Akkermansia - The Mucus Gardeners of Gut Health
- Annette Hawes
- Nov 9
- 3 min read
When it comes to rebuilding a healthy gut microbiome, one little microbe deserves a spotlight: Akkermansia - the “mucus-loving” bacterium that helps keep our gut lining strong.
Its full name is Akkermansia muciniphila, but it’s best known as the “mucus-loving” bacterium. It likes to live right up against the gut wall, in the large intestine, nestled into that mucin-rich mucus layer.
In fact, mucin is this microbe’s favourite food; it munches on the mucus our bodies produce. Sounds odd, right? But it’s actually really clever. By nibbling away at old mucus, Akkermansia encourages our body to make fresh mucus, keeping that protective cushion layer thick and healthy. This helps maintain a safe space between gut bacteria (some of which can be a bit mischievous) and our immune system, helping to calm and prevent inflammation.
As it eats, Akkermansia also produces helpful short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), just like Bifidobacteria. These SCFAs are used as fuel by other good bacteria that make butyrate, a nutrient that keeps our gut lining cells tightly knitted together. It’s all part of a helpful community effort to ensure great gut health!
Why Akkermansia Matters for Gut Health and IBD
Under healthy conditions, Akkermansia makes up around 1–4% of the gut microbiome, a sign of a strong, resilient gut barrier.But in IBD, it’s often a very different story. Particularly in ulcerative colitis, and even more so during a flare, levels can drop to more than a hundred times lower than in healthy guts.
When there isn’t enough Akkermansia, the mucus layer can become thin, allowing bacteria to irritate the gut wall and trigger inflammation, setting up a bit of a vicious cycle.
When it’s thriving though, Akkermansia is a bit of a superhero:
It helps send calming signals (through T-reg cells) to the immune system so it doesn’t overreact.
And even when it’s no longer alive, research shows that Akkermansia muciniphilia can still reduce inflammation and support gut barrier repair, true superpowers! (Frontiers in Immunology, 2022).
What I see in practice
When I look at stool test results from children with IBD, Akkermansia is one that’s very often missing, in both Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
But it’s not all bad news; it can come back.
The key is to rebuild the gut environment so it feels like home again. Nutrients such as N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG), L-glutamine, and butyrate or tributyrin can help strengthen the mucus layer, basically recreating Akkermansia’s perfect habitat.
Once inflammation is calmer and that mucus layer has been restored, this little “mucus gardener” often starts to reappear.
Supporting Akkermansia through food
Akkermansia thrives on polyphenols (the bright natural colours in fruits and veggies) and gentle fibres that support mucus production and feed other beneficial microbes.
If your child’s diet is a bit low in these, it can be harder for Akkermansia to make a comeback. Thankfully, even IBD-friendly diets (like gluten- or dairy-free) can include plenty of foods that help.
Top foods for Akkermansia:
Pomegranates
Berries (cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries)
Grapes
Apples
Walnuts
Pecans
Healthy fats also play a part, especially omega-3s from foods like wild salmon, mackerel, or a good-quality fish oil supplement.
On the other hand, diets high in processed foods and saturated fats, but low in fibre, can hold Akkermansia back. Cooking from scratch, using a variety of colourful whole foods, goes a long way in helping this mucus-lover thrive.
In short
Even if Akkermansia has disappeared, the gut can often be coaxed back into creating the right conditions for it to return, rebuilding the gut lining, supporting the mucus barrier, and helping to protect against flare-ups.
Want to learn more about other key microbes in the gut? Visit the Meet the Microbes hub or go to the next in the series: Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Ruminococcus gnavus – Maintaining the Balance.
Further Reading
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