Culturally-Acceptable Fermented Grain Improves Gut Health in South African Postpartum Mothers in a Randomized Trial

Ooptimizing nutrition during lactation is critical to the mother and the infant. The relationship between fermented food consumption and the mother's gut microbiota, nutritional, and inflammation status is unknown. Mageu is a fermented grain commonly consumed in Southern Africa. We randomized South African mothers to consume a live-culture mageu (LCM), pasteurized store-bought mageu (SBM), and no mageu from 4 to 10 weeks postpartum. Clinical and dietary data, stool microbiota, and nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers were assessed until week 15. Plant protein intake was higher among mageu users than non-users. LCM increased gut alpha-diversity from weeks 4 to 10, and circulating ferritin was lower among LCM users at week 10 compared to non-users. In system analysis, bacterial, inflammation, and nutritional signatures were associated with mageu intake, driven by IL-6, ferritin, soluble transferring receptor, and Eubacterium halli. These results suggest that mageu has benefits for lactating mother's gut health, and therefore possibly their infants.