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. 2023 May 18;15(10):2358.
doi: 10.3390/nu15102358.

Comparative Analysis of Fecal Microbiota in Vegetarians and Omnivores

Changbao Sun  1   2 , Ang Li  2 , Cong Xu  1 , Jiage Ma  1 , Huan Wang  3 , Zhanmei Jiang  1 , Juncai Hou  1
Affiliations

Comparative Analysis of Fecal Microbiota in Vegetarians and Omnivores

Changbao Sun et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Diet has a significant impact on fecal microbiota, which in turn plays an important role in human health. To evaluate the impact of dietary habits on fecal microbiota, we investigated the fecal microbial composition in vegetarians and omnivores using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and estimated the correlation between fecal microbiota, body mass and diet. The dietary data showed that vegetarians consumed more plant-based foods rich in dietary fiber, omnivores consumed more animal-based foods rich in fat and overweight and obese people consumed more high-energy foods. Compared to omnivores, vegetarians had greater richness and diversity in their fecal microbiota. The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was lower and the Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio was higher in vegetarians. The meat intake correlated positively with the proportion of Bacteroides and negatively with the proportion of Prevotella. The composition and diversity in fecal microbiota in the normal weight group, overweight group and obesity group were similar to that of vegetarians and omnivores, respectively. This paper revealed the distinctive characteristics of fecal microbiota in vegetarians and omnivores. The omnivorous diet contained more fat, which reduced the fecal microbial diversity, and was more likely to lead to being overweight or obese.

Keywords: fecal microbiota; obesity; omnivores; vegetarians.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Food intake and macronutrient energy supply ratio of vegetarians (V) and omnivores (R). (A) Relative content of food intake in vegetarians and omnivores; (B) energy supply ratio of macronutrients in vegetarians and omnivores; red asterisks represent being significantly higher in vegetarians; black asterisks represent being significantly higher in omnivores.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Composition of fecal microbiota in vegetarians and omnivores. (A) Phylum level; (B) family level; (C) genus level. V represents vegetarians; R represents omnivores; VN and VO represent normal weight group and overweight group for vegetarians, respectively; RN, RO and RC represent normal weight group, overweight group and obesity group in omnivores, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) plots of fecal microbiota in vegetarians (V) and omnivores (O). The plots show the first two principal coordinates axes using a weighted (A,B) and unweighted (C,D) UniFrac distance matrix. VN and VO represent the normal weight group and overweight group in vegetarians, respectively; RN, RO and RC represent the normal weight group, overweight group and obesity group in omnivores, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the correlation between food intake and fecal microbiota. VN and VO represent the normal weight group and overweight group in vegetarians, respectively; RN, RO and RC represent the normal weight group, overweight group and obesity group in omnivores, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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