Is the Diet Industry Disrupting Your Microbiota?

Abstract

Gut microbes are essential to human health and dietary patterns can influence bacterial diversity and abundance, resulting in either health or disease. Here, we review if high-fat diets motivated by the diet industry can result in disruption of microbiota, which in turn leads to disease. A high-fat diet induces microbiota dysbiosis, which is related to obesity and chronic diseases. Some mechanisms include higher bile acid secretion, which conduct its detergent effect on bacterial cell membranes, inducing the loss of non-bile-resistant species. In addition, by adopting a low-carbohydrate dietary pattern, microorganisms are deprived from short-chain fatty acids. Evidence shows that a high-fat diet can unchain dysbiosis resulting in chronic illness and obesity.