Impact of Food Nutritional Compounds on Gut Microbiota and Their Health Benefits

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1015

Special Issue Editors

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Food Science and Health, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
Interests: prebiotic; gut; intestinal microbes

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Guest Editor
College of Food Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Interests: marine biological resources; edible fungi; comprehensive utilization; probiotics; prebiotics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The human gut microbiota constitutes a complex, dynamic system of trillions of microorganisms. Extensive research evidence indicates that it plays a crucial role in maintaining human health and in the development of disease. Dietary intake profoundly influences the composition and function of the gut microbiota. Moreover, beyond providing basic nutrition, certain specialized nutrients—including probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, and synbiotics—also serve as key regulators of the gut microbial community, exerting effects that extend far beyond their initial anticipated roles. By modulating the gut microbiota, we have gained both theoretical insights and achieved practical success in maintaining lifelong wellness, alleviating chronic diseases, and enhancing immune function. Nevertheless, it is crucial to underscore the intrinsic complexity of the gut microbiota and its intricate interplay with the host organism and external environment. This leaves a vast array of potential signaling molecules and targets yet to be explored.

This Special Issue aims to compile cutting-edge research that elucidates the precise mechanisms by which specialized nutrients interact with the gut microbiota, including cell, animal, and population experiments. We welcome original research articles and reviews exploring how these interactions translate into tangible health benefits through novel experimental approaches, such as multi-omics integration and AI-assisted bioinformatics analysis, such as the following:

  • Enhancing gut barrier integrity and reducing inflammation;
  • Reducing the infection of pathogenic bacteria;
  • Modulating immune system homeostasis and preventing allergic/autoimmune diseases;
  • Improving metabolic parameters in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases;
  • Influencing the gut-X axis to promote health;
  • The interactions and gut microbiota throughout the individual's full life cycle.

By dissecting the diet–microbiota–health axis, this issue seeks to advance our understanding of personalized nutrition and pave the way for novel dietary strategies to prevent and manage chronic diseases.

Dr. Jin Wang
Dr. Lei Pan
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • probiotics 
  • prebiotics 
  • postbiotics 
  • synbiotics 
  • gut-X axis

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 5624 KB  
Article
Combined Effect of Bifidobacterium longum Postbiotics and Dietary Herbs on Ameliorating Metabolic Disturbances in Hyperlipidemic Mice
by Yi Sun, Yihong Zeng, Ziyi Yue, Hang Yang, Yunhui Zhang, Haoxin Cui, Haiwei Liu, Hua Xiao, Jin Wang, Dancai Fan, Bowei Zhang, Huan Lv and Shuo Wang
Foods 2026, 15(10), 1679; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15101679 - 11 May 2026
Viewed by 419
Abstract
Hyperlipidemia-associated obesity is frequently accompanied by hepatic injury, bile acid dysregulation, gut microbial remodeling, and anxiety-like behavioral alterations. As emerging functional food ingredients, postbiotics and dietary herbs (DH) may provide practical dietary strategies for metabolic health management, but the most suitable postbiotic form [...] Read more.
Hyperlipidemia-associated obesity is frequently accompanied by hepatic injury, bile acid dysregulation, gut microbial remodeling, and anxiety-like behavioral alterations. As emerging functional food ingredients, postbiotics and dietary herbs (DH) may provide practical dietary strategies for metabolic health management, but the most suitable postbiotic form and its compatibility with DH remain unclear. In this study, FB 3-14-derived postbiotics were first screened in vitro for cholesterol micellar binding. Inactivated bacterial cells (Postcell) exhibited the strongest cholesterol-binding capacity and were therefore selected for in vivo validation, alone or in combination with DH, in a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) mouse model. Consistently, Postcell showed superior efficacy in attenuating body weight gain, jejunal triglyceride accumulation, and hepatic dysfunction compared with other postbiotic forms. Importantly, Postcell_DH exerted broader metabolic benefits, including reductions in weight gain, food efficiency, bile acid dysregulation, and neuroinflammation. Multi-omics analysis further indicated that these effects may be mediated through remodeling of the gut microbiota and metabolome, particularly pathways involved in bile acid and tryptophan metabolism. Notably, Clostridioides and taurochenodeoxycholate-7-sulfate were negatively associated with total cholesterol (TC) and leptin, whereas Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 and 3-Hydroxyindolin-2-1-sulfate were negatively correlated with brain inflammatory level, lipid, and bile acid-related index. This study supports a practical postbiotic–herbal combination strategy relevant to functional food and dietary supplement development for hyperlipidemia-associated metabolic disturbances. Full article
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