Gut Microbiota, Nutrition and Healthy Ageing

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy ageing is shaped by complex interactions among nutrition, host physiology, and the gut microbiota. Growing evidence shows that dietary patterns and targeted food interventions—ranging from specific macronutrient profiles to micronutrients, polyphenols, and fibre-rich foods—can profoundly reshape microbial communities and their metabolic outputs, thereby influencing many systems, such as the brain, muscle, and immune system. Microbial metabolites such as short‑chain fatty acids, bile acid derivatives, and amino acid–derived compounds have emerged as key mediators linking diet–microbiome interactions to healthy ageing trajectories.

However, major gaps remain regarding the mechanistic pathways through which diet‑induced microbial shifts affect ageing biology, and the contributions of underexplored microbial kingdoms, including fungi, viruses, and archaea. Interventions such as prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and personalised nutritional strategies show promise for restoring eubiosis and promoting resilience in later life.

For this Special Issue of Nutrients, we invite original research and reviews addressing:

• Dietary interventions that modulate gut microbiota to support healthy ageing;
• Microbial metabolites and their mechanistic roles in ageing physiology;
• Nutrition–microbiome interactions across the lifespan, including those that are linked to or enhancing healthspan;
• Microbiome-modulating strategies (prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics);
• Cross‑kingdom microbial dynamics in ageing.

We welcome contributions that advance understanding of how nutrition and the microbiome can be leveraged to promote healthier and longer lives.

Prof. Dr. Matthew B. Cooke
Guest Editor

Dr. David Barry
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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