Microbiota, food, and health

The effects of specific foods, such as products containing probiotics or prebiotics, on human health and the role of intestinal microbiota in this interaction have been a subject of scientific interest for several decades. However, it was not until recently that, largely due to the development of ne...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Laitinen, Kirsi, Gueimonde Fernández, Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/197190
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/197190
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Intestinal microbiota
Food
Diet
Health
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Descripción
Sumario:The effects of specific foods, such as products containing probiotics or prebiotics, on human health and the role of intestinal microbiota in this interaction have been a subject of scientific interest for several decades. However, it was not until recently that, largely due to the development of next-generation sequencing techniques, we finally began to understand the full complexity of intestinal microbiota. During the last decade, several research projects and publications have demonstrated that microbiota play a key role in maintaining health, and that microbiota dysbiosis is involved in different communicable and non-communicable diseases. It has become clear that diet is a major driver of microbiota composition and function, and the research in this area is thus of utmost importance. However, our knowledge on the impact of specific foods, nutrients, and dietary patterns upon the intestinal microbiota at different life stages is still limited. We do not fully understand the role of the microbiota–food interaction in the maintenance of human health and are just starting to identify the differential effects of both long- and short-term dietary interventions on intestinal microbiota in different age groups. Moreover, the influence of gut microbiota in the transformation of dietary components and the concomitant effects on the bioavailability of nutrients, bioactivity, and health have only been elucidated for a very limited number of dietary compounds. In this context, this “Microbiota, Food, and Health” issue covers different aspects of this microbiota–diet interaction by including research articles and reviews comprising both in vitro and in vivo evidence on the interplay between diet and microbiota.