Diet and gut microbiome contributions to host energy balance, with Dr. Karen Corbin PhD RD
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This episode features Dr. Karen Corbin PhD RD from AdventHealth Translational Research Institute (USA), speaking about how the triad of diet, gut microbiome, and host characteristics contribute to energy balance as well as metabolic diseases. From the perspective of host physiology, she explores how to use diet to remodel the gut microbiome to impact energy balance in healthy individuals and those with obesity. Energy balance relates to many different diseases: metabolic diseases and even brain-related conditions. Her center is equipped to measure energy metabolism very precisely and deeply, controlling participants’ energy intake and measuring the resulting oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. Diets that feed the gut microbiome lead to more fecal energy loss and higher microbial biomass, indicating that some of the dietary energy is not absorbed by the host, but rather is used for biomass growth. Diet is a must-have in gut microbiome studies because researchers need to know what substrates the microbes are seeing from the host diet. Overall, the field needs to balance highly controlled studies with real-world studies and interpret the results together. Metabolite analysis is a quickly evolving area; some metabolites are associated with leanness or obesity. Other metabolites are promising for revealing a participant’s dietary intake (as Gibbons lab work has shown). Dr. Corbin is exploring the concept that possibly some people – because of genetics, microbiome, or other factors – reabsorb more of the energy substrates produced in the colon. An oversupply of energy to the host is detrimental for metabolic-related diseases, so in the future perhaps a precision intervention could be developed that prevents the gut microbiome from allowing the host to absorb an excess amount of energy.
Episode abbreviations and links:
- 2023 diet study on energy balance led by Dr. Corbin: Host-diet-gut microbiome interactions influence human energy balance: a randomized clinical trial
- Review exploring the “thrifty microbiome” concept: New Evidence for a Thrifty Microbiome in Humans
- Work from Gibbons lab showing evidence of dietary intake through fecal metabolites: Metagenomic estimation of dietary intake from human stool
- Geeks That Speak website
About Dr. Karen Corbin PhD RD:
Karen Corbin, PhD, RD, is an Associate Investigator at the AdventHealth Translational Research Institute and the Founder and Chief Geek of Geeks That Speak. Dr. Corbin’s scientific career is focused on human nutrition and metabolism. She explores the mechanisms, including the gut microbiome, that drive individual susceptibility to metabolic diseases such as and obesity, diabetes and liver disease. Her overall goal is to advance clinically relevant research that is poised to transform patient care. Dr. Corbin is also an expert in scientific storytelling. She founded Geeks That Speak to help scientists and other “geeks” to deliver complex scientific information in a way that is impactful, relevant and inspires action.
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