Gut microbiome response to a modern Paleolithic diet in a Western lifestyle context

Abstract

The progressive reduction of gut microbiome (GM) biodiversity along human evolutionary history has been found to be particularly exacerbated in Western urban compared to traditional rural populations, and supposed to contribute to the increasing incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases. Together with sanitation, antibiotics and C-section, the Western diets, low in microbiota-accessible carbohydrates (MACs) while rich in industrialized and processed foods, are considered one of the leading causes of this shrinkage. However, significant questions remain unanswered, especially whether high-MAC low-processed diets may be sufficient to recover GM diversity in Western urban populations. Here, we profiled the GM structure of urban Italian subjects adhering to the modern Paleolithic diet (MPD), a dietary pattern featured by high consumption of MACs and low-to-zero intake of refined sugars and processed foods, and compared data with other Italian individuals following a Mediterranean Diet (MD), as well as worldwide traditional hunter-gatherer populations from previous publications. Notwithstanding a strong geography effect on the GM structure, our results show an unexpectedly high degree of GM biodiversity in MPD subjects, which well approximates that of traditional populations. Increasing the consumption of MACs at the expense of refined sugars, and minimizing the intake of processed foods, both hallmarks of the MPD, could be the key to rewild the Western microbiota, counteracting the loss of GM diversity and thus restoring evolutionarily important functionality to our gut for improved human health.

The Impact of a Dynamic Working Environment on Human Gut Microbiota

“…In a recent study of healthy Italians who were followed for more than a year, the dominant phyla of intestinal microbiota were Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, followed by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. At the family level, the dominant bacteria were Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Bacteroidaceae and Prevotellaceae, while at the genus level, the dominant were Bacteroides, Pervotella and Faecalibacterium [23]. Our results are in part consistent with previous studies, and (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder.…”

Prevalence of Treponema species in the Gut Microbiome is Linked to Bifidobacterium sp. and Bacteroides sp.

“…The evolution of human lifestyle along the eras is intricately linked to that of human microbial ecosystems as the composition of the digestive tract microbiome is highly modulated by diet [3,17]. The changes in diet from hunter-gatherers to primitive farming in the Neolithic era and then the shift to processed food with the industrial revolution have been accompanied with many changes among which the decline of oral health [18,19].…”

Impact of Different Types of Diet on Gut Microbiota Profiles and Cancer Prevention and Treatment

“…The dominating phyla of the gut microbiome were Firmicutes (65.1 ± 2.1%) and Bacteroidetes (24.6 ± 2.2%), followed by Proteobacteria (4.4 ± 1.6%), Actinobacteria (3.4 ± 0.8%), and Verrucomicrobia (1.2 ± 0.5%). At the family level, the dominant bacteria were Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Bacteroidaceae, and Prevotellaceae, while, at the genus level, Bacteroides , Pervotella , and Faecalibacterium dominated [70]. Compared to Italians adhering to the MD, the PD microbiome diversity was much higher and comparable to that of the Hadza hunter–gatherers.…”