Fascinating study reporting results obtained from nearly 12,000 people around the world as part of the American Gut Project

By Emeran Mayer, MD

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‘Largest’ microbiome study weighs in on our gut health

Fascinating study reporting results obtained from nearly 12,000 people around the world as part of the American Gut Project.  Major findings of this landmark study are the fact that it is the diversity of plant based foods that a person consumes (and not just the fact that somebody identifies as vegan or vegetarian) that influences gut microbial diversity and relative abundances, and that there is an association of mental disorders with gut microbial function, with gut microbial characteristics being more similar amongst several psychiatric diseases than compared to healthy individuals.  Even though the findings are solely based on associations, and do not allow to make statements about causality, they represent the most comprehensive analysis of gut microbial data published to date.

Emeran Mayer, MD Is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and the Founding Director of the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA.

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