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Journal article
Low Carbohydrate, High Fat Diet Alters the Oral Microbiome without Negating the Nitrite Response to Beetroot Juice Supplementation
Nutrients, Vol.15(24), pp.1-15
2023
Abstract
A low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet in athletes increases fat oxidation but impairs sports performance, potentially due to impaired exercise economy. Dietary nitrate supplementation can improve exercise economy via an increase in nitric oxide production, which is initiated by the reduction of nitrate to nitrite within the oral cavity. This reaction is dependent on the presence of nitrate-reducing oral bacteria, which can potentially be altered by dietary changes, including a LCHF diet. This study explored the effect of a LCHF diet on the oral microbiome and subsequent changes to plasma nitrite concentration following nitrate supplementation. Following five days of LCHF or high carbohydrate (HCHO) control dietary intervention, highly trained male race walkers consumed 140 mL beetroot juice containing 8.4 mmol nitrate; they then provided (a) blood samples for plasma nitrate and nitrite analysis and (b) saliva samples for 16S rRNA sequencing of the oral microbiome. The LCHF diet (n = 13) reduced oral bacterial diversity and changed the relative abundance of the genera Neisseria (+10%), Fusobacteria (+3%), Prevotella (−9%), and Veillonella (−4%), with no significant changes observed following the HCHO diet (n = 11). Following beetroot juice ingestion, plasma nitrite concentrations were higher for the LCHF diet compared to the HCHO diet (p = 0.04). However, the absence of an interaction with the trial (pre–post) (p = 0.71) suggests that this difference was not due to the dietary intervention. In summary, we found an increase in plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations in response to nitrate supplementation independent of diet. This suggests the oral microbiome is adaptive to dietary changes and can maintain a nitrate reduction capacity despite a decrease in bacterial diversity following the LCHF diet.
Details
- Title
- Low Carbohydrate, High Fat Diet Alters the Oral Microbiome without Negating the Nitrite Response to Beetroot Juice Supplementation
- Authors
- Louise Cato (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of HealthAlannah K A McKay (Author) - Australian Catholic UniversityJoanna E L'Heureux (Author) - University of ExeterAnni Vanhatalo (Author) - University of ExeterAndrew M Jones (Author) - University of ExeterChristopher Askew (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Sports & Exercise ScienceGary Slater (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsLouise M Burke (Author) - Australian Catholic University
- Publication details
- Nutrients, Vol.15(24), pp.1-15
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu15245123
- ISSN
- 2072-6643
- Copyright note
- © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions.
- Grant note
- This study was funded by a Program Grant from the Australian Catholic University Research Fund (ACURF, grant no. 2017000034) awarded to L.M.B.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics; Cancer Research Cluster; School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99982893002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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