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The study showed that foods high in casein, the primary protein found in milk and cheese, as well as wheat gluten, sharply reduced how much cholera bacteria were able to establish themselves in the gut. 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. Testing the Impact of Different Diets Because diet is already known to shape the normal mix of bacteria and other microbes living in the gut, the research team wanted to see whether harmful, disease-causing microbes would respond in the same way. "Casein and wheat gluten were the two clear winners." When the scientists examined the results more closely, they discovered that these proteins interfere with a tiny, needle-like structure on the surface of cholera bacteria."