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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Can cooking certain foods influence the gut microbiota? A team of researchers has set out to discover whether heat, which changes the properties of different foods, also affects the gut microbiota.

Studies have shown that diet, such as Paleo, high fat vs low-fat diet or Western diet, greatly impacts the gut microbiota composition even more than genetics. Surprisingly, little is known how cooking certain foods might alter the gut microbiota. Since heat changes the chemical and physical properties of foods, researchers wondered if this too affects the gut microbiota.

The infant gut microbiome is characterized as low in diversity that’s dominated primarily by bifidobacteria and unique to the individual. During approximately the first three years of life, the gut microbiome develops and is largely shaped by various factors including delivery mode (vaginal vs Cesarean birth), maternal antibiotic use, home environment and breastfeeding vs formula feeding. The gut microbiome is later influenced by diet and how long the child was breastfed which affects the gut microbiota composition later in early childhood.

Several recent studies have shed light on the benefits breastmilk have on infant health and their developing gut microbiomes because it contains various components, such as beneficial bacteria, prebiotics called human milk oligosaccharides as well as immune cells, that confer long-term benefits for babies’ health including preventing malnutrition. Additionally, breastfed babies have been found to have less instances of allergies and metabolic disease, yet it is unknown how breastfeeding practices (i.e. nursing vs. pumping) affects the breastmilk composition and infant gut microbiome.

Pumping breastmilk has become a popular and convenient way for mothers to continue to feed their babies breastmilk, yet it is unknown as to whether this method affects the transfer of other non-milk-derived bacteria from the pump or bottles compared to maternal skin for example.

The importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome has been gaining more attention. 

The gut microbiome contains trillions of microorganisms, most of which are bacteria, and plays a major role in various aspects of our health. 

Probiotics and fiber have gotten a lot of fanfare lately when it comes to gut health, but in order to feed the “good bugs” or beneficial bacteria in our intestines, we also need to eat adequate prebiotics. 

Unlike probiotics, prebiotics are not live microorganisms, and although most prebiotics are different types of fiber, not all prebiotics are fiber. So what are they?

Ever since I was a little kid I have had stomach issues- vomiting, susceptible to stomach bugs, gas, bloating, etc. You name it, I’ve experienced it.

Unfortunately, as I grew older into my adult years, I didn’t outgrow my sensitive stomach. I finally went to a gastroenterologist who concluded that despite my symptoms of heartburn, gas, bloating and diarrhea, all I had was a mild case of acid reflux for which he prescribed me stomach acid blocking medicine.

I left his office infuriated because I knew that an antacid would not solve my underlying digestive issues, so I started to do my own research about digestive health and the gut microbiome and the role diet and lifestyle play in overall gut health, which has led me to publish various peer review articles about the gut microbiome and overall health. With some dietary and lifestyle changes I healed my gut which has greatly impacted my overall health and energy levels.