For that reason, the researchers note that consuming ABA-rich fruits and vegetables such as apricots, which they have particularly studied, as well as apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes could help alleviate aspects of diabetes. “But we don’t truly understand why some of these probiotics work and others don’t-if they are regulated by plant hormones, then ingesting those hormones in seeds and vegetables could have the same outcome.”Īnother example of plant hormone impact on human health is the stimulation of increased glucose uptake by ABA. “What is fascinating is that people already turn to microorganisms to increase their health-that’s what you’re doing when you use probiotics,” Lacombe said.
They also add that GA-rich diets, which might include grains and spinach, could be used to combat inflammatory disorders. The researchers suggest, therefore, that synthesis of these hormones by gut microbes could be responsible for their complicated and contradictory impact on inflammatory diseases. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which is synthesized to alert the plant to drought conditions, can worsen inflammation, while another set of hormones, gibberellic acids (GAs), reduce inflammation. “We know that gut microbiota are involved in human diseases, and that microbes can biosynthesize plant hormones that affect humans, so it makes sense to investigate animal-microbe interactions from the perspective of plants,” said senior author Benoît Lacombe of France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.įor instance, gut microbes and dietary factors have been tied to inflammatory bowel disease and similar afflictions, though the precise mechanisms remain unknown. In an opinion article published August 22 in the journal Trends in Plant Science, researchers in France explored how plant hormones may influence human health.
Recently, scientists have reported that our gut microbes and cells may respond to these hormones and even produce similar molecules of their own.
Plant matter also includes remnants of the hormones plants produce to control how they grow, age, and manage water intake. According to an article posted on the Phys.Org website, a bowl of salad contains more than vitamins and minerals.