Interaction between diet and gut microbiota: an asset for health
Editorial
The growing interest in the gut microbiota as a key biological component in health promotion has confirmed over the last few years the crucial role of nutrition in shaping the composition of the microbial ecosystem from early childhood.
This issue of the Global Fruit & Veg Newsletter presents three recent scientific articles that review the link between microbiota and nutrition, illustrating in particular the role of fruit and vegetable constituents targeting the microbiota.
The review of Mentella MC, et al. describes the dysbiosis that characterizes inflammatory bowel disease. The review illustrates the role of specific nutrients in the course of the disease. The main message is that the joint characterization of microbiota and nutritional intakes should be carried out in high-quality intervention studies to pave the way for a targeted and personalized nutritional approach in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
The article of Fan HY, et al. presents the results of a pilot study conducted in pregnant women. Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables during pregnancy was shown to have a significant impact on the composition of the newborn’s microbiota, assessed two months after birth. The authors indicate which nutrients and plant constituents are inversely correlated with potentially harmful bacteria.
In his review, Shabbir U, et al. states the arguments supporting the intake of polyphenols found in fruit and vegetables, which are likely, via their antioxidant effect, but also by modifying the composition of microbiota or via their metabolisation by the microbiota into bioactive compounds, to be able to generate protective effects against cardio-metabolic alterations.
Enjoy your reading. Let’s work together to make healthy food choices available to all!
Nathalie M. Delzenne is a full professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, and teaches metabolism, biochemistry and nutrition at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. She leads the Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group within the Louvain Drug Research Institute, an institute she has chaired since 2016. Her research focuses on the role of diet in interacting with the gut microbiota and its consequences on health.
Author of more than 300 publications in the field of nutrition and health, (Highly cited researcher 2021), she is involved in numerous international research consortia (KBBE project of the 7th framework programme of the European Community MyNewGut, Excellence project of the Wallonie region Food4Gut Brussels; European JPI project FiberTAG, Neuron project).