Red and White Meat Intake in Relation to Gut Flora in Obese and Non-Obese Arab Females

Background: high meat intake may contribute to several chronic diseases including obesity. However, evidence is insufficient on the relation between red/white meat intake and gut flora among individuals with varying degrees of adiposity. Objective: investigate the association of red/white meat intake with gut flora in Saudi Arabian females with/without obesity. Methods: this observational study involved 92 females with and without obesity (n = 44, 48, respectively) aged 19–25 years. The whole-genome shotgun technique was used to analyze the gut flora. Shannon alpha and Bray–Curtis beta diversity as well as correlation coefficients were used. Results: in the total sample, there were positive correlations between Actinobacteria, Bacteroides (p ≤ 0.05), Flavonifractor plautii (p ≤ 0.0001), and total red meat intake. There were also positive correlations between total white meat intake, Bacteroides, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (p ≤ 0.05) in the total sample. In the group without obesity, there was a positive correlation between low white meat intake and Actinobacteria (p = 0.05). In the group with obesity, there was a positive correlation between high white meat intake and Bacteroides (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: our findings suggest that meat intake had an impact on the gut flora of Arab adult females, independent of adiposity. Specific strains identified in this study need further investigation to determine their relation to meat intake and obesity.