GI nutrition

Question 1

How can we maintain a healthy microbiome or rebalance gut microbes after a disruption?

Answer 1

• Dietary manipulation – food is a substrate for GI microbes, so it has a direct impact on microbiome health and diversity.
• Any diet must be species and life-stage appropriate and selected depending on the cause of diarrhoea.
• Dietary changes may be short, or long-term
• Prebiotic and probiotic therapy
• helminth therapy
• Faecal microbiota transplantation

Question 2

what are probiotics?
what is there function?
what is there clinical use?
what is th most common bacteria used?
give examples?

Answer 2

Probiotic: live bacteria and yeasts promoted as having various health benefits
Function: Probiotics promote the establishment and development of a desirable intestinal microbial flora balance.
They can increase the fecal count of good bacteria while decreasing the numbers of pathogenic bacteria

Clinical use:
* Disease: eg diarrhoea, constipation in cats, GIT disease, IBD
* Poor husbandry
* Stressors: eg transport, adverse weather
* after antibiotic administration

most common bacterium used: Enterococcus faecium
eg:
PURINA PRO PLAN FortiFlora
Protexin Veterinary Synbiotic D-C
Protexin Veterinary Pro-Kolin (pro and prebiotics)

Question 3

what are prebiotics?
give example?

Answer 3

Prebiotics: Prebiotics are non-digestive carbohydrates that can help to stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria in the dog’s gut, eg lactulose, inulin, FOS

Used for the same conditions as probiotics and often combined in the product.
Eg; Protexin Veterinary Cobalaplex (cobalamin (vit B12) and Folic acid (vit B9))

Question 4

what is a low fat diet?
what are they used for?

Answer 4

• Low-fat diets typically have fat contents between 18-25 g/1000 kcal
• Not to be confused with weight loss diets which may not contain the correct formulation of nutrients and fibre for animals with diarrhoea
• E.G to treat pancreatitis

Question 5

what is a fibre-enhancing diet?
what are they used for?

Answer 5

• Soluble fibre dissolves in water to form a thick gel - this slows the movement of ingesta through the intestines
• Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water and has low fermentability - provides bulking of stool and water absorption
• Ideal fibre enhancing diets contain both forms of fibre to provide a balancing effect
• E.G to treat colitis

Question 6

what is a low residue diet?
what is it used for?

Answer 6

• High protein digestibility (> 85%)
• High fat and carbohydrate digestibility (> 90%)
• Low in fibre (< 5%)
• Speed movement through the stomach
• Aid absorption in a compromised intestine
• E.G to treat EPI

Question 7

what is a hypoalletgenic diet?
what are they used for?

Answer 7

• Hydrolysed proteins reduce the chance of allergic reaction because they are too small to bind with immunoglobulins - less likely to elicit a response from an animal’s immune system
• E.G to treat nutritional allergy