Diets associated with a modern lifestyle in high-income countries are often characterized by low intake of dietary fiber and high consumption of fat and red meat. This “Western diet” pattern promotes fundamental changes in composition and metabolism of the human gut microbiota, collectively increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD) including obesity, diabetes or colorectal cancer. Being at the interface of gut microbe-host interactions, intestinal health is clearly affected by diet-mediated dysbiotic traits of the gut microbiota. But to identify features characterizing a disease-associated gut microbiota, we need to understand first how a healthy microbiota is defined, in particular in populations with low NCD risks.
Here, our group takes a global perspective on nutrition, the gut microbiota and the consequences of microbiota-host interactions on intestinal health. In collaborative research efforts with local partners (African Microbiome Institute, Stellenbosch University, South Africa) and international research initiatives such as the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA), we analyze (traditional) dietary patterns and gut microbiota profiles from cohorts in rural sub-Saharan Africa to identify how Westernization of diet changes the intestinal milieu and host health. These observational and clinical studies are complemented by mechanistic work in gnotobiotic animal models to study causal relationships in underlying interactions of diet, gut bacteria and the host.
Based on this multidisciplinary approach, we aim to identify how dietary factors may help to maintain gut health in populations of the Global South that are currently undergoing nutrition transition to a Western diet. In addition, we aim to learn how dietary and environmental factors in rural sub-Saharan Africa shape a human gut microbiota that may be beneficial in terms of NCD prevention and global health.
We are part of the Collaborative Lab “Westernization of Diet and the Gut” that is based at the ZIEL – Institute for Food and Health and the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE).