Overlooked plant proteins may boost gut health

Plant-based diets are good for you.

They promote gut, immune, metabolic and cardiovascular health, in part by cultivating a diverse community of intestinal bacteria.

These benefits have long been known to stem partly from the fiber in plant-based foods, which is processed by our commensal gut bacteria, and the often brightly colored "phytochemicals" plants produce to protect themselves from environmental threats.

But much remains to be learned about how exactly the bugs in our bellies process the constituents of vegetables to such salubrious effect. ...