Nutrition and the gut microbiome: a symbiotic dialogue influencing health and disease - PubMed
4 hours ago
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- #gut microbiome
- The gut microbiome significantly influences human health through metabolic activities, immune modulation, and interaction with the nervous system.
- Diet plays a key role in shaping the gut microbiome, with plant-based diets promoting beneficial bacteria and meat-based diets potentially encouraging harmful microbial shifts.
- Gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from dietary fibers, which are crucial for energy metabolism, intestinal integrity, and immune modulation.
- Certain neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin, produced by gut bacteria, play a vital role in the gut-brain axis.
- Dysbiosis in the gut microbiota is linked to psychiatric and neurological disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.
- The gut microbiota is also associated with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, including obesity, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and colorectal cancer.
- Imbalances in bacterial ratios, such as Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, can impact metabolism and inflammation.
- The review highlights the interplay between nutrition and the gut microbiome, examines limitations in current metagenomic studies, and proposes a framework for predictive models of host-microbe interactions.