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Microbiota and the Immune System, Part 2 Mediterranean Dietary Influences on Microbiota
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Microbiota and the Immune System, Part 2 Mediterranean Dietary Influences on Microbiota

Stephanie Maxine Ross
Holistic nursing practice, v 38(1), pp 58-61
01 Jan 2024
PMID: 37966991

Abstract

Integrative & Complementary Medicine Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology Nursing
Microbiota is defined as the entirety of microbes, which include bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses that are found in a particular environment at a particular time.1 These microorganisms have been identified in various locations of the human body, such as the skin, mouth, nose, vagina and vaginal secretion, seminal fluid, and mammary glands, with the greatest number located in the gastrointestinal tract (gut) due to the bioavailability of nutrients.2 However, it is in the gastrointestinal tract, and particularly in the gut, where they seem to be most relevant and are directly related to a broad spectrum of pathologies.3 It is estimated that the adult human gut microbiota consists of 10 trillion to 100 trillion microbes that represent approximately 5000 distinct species. The intestinal microbiota environment is composed predominately of anaerobic bacteria. A healthy gut microbiota is mainly composed of anaerobic bacteria dominated by 2 different phyla, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, that account for 70% to 75% of the microbiome.(4)

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