbiome and, in turn, the immune system. It emphasises the need to study how specific food components like sugar impact our health on a molecular level.
In the future, these findings could help scientists develop personalised nutrition plans to support immune health and prevent disease by keeping the gut microbiome balanced.
Conclusion
Drinking sugary soft drinks may temporarily disrupt the gut microbiome and immune system, but these changes can be reversed by stopping sugar intake. This reinforces the importance of dietary choices for long-term health and offers hope that positive changes can still make a difference.
Source: Inputs from various media Sources
Priya Bairagi
Reviewed by Dr Aarti Nehra (MBBS, MMST)
I’m a pharmacist with a strong background in health sciences. I hold a BSc from Delhi University and a pharmacy degree from PDM University. I write articles and daily health news while interviewing doctors to bring you the latest insights. In my free time, you’ll find me at the gym or lost in a sci-fi novel.
