Gut microbiome diversity influenced more by the Westernized dietary regime than the body mass index as assessed using effect size statistic
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Abstract Human gut microbiome dysbiosis has been associated with the onset of metabolic diseases and disorders. However, the critical factors leading to dysbiosis are poorly understood. In this study, we provide increasing evidence of the association of diet type and body mass index ( BMI ) and how they relatively influence the taxonomic structure of the gut microbiota with respect to the causation of gut microbiome dysbiosis. The study included randomly selected Alabama residents ( n = 81), including females ( n = 45) and males ( n = 36). The demographics data included age (33 ± 13.3 years), height (1.7 ± 0.11 meters), and weight (82.3 ± 20.6 kg). The mean BMI was 28.3 ± 7.01, equating to an overweight BMI category. A cross‐sectional case–control design encompassing the newly recognized effect size approach to bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze data from donated stool samples and accompanying nutrition surveys. We investigated the microbiome variations in the Bacteroidetes‐Firmicutes ratio relative to BMI , food categories, and dietary groups at stratified abundance percentages of <20%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, and ≥70%. We further investigated variation in the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla composition (at the genus and species level) in relation to BMI , food categories, and dietary groups (Westernized or healthy). The Pearson Correlation coefficient as an indication of effect size across Alpha diversity indices was used to test the hypothesis (H 0 ): increased BMI has greater effect on taxonomic diversity than Westernized diet type, (H a ): increased BMI does not have a greater effect on taxonomic diversity than Westernized diet type. In conclusion, we rejected the (H 0 ) as our results demonstrated that Westernized diet type had an effect size of 0.22 posing a greater impact upon the gut microbiota diversity than an increased BMI with an effect size of 0.16. This implied Westernized diet as a critical factor in causing dysbiosis as compared to an overweight or obese body mass index.
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The abundance of Dialister, Coprococcus, Megasphaera, Oscillospira, and Blautia obeum seemed to be most abundant in relation to intake of processed food in humans.
“For example, the abundance of Dialister, Coprococcus, Megasphaera, Oscillospira, and Blautia obeum seemed to be most abundant in relation to the intake of processed food in humans (209).”
From Diet and the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis: Sowing the Seeds of Good Mental Health (2021) · cites this paper as [209]
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- Authors
- Davis, S. C., Yadav, J. S., Barrow, S. D., & Robertson, B. K.
- Affiliations
- Alabama State University (US)
- University of Cincinnati (US)
- Corresponding author
- Robertson, Boakai K.
- Venue
- MicrobiologyOpen
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-07-04
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- ISSN
- 2045-8827 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5552927
- OpenAlex
- W2733554624
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- MicrobiologyOpen (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (1432991)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, microbiome diversity, Western diet, body mass index, obesity, dysbiosis, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, dietary factors, effect size, alpha diversity, taxonomic composition
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adult, Alabama, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Body Mass Index, Case-Control Studies, Computational Biology, Gastrointestinal Tract, Young Adult, Microbiota
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