The Same Diet Impacts Men's and Women's Gut Microbes Differently

It turns out that even if a man and a woman eat the same thing, they'll react differently. Scientists have discovered that the microbes living in the guts of males of females have different reactions to the same diet.

In recent years, researchers have begun to appreciate the importance of the human microbiome. The microbiome consists of all of the bacteria that live in and on people's bodies and is made up of hundreds or thousands of species of microbes. These microbes can have a huge impact on human health, and can be influenced by diet.

In order to better understand how diet impacts males and females differently, the researchers examined the gut microbes in two species of fish and in mice. In addition, they also conducted an in-depth analysis of data that other scientists collected on humans. In the end, they found that in fish and humans, diet affected the microbiota of males and females differently.

"Our study asks not just how diet influences the microbiome, but it splits the hosts into males and females and asks, do males show the same diet effects as females?" asks Daniel Bolnick, lead author of the new study, in a news release.

The researchers found that there is indeed a significant difference in the gut microbiota for males and females. Yet scientists aren't sure exactly what diets would be better for males and females.

"To guide people's behavior, we need to know what microbes are desirable for people," said Bolnick. "Diet and sex do interact to influence the microbes, but we don't yet know what a desirable target for microbes is. Now we can go in with eyes open when we work on therapies for gut microbe problems, as many involve dietary changes. We can walk into those studies looking for something we weren't aware of before. All along we treated diet as if it works the same for men and women. Now we'll be approaching studies of therapies in a different way."

The findings pave the way for future research when it comes to gut microbes. Now, scientists need to examine exactly what microbes are better for a person and what diet is ideal; in this way, people can make lifestyle changes that might be better for their health.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.