Impact of diet on the human intestinal microbiota

•Different dietary habits influence the gut microbiota.•Changes in diet alter the composition and the transcriptomic activity of the microbiota.•Bacterial metabolites play an important role in interactions between bacteria and their hosts.•Dietary adjustment is considered an effective way of improving some intestinal disorders.

It is well established that habitual diet influences the establishment and composition of the human intestinal microbiota during the lifespan. Bacterial communities colonize the human gut, producing a complex array of metabolites and signalling molecules that impact on host intestinal and extra-intestinal health. These functions are implicated in gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome, and potentially even in enteric or even central nervous system related disorders. Bacterially encoded metabolic activities are involved in various metabolic processes in the host. In this review, we summarize and evaluate the impact of diet on the composition and function of the human gut microbiota.