Research shows that this dairy product, which is readily available, low in allergens, highly digestible and can be consumed in the form of yogurt, is of scientific interest as a new approach to the treatment of the disease
A multidisciplinary group led by Ana Soriano Lerma and Mª Inmaculada López Aliaga, researchers from the Department of Physiology, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INYTA) and the Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) at the University of Granada, has investigated the effects of consuming a diet based on fermented goat’s milk in the form of yogurt in an animal model of iron deficiency anemia, relating the properties of fermented goat’s milk that improve intestinal health with the recovery of this iron deficiency anemia, the most common in the world. José Antonio García Salcedo, from GENYO, the Genomics and Oncology Research Center, and Miguel Soriano Rodríguez, from the Center for Research in Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agri-Food Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL) at the University of Almería, have also participated in the study.
In recent years, fermented foods have become the subject of considerable research interest due to the fact that they are cost-effective to produce, are widely available to consumers and have potential prebiotic and probiotic effects that are beneficial to general health. In particular, in the case of fermented goat’s milk — which for this research has been supplied by the company Cantero de Letur — its high nutritional quality, low allergenicity and high digestibility can be highlighted, which is why the research began under the premise of its interest in the case of pathological situations characterized by a deterioration of intestinal health such as iron deficiency anemia.
It has been reported that iron supplements, recommended for the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia, trigger intestinal dysbiosis and cause additional damage to enterocytes, the intestinal cells specialized in absorption. This is why there is a crucial need to explore new approaches to intestinal protection when treating the disease. According to UGR researcher Mª Inmaculada López Aliaga, the main results of this research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, show that a diet based on fermented goat’s milk results in a more diverse gut microbiome in terms of the number of species in the microbial community and is functionally more active than the standard diet, both in the small and large intestines of control animals, which is in line with a more efficient recovery from iron deficiency anemia.
In terms of its restorative properties for the intestinal microbiome, the more intense dysbiosis of the colon associated with iron deficiency was more efficiently recovered with the fermented goat’s milk-based diet, confirming its prebiotic properties. Dysbiosis is the alteration of the normal balance of the bacteria that inhabit the intestine.
Finally, both the diet based on fermented goat’s milk and the standard diet demonstrated the same efficacy in restoring the function of the intestinal barrier, which prevents the transfer of microorganisms and bacterial components from the intestine into the systemic circulation.
The researcher Ana Soriano Lerma, the first author of the work, concludes that “this study provides evidence for the use of fermented goat’s milk as a nutritional tool to alleviate the negative intestinal consequences caused by iron deficiency anemia. Therefore, fermented dairy products, and in particular fermented goat’s milk, could be of scientific interest during the clinical management of iron deficiency anemia.”
This research formed part of the doctoral thesis of Ana Soriano Lerma, who is currently enjoying a Marie Curie grant at the prestigious Teagasc Food and Research research center in Ireland, whose objective is the development of new foods to maximize their impact on health and minimize their environmental impact through new techniques in microbiology and data science.
Original publication:
Ana Soriano-Lerma, María García-Burgos, María José M Alférez, Jorge Valentín Crespo Pérez, Virginia Pérez-Carrasco, Matilde Ortiz-González, Ángel Linde-Rodríguez, Victoria Sánchez-Martin, Miguel Soriano, José A García-Salcedo, Inmaculada López-Aliaga. Fermented goat’s milk contributes to the recovery of iron deficiency anemia via modulation of the gut microbiome. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 71(42): 15668-15679, 2023.
Contact:
- Mª Inmaculada López Aliaga – milopez@ugr.es
- Ana del Carmen Soriano Lerma – anasorler@ugr.es
