Intestinal microbiome plays an important role in modulating risk of several chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. At the same time, it is now understood that diet plays a significant role in shaping the microbiome, with experiments showing that dietary alterations can induce large, temporary microbial shifts within 24 hours. Given this association, significant therapeutic utility can be used in altering microbial composition through diet. This review systematically evaluates current data regarding the effects of several common dietary components on intestinal microbiota. Consumption of particular types of food produces predictable shifts in existing host bacterial genera.
The gut microbiome is implicated in maintaining overall health, particularly as it relates to inflammatory disease. While experts suspect dietary intake is related to healthy communities of gut bacteria, more studies are needed to investigate the role of diet. New research links 61 foods to 61 bacterial species and 249 metabolic processes. The most gut-healthy diets contain plant foods and fish. Diets of animal food products, processed food, most types of alcohol, and sugars are the least healthy.
According to the authors of the new study, the gut microbiome influences the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory responses in our digestive system and throughout our immune system.
When an imbalance occurs, it might influence a diverse range of inflammatory-mediated conditions, such as: heart diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis
The gut microbiota consists of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa and viruses. The microbial communities interact with each other and with their host, causing influence on the physiology and health of the host. The human gut microbiota is composed of both anaerobic and aerobic microbial communities. Most gut microorganisms are strictly anaerobic bacteria and difficult to be cultured in vitro. At present, it is estimated that less than 30% of the gut microbial populations have been successfully cultured. However, this does not imply that all other bacterial species are unculturtable, but rather that the optimal growth conditions for these microbes have not yet been discovered. The development of high-throughput sequencing techniques has revolutionized the research process on currently uncultured microbes providing an insight into their mechanisms. The dominant bacterial species in the human gastrointestinal tract are divided into three phyla: the phylum Bacteroidetes (e.g. Porphyromonas, Prevotella etc.), the phylum Firmicutes (e.g. Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Eubacteria etc.) and the phylum Actinobacteria (Bifidobacterium). Other bacteria such as Lactobacilli, Streptococci and Escherichia coli (E.coli) are found in small numbers. Based on the evidence from genomic technologies, the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla were found to be the dominant bacterial populations in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
