Links between environment, diet, and the hunter-gatherer microbiome.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and discussion synthesizing the authors' previous observational findings
PubMed 30118385 · doi:10.1080/19490976.2018.1494103
What was done
The authors synthesized and discussed findings from their research characterizing the gut microbiota of Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. The paper reviews seasonal shifts in bacterial taxa, diversity, and carbohydrate utilization, compares Hadza profiles with other traditional and industrialized populations globally, and assesses observational data on environmental microbial sources (hands, water, animals), sex and age differences, and short-term agricultural diet additions.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or effect estimates. The authors report that the Hadza microbiota exhibits seasonal fluctuations in bacterial taxa, overall diversity, and carbohydrate utilization, and shares specific bacterial families with other traditional societies that are rare or absent in industrialized cohorts.
Why it matters
Studying non-industrialized populations provides insight into ancestral human-microbe co-evolution and highlights how industrialization, seasonal foraging, and environmental contact shape gut microbial diversity.
Limits
No sample sizes, statistical measures, or exact numbers are provided in the abstract. The described findings are observational and comparative, precluding causal inference regarding specific dietary or lifestyle interventions.
Cited by
- supports In African populations, seasonal changes between rainy and dry seasons cause consistent, reproducible shifts in the gut microbiome due to different crop availability.