This course is included in the NUTRITION 2026 On Demand Collection.

The extant literature, when viewed critically, indicates that shifts in diet typically have little effect on the wholesale gut microbiota community structure. Such a perspective runs counter to the commonly-held belief that diet is central to shaping the taxonomy of the human gut microbiota. In our view, the relative influence of specific foods and diet patterns on microbiome biology, including a greater emphasis on metabolic functional guilds in lieu of primarily focusing on specific taxa, requires more robust vetting by the nutrition community. This topic will be addressed by session speakers with expertise in microbiome-health associations, microbial ecology, host metabolism and microbial xenometabolism, and RCTs involving manipulation of specific foods or dietary patterns.

Originally presented at NUTRITION 2026, ASN's flagship meeting which was held July 25-28 in National Harbor, MD

Speakers

Sean Adams, PhD
Professor & Vice Chair for Basic Research, Department of Surgery
UC Davis School of Medicine

Tzu-Wen Cross, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition Science
Purdue University

Sean Gibbons, PhD
Associate Professor
Institute for Systems Biology

Hannah Holscher, PhD, RD, FASN 
Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Brian Piccolo, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics & Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences