(OR22-03-23) Short-Term Effects of Healthy Dietary Pattern Cycling on Gut Microbiota and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

Objectives: Previous research demonstrates that adopting, abandoning, and re-adopting a healthy dietary pattern improves, reverts, and re-improves cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. In addition, changes in CVD risk factors are associated with dietary modifications of gut microbiota. Therefore, we aim to retrospectively assess the effects of cycling a healthy dietary pattern on gut microbiota and CVD risk factors.

Methods: We used data from a randomized-controlled, crossover trial with three 3-week controlled diet interventions, each separated by a 5-week period of participant-chosen, uncontrolled food intake. Nineteen participants (11 males, age 26 ± 4 years old, BMI 23 ± 3 kg/m²) consumed all intervention diets that were Healthy U.S.-Style Dietary Patterns. Gut microbiota composition (N=17) and cardiovascular risk factors (N=19) were measured before and after each healthy dietary pattern intervention.

Results: Repeatedly adopting and abandoning a healthy dietary pattern led to a cycling pattern of changes in the gut microbial community and taxonomic composition. During the healthy dietary pattern cycles, relative abundances of several bacterial taxa (e.g., Collinsella, Mediterraneibacter, Romboutsia, and Dorea) decreased and returned to baseline repeatedly. Similar healthy dietary pattern cycling occurred for diet quality (2015-healthy eating index) and multiple CVD risk factors (e.g., serum total cholesterol and LDL-C concentrations). Consistent negative associations were observed between changes in Mediterraneibacter or Collinsella and serum total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio.

Conclusions: These results support previous findings that healthy dietary pattern cycling affects multiple CVD risk factors and expand the healthy dietary pattern cycling phenomenon to include several bacterial taxa. Young adults are encouraged to adopt and sustain a healthy dietary pattern to improve cardiovascular health, potentially through modifications of gut microbiota.

Funding Sources: Co-funded by the Pork Checkoff, North Dakota Beef Commission, Beef Checkoff, and Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education