Trehalose

This was in my news feed today. Evidently, a recent study (not the first) attributes two specific and resistant strains of c-diff (RT027 and RT078) to trehalose, a sugar additive used in some processed foods (especially frozen foods). The article explains that back in the 80s, these strains were not prevalent. But they have significantly increased since the year 2000, when trehalose began to be added to foods. Within three years, outbreaks of these strains were recorded. RT027 is “able to grow from small amounts of trehalose inside the human intestine, whereas other bacteria strains were not.”

Some other key points from this article:

➡️ “The researchers found a link between the rapid spread of the superbug [c-diff] in the past few years and the increased usage of trehalose in many sweet snacks.”

➡️ “Other factors may also contribute, but we think that trehalose is a key trigger.”

➡️ “An important contribution of this study is the realisation that what we once considered a perfectly safe sugar for human consumption, can have unexpected consequences.”

➡️ “Trehalose is commonly used in prepared frozen foods, like ice cream, because it lowers the freezing point of foods.”

📝 What I personally take from this: eating real, whole foods is always best for your health and your microbiome (and the more variety the better once you can handle it). Try to avoid processed foods as much as possible (although an occasional bowl of Cheerios isn’t gonna kill me). When the ingredient list is long, there’s no telling what’s actually in there and how it could affect your body (I’m still disturbed by beaver butt 😂).