Role of Dietary Fiber and Energy Intake on Gut Microbiome in Vegans, Vegetarians, and Flexitarians in Comparison to Omnivores—Insights from the Nutritional Evaluation (NuEva) Study

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a global trend towards a plant-based lifestyle. In the NuEva study, dietary self-reports of 258 participants following one of four diets (Western diet (WD), flexitarians (Flex), vegetarians (VG), and vegans (VN)) were related to fecal microbiome composition. Reduced consumption of animal products (VN < VG < Flex < WD) was associated with a decreased intake of energy (p < 0.05), and an increased intake of soluble and non-soluble dietary fibers (p < 0.05). We observed the lowest average microbiome diversity in vegans and the highest in WD. Compared to WD, VG (p < 0.05) and VN (p < 0.01) differed significantly in their bacterial composition. These data were related to dietary fiber intake. Furthermore, we identified 14 diet-specific biomarkers at the genus level by using LefSe analysis. Of these, 11 showed minimum or maximum counts in WD or VN. While the VN-specific species were inversely associated with cardiovascular risk factors, a positive association was detected for the WD-specific species. Identifying biomarkers for the diets on extreme ends of the spectrum (WD and VN) and their association with cardiovascular risk factors provides a solid evidence base highlighting the potential and the need for the development of personalized recommendations dependent on dietary patterns. Even so, the mechanisms underlying these diet-specific differences in microbiome composition cannot yet be clearly assessed. The elucidation of these associations will provide the basis for personalized nutritional recommendations based on the microbiome.