Gut-microbe study races to capture what urban diets erase in urbanising India
A three-year study led by Niraj Rai of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences has created the first reference database of the gut microbiome in South Asia, highlighting the impact of urban diets on health. The research, involving 575 adults from 10 communities in India and Sri Lanka, links rising rates of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension to dietary changes due to urbanisation. With India projected to have 156.7 million adults with diabetes by 2050, the findings underscore the urgent need to understand these health trends as urbanisation accelerates.