The Potential Role of Commensal Microbes in Optimizing Nutrition Care Delivery and Nutrient Metabolism

Microbes have been part of the diet throughout human history. In the evolution of food preservation practices, some techniques inadvertently leveraged microbial activity not only to extend the storage life but also to enhance the properties and nutritive value of foods. In the last century, a variety of bacterial species (referred to as probiotics) were found to confer health benefits to the host. The advent of high-throughput sequencing methods facilitated improved surveillance of conventional probiotics within gut microbial communities as well as fueled the deep exploration of the human gut microbiota. Metagenomic analyses along with improvements in microbial culture techniques and comprehensive functional characterization of specific microbes both in vitro and in vivo have shed new insights into the intimate relationship of the gut microbiota and its host. Recent findings suggest the potential of conventional and newly identified bacterial species in enhancing nutrient processing and holds promise in improving the efficacy of conventional nutrition intervention strategies in managing diseases as well as in the delivery of personalized nutrition therapy support.