The brain communicates with the gut and the billions of microbes that inhabit it: bacteria, viruses, protists, and archaea. We recently started to unravel how far from passive passengers, these microbes can also talk to the brain in a bidirectional communication pathway called the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Created by the Innovation Institute for Food & Health, this report explores the role that food plays in human health and diseases due to its impact on the gut microbiome and its intricate connection with the gut and brain. Emphasis was placed on the routes and mechanisms by which such communication occurs and how to leverage them to improve food and health.
It has become increasingly clear that the gut microbiota is a key regulator of host physiology and a critical determinant of human health and disease. Indeed, these microbes not only provide essential capacities for the fermentation of non-digestible food substrates like dietary fibers, but they also play an essential role in the development and function of the GI tract, the immune system, and the nervous system, by controlling the metabolic state of the body through the gut-brain axis.
