In recent years, diet has become a crucial part of research efforts as scientists work to study its influence, ranging from development to disease. There has been a great deal of prior research conducted on how the food we eat can shape the gut microbiome– the collection of microorganisms that lives in our gut and aids in the digestive process. A recent research study from UC Riverside has found that the gut microbiome is molded during development and by a person’s childhood diet.
The researchers conducted their study in mice where they studied early influences of diet manipulations and how that affected the gut microbiome in adulthood. Half the mice were fed a standard diet while the other half were fed the “Western Diet”, known to be less healthy due to greater consumption of sugar, fat, and processed foods. The mice were kept on these diets for 6 weeks and then underwent a washout period where they were all placed on the standard diet for 8 weeks afterward. This washout was done to determine whether or not the effects of a juvenile diet could be observed in adulthood. After 14 weeks, the scientists analyzed the microbiomes from each group of mice.
A depiction of bacteria that are found all throughout the digestive system and are necessary for people to break down food.
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The researchers found that the Western diet significantly lowered the numbers of bacteria and the diversity of the microbiome compared to the standard diet. This low diversity in the microbiome persisted even after the 8-week washout period. A diverse microbiome is important because certain species of bacteria assist in breaking down different types of food, so more diversity helps absorb more nutrients from food. The researchers noted in particular that the Western diet reduced the population of the bacteria Muribaculum intestinale. This type of bacteria is involved in carbohydrate metabolism and aids energy production and management; therefore, lower numbers can reduce the ability to efficiently burn carbohydrates and make energy production less efficient. These results showed that the juvenile diet has lasting impacts on the development of the gut microbiome that persists into adulthood.
This study is important due to the fact that childhood obesity levels are continuing to rise year after year. According to the CDC, in 2020, 13.7 million children and adolescents were medically defined as obese, with this number projected to increase in future years. Since research has shown that a childhood diet can alter the microbiome drastically, this could have long-term effects that still need to be researched and understood in greater detail.
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