Carbohydrate diets produced different gut bacteria patterns in rodents
An animal research review found that carbohydrate type and accompanying fat mattered for gut bacteria patterns. The findings do not establish what these diets would do in people.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In rodents, carbohydrate-rich diets produced different changes in gut bacteria depending on their carbohydrate and fat content. Diets high in both carbohydrates and fat generally increased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, two bacterial groups. Lower-fat carbohydrate diets showed varied patterns. These animal findings cannot establish human dietary effects or health benefits.
The evidence concerns animals, and the abstract provides no pooled effect sizes or feeding durations. It also describes interventions alongside some diets, making the dietary context important when interpreting the findings.
What the bacterial ratio means
The Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio compares the relative representation of two groups of gut bacteria. The review describes changes in this measure, alongside bacterial diversity and composition; the ratio itself is not a diagnosis or a clinical outcome.
Why diet details matter
Fructose, sucrose and starch-based diets did not produce a single shared pattern. Added interventions also modified diet-associated changes. The review therefore describes several experimental dietary contexts rather than establishing one general effect of carbohydrates on gut health.
The original publication
The Correlation Between Carbohydrate Loading Diet and Gut Microbiome: A Systematic Review.
El-Kholy O, Nichols L, Elsayed AAR et al.
Microbiologyopen · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40765268
- Record checked
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