The Impact of Diet and Lifestyle on Gut Microbiota and Human Health

By M. Conlon, A. Bird. Nutrients, 2014

1,378 citations recorded by the source corpus.

There is growing recognition of the role of diet and other environmental factors in modulating the composition and metabolic activity of the human gut microbiota, which in turn can impact health. This narrative review explores the relevant contemporary scientific literature to provide a general perspective of this broad area. Molecular technologies have greatly advanced our understanding of the complexity and diversity of the gut microbial communities within and between individuals. Diet, particularly macronutrients, has a major role in shaping the composition and activity of these complex populations. Despite the body of knowledge that exists on the effects of carbohydrates there are still many unanswered questions. The impacts of dietary fats and protein on the gut microbiota are less well defined. Both short- and long-term dietary change can influence the microbial profiles, and infant nutrition may have life-long consequences through microbial modulation of the immune system. The impact of environmental factors, including aspects of lifestyle, on the microbiota is particularly poorly understood but some of these factors are described. We also discuss the use and potential benefits of prebiotics and probiotics to modify microbial populations. A description of some areas that should be addressed in future research is also presented.

Subfields: Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Molecular Biology, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/31eb4cbe1f3b7e52c09805e0841416a202655a49

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Molecular Biology

In Physiology

M. Collado

Citations in the corpus

Negative Effects of a High-Fat Diet on Intestinal Permeability: A Review. (2019, background): “In addition, 16s ribosomal RNA “fingerprinting” of colonic bacteria has revealed dominant bacterial species are associated with certain diets such as Prevotella (carbohydrates and fiber) and Bacteroides (meat and fats) (143, 144).”
The Potential Use of Probiotics to Improve Animal Health, Efficiency, and Meat Quality: A Review (2020, background): “Sustaining an abundant and diverse microbiota is beneficial to the animal’s welfare [32].”
Short-Chain Fatty-Acid-Producing Bacteria: Key Components of the Human Gut Microbiota (2023, background): “Due to the presence of more diverse food, the microbiota change, with a greater proportion of Firmicutes, mainly of the Clostridia class [73,84].”
Human gut microbiota in health and disease: Unveiling the relationship (2022, background): “Carbohydrates are an essential and significant energy source; also, intestinal microbiota has provided a fermentation stage to deliver vital biomolecules to the host (Conlon and Bird, 2015).”
Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease (2019, background): “By influencing metabolism and inflammation, diet and nutrition can outweigh genetic and environmental factors in determining health outcomes for chronic Western conditions such as diabetes, obesity, IBS, IBD, colorectal cancer, and depression [1,2,318].”
Mucosal microbiome dysbiosis in gastric carcinogenesis (2017, result): “This is supported by a previous finding that identified the increased abundance of S. anginosus DNA in gastric mucosa samples of GC patients 36 and another study that showed the association of S. anginosus with oesophageal cancers.”
Gut Bacteroides species in health and disease (2021, background): “It has been demonstrated that Bacteroides species are prevalent in the guts of people living in Western countries (North America and Europe), as western diets are often high in fat and protein content.(72) Prevalence of Bacteroides spp.”
Butyrate: A Double-Edged Sword for Health? (2018, background): “Although it is the least abundant SCFA produced (∼60% acetate, 25% propionate, and 15% butyrate in humans) (6, 7), butyrate is the major energy”
Age-related changes in gut microbiota composition from newborn to centenarian: a cross-sectional study (2016, methodology): “Recent studies using molecular methods have also indicated clear differences in the composition of gut microbiota among infants, toddlers, adults and the elderly [2].”