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.

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

Occasional gastrointestinal symptoms are common in the otherwise healthy population. Most symptoms respond to dietary changes presumably via changes in the gut microbiota. Evidence shows that diet has a major impact on the gut microbiota and overall gastrointestinal health, and dietary interventions, such as consuming probiotics, especially Bifidobacterium, and the low oligo-, di-, and monosaccharide and polyol (FODMAP) diet, are recommended for different disorders. Physical activity may also improve the gut microbiota composition and appears to reduce digestive complaints, yet many studies analyzing the effects of diet and lifestyle are limited.