Deadly bacterial disease could be stopped with common pantry staple, study suggests

Cholera can quickly become life-threatening, but the best defense might be sitting in your pantry.

They began by feeding infected mice different foods. Some mice ate high-protein diets, while others ate food high in simple carbohydrates. Others were fed high-fat diets, according to the study's press release.

Hsiao said he was surprised by the magnitude of the effect. "We saw up to 100-fold differences in the amount of cholera colonization as a function of diet alone," he noted.

The secret lies in the bacteria's design, the researchers discovered. Cholera uses a microscopic, syringe-like structure to inject toxins into and kill "good" microbes in the gut.

In the study, casein and gluten effectively jammed this "syringe." Without its primary weapon, cholera wasn't able to compete.

"Dietary strategies won't generate antibiotic resistance in the same way a drug might," Hsiao noted.

This means food-based prevention could offer a safer, cheaper and more sustainable weapon for vulnerable communities.

The next step, according to the researchers, is to explore the effect of these proteins in humans, given that the major limitation of this study is that it only shows cholera effects in mice.

They would also need to test whether the protein must be consumed before exposure to cholera as a preventative measure, or if it can effectively "shut down" an active, mid-stage infection.

"The more we can improve people's diets, the more we may be able to protect them from succumbing to disease," Hsiao added.