INSTITUTE OF FOOD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND NUTRITION (ICTAN), SPANISH NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (CSIC)

ASCENSIÓN MARCOS

This study will contribute to provide an answer to a recently posed but unresolved question: Does alcohol consumption habit have any effect on the composition of the microbial communities in the gut? It is not unreasonable to think that it does have an influence. If this study shows that subjects with a high consumption of alcohol have a different microbiota profile that people who drink moderately or are abstemious —independently of their BMI, age, and other potential confounding factor—, it will be an evidence that alcohol has a new impact on health that had not been previously considered. This is the reason why two countries have been chosen to carry out this study: Spain from South Europe with the Mediterranean diet habit and Slovenia belonging to Eastern Europe. Since microbiota is believed to interact with different body organs and functions, it is relevant to provide wise advice regarding a safe alcohol drinking pattern in order to preserve our gut health and in extension, overall health. Thus, the results obtained from this study will help health professionals to improve nutritional and health status of the general population. In the future, the analysis of microbiota might become an easily, accessible, and cost-effective health marker related to lifestyle.