Gut Feelings: Examining the Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on Public Health Outcomes and Interventions targeting the Gut Microbiota.

The adoption of Western diets and sedentary lifestyles has been linked to alterations in gut microbiota, which may be implicated in the heightened prevalence of chronic inammatory diseases, including diabetes, autoimmune diseases, obesity, depression, and heart disease. Constituting salty and high-fat packaged snacks, confectionery and candied sweets, pastry products, powdered instant noodles, soups, cereals, children's medications and, in some instances, even baby formula – ultra-processed foods (UPFs) pose a mounting public health crisis. UPFs disrupt the overall composition of the Gut Microbiota – promoting inammation, gut dysbiosis, and negatively impacting cognitive function and processes. This paper reviews the intersections between ultra-processed foods, the Gut Microbiota, and public health issues including food addiction, neuropsychiatric disorders, offspring decits, obesity and type-2 diabetes. It also synthesises myriad interventions targeting the gut microbiota that can broadly be classied into the categories: gut metabolites, fermented foods and dietary patterns. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, there is very sparse collation on this subject. This paper emphasises the deleterious implications that are brought about by UPFs that are hoped to be taken into consideration while adjusting and framing nutritional policies for proprietary foods.