A study in Europe supports the feasibility of improving the habitual diet to modulate the gut microbiota and potentially to promote healthier ageing. The gut microbiota were profiled in 612 non-frail or pre-frail elderly subjects across five European countries before and after the administration of a 12-month Mediterranean diet intervention. Adherence to the diet was associated with specific microbiome alterations. Taxa enriched by adherence to the diet were positively associated with lower frailty and improved cognitive function, and negatively associated with inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein and interleukin-17. Analysis of the inferred microbial metabolite profiles indicated that the diet-modulated microbiome change was associated with an increase in short/branch chained fatty acid production and lower production of secondary bile acids, p-cresols, ethanol and carbon dioxide. Microbiome ecosystem network analysis showed that the bacterial taxa that responded positively to the diet intervention occupy keystone interaction positions, whereas frailty-associated taxa are peripheral in the networks, which support the notion that microbiomes of healthy individuals are similar and the unhealthy individuals are each aberrant in their own way. Source: https://gut.bmj.com/
