SynthesisJournal of translational medicine2026
Dietary interventions and the gut microbiota: a systematic literature review of 80 controlled clinical trials.
Synthesis in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Combined diet and physical activity effects on health-related outcomes in people with overweight or obesity: an overview of systematic reviews.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- The Dual Role of the Gut Microbiota in Cancer Chemoresistance.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Review
- Review
- Article
- Review
- Gut Microbiome-Hormone Interactions and Precision Fermentation in the Prevention of Early Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Development of a Metagenomics-Guided Personalized Synbiotic Protocol for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Case Series.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Effects of Cricket Powder Supplementation on Gut Microbiota in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Microecological Interventions against Antibiotic-Induced Dysbiosis and Related Resistome Expansion.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Diet and Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Clinical and Nutritional Perspective.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The influence of a plant-based diet on the composition and functions of the human gut microbiota: a review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Psychobiotics in mental health: insights from human clinical trials via the gut-brain axis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Microbiota and lipid mediators: from molecular crosstalk to therapeutic opportunities.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Capturing static and dynamic dietary patterns for human gut microbiome research: a conceptual framework.Gut microbes reports · 2026Review
- Plant-based diets for human health with implications for cardiometabolic health, gut microbiome, and nutritional adequacy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe gut microbiota are increasingly recognised as key mediators of diet-related health outcomes. This systematic review primarily aimed to comprehensively evaluate associations between dietary interventions and gut microbiota in healthy and clinical adult populations, utilising controlled trials. Secondary outcomes included biological markers measured in blood, faecal, and urine samples.
methodsA systematic literature search was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, using the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), and Scopus to gather controlled trials of dietary interventions that reported within-group changes from baseline for gut microbiota and biomarkers. Study screening, data extraction, and risk-of-bias assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers.
resultsEighty studies met the eligibility criteria, trialling 13 distinct dietary interventions: Mediterranean, Western, Korean, Japanese, Nordic, low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP), ketogenic, gluten-free, calorie-restricted, macronutrient altered, animal- and plant-based, as well as diets high in functional nutrients and bioactive compounds. Dietary interventions were associated with within-group changes in taxonomy and particular biological markers; however, they were not consistently associated with changes in the alpha or beta diversity of the gut microbiota. The Mediterranean, Japanese, Korean, calorie-restricted, high-polyphenol, high-fibre, plant-based, low-fat, and low-protein diets were all associated with increased abundances of either short chain fatty acids (SCFA)- or lactic acid-producing bacteria or reduced abundance of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. Some of these diets were also associated with reduced levels of inflammatory markers. In contrast, Western, animal-based, low FODMAP, ketogenic, and gluten-free diets were associated with a reduced abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria. There was substantial heterogeneity across studies in methodology and reporting.
conclusionThis systematic review identifies differential associations between a wide range of dietary interventions and gut microbiota and inflammatory outcomes, both beneficial and adverse.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.