Abstract
Understanding how dietary nutrients modulate the gut microbiome is of great interest for the development of food products and eating patterns for combatting the global burden of non-communicable diseases. In this narrative review we assess scientific studies published from 2005 to 2019 that evaluated the effect of micro- and macro-nutrients on the composition of the gut microbiome using in vitro and in vivo models, and human clinical trials. The clinical evidence for micronutrients is less clear and generally lacking. However, preclinical evidence suggests that red wine- and tea-derived polyphenols and vitamin D can modulate potentially beneficial bacteria. Current research shows consistent clinical evidence that dietary fibers, including arabinoxylans, galacto-oligosaccharides, inulin, and oligofructose, promote a range of beneficial bacteria and suppress potentially detrimental species. The preclinical evidence suggests that both the quantity and type of fat modulate both beneficial and potentially detrimental microbes, as well as the Firmicutes/Bacteroides ratio in the gut. Clinical and preclinical studies suggest that the type and amount of proteins in the diet has substantial and differential effects on the gut microbiota. Further clinical investigation of the effect of micronutrients and macronutrients on the microbiome and metabolome is warranted, along with understanding how this influences host health.
Highlights
Over the past two decades a plethora of studies have identified broad-spanning associated links between the gut microbiota and systemic health and disease risk [1,2,3]
In a recent randomized, controlled-feeding clinical trial, 40% fat consumption by healthy young adults was reported to be associated with unfavorable changes in gut microbiota, in that the intervention resulted in an increased abundance of detrimental species from the bacteria Bacteroides and Alistipes, the two species reported to be abundant in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2 DM), and decreased abundance of beneficial bacteria of the genus Fecalibacterium
Gut dysbiosis is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2 DM), cardiovascular disease, childhood allergy/atopy, and many other metabolic and infectious diseases [249,250]
Summary
Over the past two decades a plethora of studies have identified broad-spanning associated links between the gut microbiota and systemic health and disease risk [1,2,3]. Studies have reported the abundance of specific bacteria that could potentially contribute to the development or progression of major non-communicable diseases and these microbes are presented in this review as “potential detrimental microbes”, that include some species from the genera Clostridium, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Bacteoidetes, and Ruminococcus [31,32,33]. Both human and animal studies report that an increase in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (F/B ratio) is associated with obese/lean phenotypes and may modulate energy balance [34,35]. The studies reviewed included in vitro and in vivo models and human clinical trials (in that order whenever available) and were separated based on micro- and macro-nutrients
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