May 29th, 2016, is World Digestive Health Day! This year, the occasion brings a chance for the World Gastroenterology Organisation to raise awareness on the relationship between diet and gastrointestinal health.

The way in which your diet impacts your health is under active investigation by researchers around the world, and recent work suggests knowledge about the gut microbiota is critical to understanding this link. We know without a doubt that diet has a profound effect on which bacteria thrive in your gut. Now, more and more evidence shows your personal set of bacteria influences your response to food and many aspects of your health.

The Gut Microbiota for Health web platform is dedicated to covering all the latest advances in this area. On World Digestive Health Day, we take the opportunity to share some of our best educational resources on diet and gut health.

Here are the top 3 things you need to know on this topic, with links for finding out more!

1) A diverse gut microbiota is linked with good health—and a dietary change can quickly increase or decrease your gut microbiota diversity.

An interview with Professor Hill: A healthy diet for a healthy gut microbiota

Drastic changes in diet can modify microbiota content in less than a week

A low-fibre diet could affect gut microbiota diversity over generations

2) Your existing set of gut bacteria can affect your individualized response to foods.

Gut microbiota may improve sugar metabolism in humans

Can our gut microbiota contribute to the effect healthy foods have on us?

3) Probiotics and prebiotics in foods can benefit your gut health.

Nutrition, microbiota and gut health: we are what we eat

Understanding probiotics and prebiotics

Interview with Mary Ellen Sanders: “Probiotics can have a positive impact on

the gut environment”