While many would like to discover the fountain of youth, the secret to aging gracefully might lie, in part, in our gut.

Although researchers now know that the gut microbiome changes as humans age and that age-related diseases may also affect the gut microbiome, how targeting the gut microbiome may lead to healthier aging or reduce the risk of age-related diseases it is still unknown. Besides genetics, diet and other lifestyle factors such as medication use and social interactions, the gut microbiome may therefore be a key factor in healthy aging.

April is World Autism Awareness Month which raises awareness about these conditions that impact communication, social interaction and behavior affecting about 1 in 160 children worldwide and 1 in 44 in the US.

There is a growing interest in the role diet plays in behavior, yet current studies have yielded inconsistent results directly linking the gut microbiome as the cause of certain behaviors such as anxiety and depression.

There has been a recent explosion in research that shows that our gut flora is linked to so many diseases-- cancer, autism, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s-- and the list goes on and on.

The microbes that inhabit our guts consist of about two million genes compared to only about 22,000 genes humans have, and they’re constantly affecting our health.

You can think of our gut microbiome as a rainforest. The more variety and number of species that inhabit our guts, the healthier the ecosystem of our intestinal flora will be.

The gut microbiota is linked to so many aspects of our health, and several recent studies have observed an imbalanced gut microbiota, also called dysbiosis, in conjunction with various non-infectious diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel disease.

Luckily there are tangible ways we can change our gut microbiota composition. Diet has been shown to greatly impact the gut microbiota composition, which consequently also affects the production of beneficial short chain fatty acid production, intestinal barrier function and immune health.

Alterations of the gut microbiota have previously been observed due to sleep deprivation. A novel study shows the close crosstalk between sleep quality and gut microbiome diversity, which is mediated by the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6.

Poor sleep quality is a widespread problem and has been associated with several diseases in humans such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Previous research has reported that the human gut microbiota may express endogenous circadian rhythms, together with findings showing alterations of the gut microbiota in response to sleep deprivation. On the other hand, the gut microbiota and its metabolites regulate the immune system including cytokine activity via bidirectional signaling of the brain-gut-microbiome axis, which may influence sleep and circadian rhythm.

A new study performed in the elderly from five European countries reveals that following a Mediterranean diet may positively affect the gut microbiota and health in this population.

Diet plays a crucial role in our overall and microbiome health, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to suffering age-related health complications which could be related to changes in their diets.

Increasing evidence suggests that imbalanced gut microbiota may play a role in insulin resistance in Type 2 Diabetes patients and exercise has shown to have positive effects on the gut microbiome and metabolism.

Several studies over the past decade have associated the gut microbiome and metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), yet the exact mechanisms are not fully understood.

As a healthcare professional you may be aware that many dietary guidelines recommend limiting the consumption of red meat. Recent mechanistic research on the gut microbiota could finally settle the debate regarding the impact of red meat in health.

Inter-individual gut microbiome variation remains one of the major caveats in this field of research. Scientists from different countries update the role of socio-demographic and environmental factors in inter-individual gut microbiome variation in healthy French adults.

Although the gut microbiome remains relatively stable throughout adulthood, various environmental factors such as disease, and diet have been reported to affect the gut microbiota composition. Although host genotype may influence relative abundance of microbial taxa, only few associations between host genetics and gut microbiota diversity have been found. Thus, inter-individual gut microbiome variation remains largely unexplained.

Viruses are the unknown studied members of the gut microbiome. A new metagenomic analysis in healthy adults reveals that fecal viruses show a high stability, individual specificity, and correlation with the bacterial microbiome for 1 year.

Besides bacteria, researchers have begun to study archaea, fungi, protozoa and viruses of the human gut microbiome. Although it is now known that the human gut microbiome contains several viruses, most of which are bacteriaphages, little is known about the human gut virome partly due to limitations in analyzing the fecal virome with the current metagenomic and bioinformatic protocols and technology. In fact, the human gut virome has been called “viral dark matter” because taxonomic classification of bacterial viruses is largely unknown due to the high inter-individual variation of species, lack of a universal gene marker like 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) for bacteria, and viral databases that are largely incomplete.

The commensal bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila has garnered considerable attention for its association with leanness as well as for its other health benefits in relation to obesity, excess weight and type 2 diabetes.

The gut microbiota is now believed to be a factor involved in the onset of cardiometabolic disorders such as obesity. In human and rat studies, the commensal* bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila– which is naturally present in large quantities in the gut microbiota of healthy people – has been gaining a lot of attention for its association with leanness and for producing several health benefits against obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Scientists struggle to understand why some gut bacteria are sensitive to antibiotics while a fraction of them survive treatment. New research in mice reveals that gut microbial metabolism alongside diet play a key role in modifying the extent of gut microbiome disruption in response to antibiotics.

Crohn’s Disease (CD) is one of the sets of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that consists of chronic inflammation of the terminal ileum, that can extend throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Researchers have focused more on the role the gut microbiota plays in CD over the years to better understand disease progression. Increased endotoxemia, inflammation, fungal loads and changes in the gut microbiota composition, as well as altered mucins production have been observed in CD patients compared to healthy populations.

Personalized nutrition is still in its infancy but it is an increasingly important area of research that may one day help us better plan nutritional interventions to ensure a better response from patients.

When we’re faced with the question of which diet is best for our personal health, the answer isn’t easy. The individual response to dietary interventions varies greatly, and the gut microbiota likely plays a major role. However, several factors influence gut microbiota composition such as genetics, long-term dietary habits, hygiene, geographical location, exercise, as well as antibiotic and probiotic use making it a difficult area to study. Personalized nutrition studies aim to predict clinical response to dietary interventions based on the microbial composition, yet few studies have been conducted in humans.

Recent studies show that the gut microbiota may affect our body’s response to insulin, a hormone that helps glucose enter the body’s cells so it can be used as energy.

The microbes that inhabit our intestines are responsible for several functions such as synthesizing vitamins as well as modulating our immune system, metabolism and blood sugar levels. Recent studies show that the gut microbiota may affect our body’s response to insulin, a hormone that helps glucose enter into the body’s cells so that it can be used as energy. For this reason, many researchers are interested in targeting the gut microbiota to improve obesity-associated blood glucose impairment since many obese and type 2 diabetes patients suffer from decreased insulin sensitivity and increased blood sugar, also known as insulin resistance. For example, imbalances of the gut microbiota have been associated with insulin resistance in patients with obesity and other metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

Consuming probiotics is beneficial for treating metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which are a global health problem.

Obesity, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD, which is excessive fat accumulation in the liver) are a growing global health problem. Researchers believe that lifestyle, especially a poor diet, contributes to the rapid progression of these diseases. Studies show that patients with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and NAFLD also have dysbiosis, which is an imbalanced gut microbiota. Dysbiosis is characterized by decreased levels of beneficial bacteria.  Metformin, a common drug given to type 2 diabetes patients to regulate blood sugar levels, modulates the gut microbiota in a way that leads to improved blood glucose levels.

There is a growing interest in the role diet plays in behavior, yet current studies have yielded inconsistent results around directly linking the gut microbiome as the cause of certain behaviors such as anxiety, depression and autistic behavior. A recent study tries to tackle the question of whether the gut microbiome is directly linked to autism spectrum disorders.

April is World Autism Awareness Month, a period for raising awareness about the conditions that impact communication, social interaction and behavior and affect about 1 in 160 children worldwide and 1 in 44 in the US.

Restrictive diets in terms of calories and nutrients are widespread among people. Although this type of diets could help with weight loss in the short term, their long-term effects on the gut microbiome and overall health remain unknown.

How diet affects a person’s weight appears to be much more complex than previously thought due to the potential role the gut microbiome plays in nutrient absorption, energy production, inflammation and metabolism.

It’s now well known that diet greatly influences the gut microbiome, and more recently research has shed light on how the gut microbiome is altered in obese vs normal weight individuals.

The purpose of the article is to uncover how dietary components and long-term dietary patterns interact with and influence gut microbiota composition and function and intestinal inflammation.

As the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but figuring out exactly how long-term dietary patterns affect the gut microbiome’s role in regulating inflammation has not been quite as clear for researchers.

Diet has been shown to play a role in both IBD and IBS symptoms and possibly disease progression

Diet greatly influences gut microbiota composition, and evidence shows how the way gut microbiota metabolizes our food may be more relevant than the actual food we eat.

With so many diets and trends– high fat, low fat, low carb, Paleo, vegan, etc.– it’s hard to know which diet is best for our health. Diet greatly influences gut microbiota composition, and evidence shows how the gut microbiota metabolizes our food may matter as much as what we eat.

Studies have shown food intolerances affect approximately 20% of the population in industrialized countries, but despite their high prevalence, their exact mechanisms are unknown. Adverse food reactions include food allergies and food intolerances. Unlike food allergies that are characterized by immunological (immunoglobulin E (IgE)) dependent mechanisms, food intolerance is a non-immunological response to food or food components that leads to complaints like abdominal pain, diarrhea, hives, vomiting and eczema.