Towards an Individualized Nutrition Treatment: Role of the Gastrointestinal Microbiome in the Interplay Between Diet and Obesity.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Dietary treatments for obesity have relatively low long-term success. Recent studies have identified the gastrointestinal microbiome as a factor of high relevance. The current knowledge on the interplay between diet, obesity, and the gastrointestinal microbiome and the potential for individualized dietary treatment will be discussed.

RECENT FINDINGS: Studies indicate that each individual digests and metabolizes identical food substances differently depending on their gastrointestinal microbiome composition. Factors related to this crosstalk may improve our understanding of weight homeostasis and treatment of obesity. Long-time dietary intake is the key in the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiome which seems to be an important factor for energy balance, resulting in emerging opportunities for increasingly varied obesity treatment. Compliance to dietary treatment is critical for long-term success as enduring changes in gastrointestinal microbiome seem to slow over time. More research is urgently needed to investigate this missing link in our understanding of obesity.