Gut Microbiota in Nutrition and Health
Posted:
2019-04-01
This article, on the role of the gut microbiota in nutrition and health, is another in the BMJ series of open access, peer-reviewed articles examining controversial nutrition topics where there are uncertainties in the evidence and debate among experts.
Most of the human studies of the gut microbiota and its associations with disease conditions are case control observational studies, conducted at one point in time (1). It is not possible from these studies to know whether the patterns of microbiota caused the disease or whether the disease, its treatment or some related factor caused the microbiota pattern. Animal studies of some topics are suggestive of a causal relationship, but the mechanisms might be different in animals versus humans (1). Future longitudinal and randomized trials will help to understand these relationships.
This BMJ article describes the gut microbiota and its associations with health, the influence of diet and medication on the microbiota, and how the gut microbiota can be manipulated by diet, probiotics and dietary fibre. It summarizes the current state of understanding of this complex topic, describing what is known from human randomized trials and animal studies and current areas yet to be clarified.
Looking for more information? See the Additional PEN Content:
References - Valdes AM, Walter J, Segal E, Spector TD. Role of the gut microbiota in nutrition and health. BMJ. 2018 Jun 13;361:k2179. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k2179. Abstract available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29899036