Influence of Early Life, Diet, and the Environment on the Microbiome

Advances in sequencing technology and bioinformatics have greatly enhanced our ability to understand the human microbiome. Over the last decade, a growing body of literature has linked nutrition and the environment to the microbiome and is now thought to be an important contributor to overall health. This paper reviews the literature from the past 10 years to highlight the influence of environmental factors such as diet, early life adversity and stress in shaping and modifying our microbiome towards health and disease. The review shows that many factors such as the mode of delivery, breast milk, stress, diet and medications can greatly influence the development of our gut microbiome and potentially make us more prone to certain diseases. By incorporating environmental factors into models that study the microbiome in the setting of health and disease, may provide a better understanding of disease and potentially new areas of treatment. To highlight this, we will additionally explore the role of the environment and the microbiome in the development of obesity and functional bowel disorders.