Current evidence linking diet to gut microbiota and brain development and function

Abstract

The gut:brain axis is emerging as an important information highway linking the foods we eat with neurophysiological development and functions. Some gut microorganisms have shown to alleviate anxiety and depression, improve cognitive performance and play a role in brain development in early life. However, most studies were conducted in laboratory animals and these findings await confirmation in carefully designed human interventions. Similarly, little attention has been given to how diet:microbe interactions within the gut can impact on neurotransmitter production or their subsequent biological effects within the nervous system. In this review, we discuss the possible influence of carbohydrates, polyphenols, lipids and proteins colonic fermentation on production, bioavailability and biological activity of metabolites linked to the gut-microbiota-brain axis. An increased understanding of how nervous system may be regulated by diet will greatly enhance our ability to design dietary strategies to improve healthy brain development and functions.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Microbial fermentation
• diet–microbe interactions
• neuroactive compounds
• macronutrients metabolism
• tryptophan metabolism
• gut-brain axis

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Fabrizio Ceppa for his kind support in figure generation and editing and Diego Albani for his useful suggestions during final writing.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.