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. 2019 May 21:8:699.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.18992.1. eCollection 2019.

Gut microbiome-Mediterranean diet interactions in improving host health

Affiliations

Gut microbiome-Mediterranean diet interactions in improving host health

Ravinder Nagpal et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

The gut microbiota plays a fundamental role in host health and disease. Host diet is one of the most significant modulators of the gut microbial community and its metabolic activities. Evidence demonstrates that dietary patterns such as the 'Western diet' and perturbations in gut microbiome (dysbiosis) have strong associations with a wide range of human diseases, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, consumption of Mediterranean-style diets is considered healthy and associated with the prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, colorectal cancers and many other diseases. Such beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet might be attributed to high proportion of fibers, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and polyphenols. Concurrent literature has demonstrated beneficial modulation of the gut microbiome following a Mediterranean-style diet in humans as well as in experimental animal models such as rodents. We recently demonstrated similar positive changes in the gut microbiome of non-human primates consuming a Mediterranean-style diet for long term (30 months). Therefore, it is rational to speculate that this positive modulation of the gut microbiome diversity, composition and function is one of the main factors intermediating the health effects of Mediterranean diet on the host. The present perspective discusses the evidences that the Mediterranean diet induces gut microbiome modulation in rodents, non-human primates and human subjects, and discusses the potential role of gut microbiota and microbial metabolites as one of the fundamental catalysts intermediating various beneficial health effects of Mediterranean diet on the host.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; fiber; gut microbiota; monkey; non-human primate; short-chain fatty acids; western diet.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests were disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. A diagrammatic overview depicting how the various health beneficial effects of Mediterranean diet might be mediated via positive changes in the gut microbiome composition and the gut microbiota-derived metabolites.
References are shown in square brackets.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Effects of Mediterranean diet on the population of major gut bacterial groups that have been reported consistently in different studies involving non-human primates and human subjects.

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