High-protein diet may help fight cholera, study finds

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A high-protein diet could help protect against cholera by significantly reducing the bacteria’s ability to infect the gut, according to new research from UC Riverside.

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Cholera can cause diarrhea and kill if untreated.

The study found that diets rich in casein—the primary protein in milk and cheese—and wheat gluten can significantly reduce the amount of cholera bacteria able to infect the gut.

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What they're saying:

"I wasn’t surprised that diet could affect the health of someone infected with the bacteria. But the magnitude of the effect surprised me," said Ansel Hsiao, UCR associate professor of microbiology and plant pathology and senior author of the study published in Cell Host and Microbe.

"We saw up to 100-fold differences in the amount of cholera colonization as a function of diet alone," Hsiao said.

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Building on existing knowledge that diet shapes the gut’s microbial community, researchers set out to determine whether it could also influence harmful, invasive bacteria like cholera.

In experiments with mice, they compared high-protein, high-carbohydrate, and high-fat diets to see how each affected cholera’s ability to colonize the gut. High-fat diets had little impact, and carbohydrates showed only modest effects. In contrast, diets rich in dairy protein and wheat gluten nearly prevented the bacteria from taking hold.

Further analysis revealed that these proteins interfere with a tiny syringe-like structure on the surface of cholera bacteria that is used to inject toxins into nearby cells. Disrupting this mechanism, known as the type 6 secretion system (T6SS), makes it harder for the bacteria to attack other microbes and establish itself in the gut.

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Why you should care:

Cholera continues to pose a major public health risk in parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where access to clean water is limited. Treatment usually centers on rehydration, while antibiotics can shorten the duration of illness but do not eliminate the toxins produced by the bacteria.

At the same time, excessive antibiotic use raises concerns about drug resistance. Although antibiotic-resistant cholera is not currently widespread, the bacteria’s ability to rapidly adapt means its response to treatments could change unexpectedly over time.

What you can do:

For now, dietary approaches may provide a low-cost, low-risk way to lessen the severity or risk of infection in vulnerable populations.

What's next:

Although the findings are based on mice, Hsiao believes high-protein diets could have similar effects in humans and hopes to test them on human microbiomes, as well as against other infectious bacteria, in future studies.