Dr Luis A. Rubio | Exploring the Gut-Healing Potential of Plant Proteins

In an early study from 2015, Rubio’s team fed pea albumin extracts to mice with experimentally-induced colitis. For comparison, one group of mice was fed a soybean extract with known anti-inflammatory properties, while a control group was given no legume extracts.

The results were encouraging. Compared to the soybean and control groups, mice that received the pea albumin extracts lost less weight, showed fewer signs of inflammation, and had healthier intestinal tissue. Delving deeper, the researchers found that the pea albumin extracts appeared to reduce the expression of various inflammatory molecules in the gut, while increasing the expression of proteins that maintain a healthy gut lining.

Rubio and his team then conducted a follow-up study exploring how pea albumin extracts affect the gut microbiome. The balance of bacteria in our intestines plays a major role in digestive health. In inflammatory bowel diseases this balance is often disrupted – a state called dysbiosis. In this study, the pea albumin extracts helped to increase populations of beneficial bacteria in the mouse gut, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, while reducing levels of harmful bacteria. Mice fed the pea albumin extracts also had higher overall bacterial diversity compared to those that were not.

Building on this line of inquiry, the researchers turned their attention to another legume: white lupin. In a 2025 study, they compared the effects of a white lupin protein isolate (mainly globulins) with two commonly consumed milk proteins – casein and lactalbumin – on the microbiomes of rats. The study found that rats fed lupin globulins developed a more favourable gut microbiome, including higher levels of beneficial Lactobacillus species, and lower levels of harmful bacteria, such as E. Coli.

These findings reinforce the idea that the type of proteins we eat are able to induce changes in our gut ecosystem in ways that matter for health. By reducing inflammation and boosting populations of beneficial gut bacteria, lupin protein isolate and pea albumin extracts – among others – may represent useful tools for managing and preventing inflammatory bowel diseases.