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.