Microbiome and diet

The importance of gut microbiome in influencing human health has been widely assessed. The gut microbiome may vary according to several extrinsic factors, among which diet can be considered one of the most important. Substrates provided through diet are metabolized by the gut microbiome, with the possible production of beneficial or harmful metabolites. In the past decades, dietary habits in the Western world have strongly changed, with an increase in the consumption of foods of animal origin and a decrease in the intake of fiber and complex polysaccharides. These changes in the diet impacted our microbial symbionts, possibly playing a role in the development of several diseases. The understanding of these relationships will allow, in a next future, a targeted modulation of the gut microbiome through ad hoc dietary interventions for therapeutic or preventive purposes. In this chapter, recent findings about the existing interconnections between gut microbiome, diet, and human health are discussed, highlighting possible future perspectives