Designing healthier bread through the lens of the gut microbiota

Abstract

Food systems worldwide have become industrialized over the past century with impacts on diets, nutrition and health. The trade-offs between affordability and higher-quality diets can be exemplified by industrially produced, refined wheat bread. There is substantial demand for designing healthier bread, and host-microbiota commensalism has emerged as a key factor in food product development aiming to deliver health benefits. Based on pre-clinical and clinical studies, this review provides an overview of main strategies for designing healthy bread from the microbiota perspective. We also discuss how microbiota-based precision nutrition can be harnessed in the design of healthy bread tailored to specific individuals or populations. In addition to being an important source of dietary fiber and phytochemicals, bread is the largest contributor to the intake of common food additives in the countries consuming Western-like diets with ramifications in health and disease via the gut microbiota. Pre-clinical and small-scale clinical studies suggest that the use of alternative grains, supplementation of bread to induce functional properties and sourdough fermentation hold great potential in reducing the risk factors associated with diet-related non-communicable diseases by modulating the gut microbiota. Nevertheless, functional ingredients formulated in bread may need to be applied in a targeted and individual-specific manner to deliver expected benefits and avoid potentially detrimental consequences. Overall, we identify major knowledge gaps and research opportunities for developing gut-friendly breads with scientifically validated health benefits.