Abstract
Dietary components, including dietary fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, and polyphenols, along with meal timing and spacing, significantly affect the microbiota’s capacity to produce various metabolites essential for quality sleep and overall health.
This review explores the role of gut microbiota in regulating sleep through various metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan, serotonin, melatonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid.
A balanced diet rich in plant-based foods enhances the production of these sleep-regulating metabolites, potentially benefiting overall health. This review aims to investigate how dietary habits affect gut microbiota composition, the metabolites it produces, and the subsequent impact on sleep quality and related health conditions.
Introduction
Gut microbiota refers to the millions of microorganisms residing in the human gastrointestinal tract [1]. Its diversity significantly impacts health from the prenatal period and is influenced by numerous factors, including ethnicity and gender. In contrast, the gut microbiome is a broader concept that includes not only these microorganisms but also the metabolites they produce, their genetic material, and other environmental conditions [2]. From birth through the entire lifespan, the microbiome experiences dynamic changes that significantly impact health.
In full-term newborns, the composition of the gut microbiota varies with the mode of delivery and the type of feeding [3]. Natural childbirth is associated with colonization that mirrors the characteristics of the mother’s vaginal tract, dominated by bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Prevotella, or Sneathia spp. [4]. In contrast, a cesarean section leads to a different type of colonization, more akin to the microorganisms found on the mother’s skin and in the oral cavity, such as Enterobacter hormaechei, Enterobacter cancerogenus, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Haemophilus aegyptius, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus lugdunensis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus australis, Veillonella dispar, and Veillonella parvula. Importantly, caesarean births not only lack exposure to the vaginal microbiota, but also to the fecal microbiota [5].
The feeding method also influences the composition of the gut microbiota in neonates and later infants. Newborns and infants who are breastfed have a different composition of gut microbiota, consisting mainly of Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus, and Bifidobacterium. In contrast, formula feeding is associated with gut microbiota consisting mainly Roseburia, Clostridium, and Anaerostipes [6]. It has also been observed that feeding with an artificial formula accelerates the maturation of the gut microbiota and increases the prevalence of microorganisms that may contribute to inflammatory processes [6].
Generally, the first two years of life are marked by the most dynamic and intensive changes in the intestinal microbiota. In addition to encountering a vast array of microorganisms in their environment, infants experience a pivotal developmental period marked by the expansion of their diet to include solid foods. The introduction of solids drives rapid changes in structural and functional microbial diversity, shaping a gut composition that increasingly resembles that of an adult [7]. By 5 years of age, the foundation of the gut microbiota is established, determining its basic structure throughout later life. Finally, the composition of the intestinal microbiome stabilizes during puberty [7,8].
The composition of the microbiota is influenced by past infections and the use of antibiotics, particularly within the first two years of life [9], as well as by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and proton pump inhibitors [7]. In later stages of life, diet, lifestyle, chronic stress, environmental exposures, and xenobiotics play significant roles in shaping the microbiota [7,10,11].
Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/14/2259
Authors: Monika Sejbuk 1, Adam Siebieszuk and Anna Maria Witkowska.
Department of Food Biotechnology, Medical University of Bialystok, Szpitalna 37, 15-295 Bialystok, Poland
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2C, 15-222 Białystok, Poland
Date: 3 June 2024 / Revised: 10 July 2024 / Accepted: 11 July 2024 / Published: 13 July 2024
This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Microbiota in Nutrition and Diet: An Ever-Evolving Relationship: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients/special_issues/0LMDVE0G85
Note: Nutrigenomics Institute is not responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
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