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Review
. 2024 Dec 24;17(1):2.
doi: 10.3390/nu17010002.

Ultra-Processed Food and Gut Microbiota: Do Additives Affect Eubiosis? A Narrative Review

Antonio Bevilacqua  1 , Barbara Speranza  1 , Angela Racioppo  1 , Antonella Santillo  1 , Marzia Albenzio  1 , Antonio Derossi  1 , Rossella Caporizzi  1 , Matteo Francavilla  1 , Deborah Racca  1 , Zina Flagella  1 , Michele Andrea De Santis  1 , Antonio Elia  1 , Giulia Conversa  1 , Luciana Luchetti  1 , Milena Sinigaglia  1 , Maria Rosaria Corbo  1
Affiliations
Review

Ultra-Processed Food and Gut Microbiota: Do Additives Affect Eubiosis? A Narrative Review

Antonio Bevilacqua et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The gut microbiota plays a key role in health and disease, but it could be affected by various factors (diet, lifestyle, environment, genetics, etc.). Focusing on diet, while the role of the different styles and choices (Mediterranean vs. Western diet, vegan or vegetarian diets) has been extensively studied, there are a few comprehensive papers on the effects of additives and food processing. Therefore, the main goal of this manuscript is to propose an overview of the link between ultra-processed foods and the gut microbiota based on papers and data available in the literature. The literature search was performed on PubMed and Clinicaltrials.gov, and after the selection of the most relevant articles, the paper proposes a synopsis of the effects of some classes of additives (sweeteners, preservatives, emulsifiers, glutamate, etc.), as well as of some treatments, on the gut microbiota and some pathological conditions.

Keywords: additives; disease; food processing; health; microbiota equilibrium.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
VOSviewer analysis on the keywords of the articles retrieved on Scopus for 2023 and 2024 (search performed for UPF and health).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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