Diet Effects on Gut Microbiome Composition, Function, and Host Physiology

The gut microbial community acts as a vector for mediating effects of diet on host physiology. Recent advances in the next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry along with translatable animal models have paved the way for dissecting the effects of gut microbiota in mediating the effect of diet on host physiology. The major macromolecular components of our diets, which includes fats, carbohydrates (with varying levels of host/microbe accessibility), and proteins can elicit microbial community remodeling, and serve as substrates for the generation of molecules by microbes that affect host physiology. These molecules can be either beneficial or undesirable for the host and play an important role in health as well as causing disease. In addition to composition of diet, the timing of consumption can have significant effects on microbiome structure and function and may predispose individuals to microbiota mediated diseases. Further work analyzing these complex interactions will spawn new, individual specific therapies, which target microbes in the gut for a variety of host conditions.