India, Dec. 15 -- The gut microbiome is the community of bacteria living in our intestines. Scientists have found it affects overall health and can play a role in diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The good part is that it can be changed by diet and lifestyle.

A new study published in Nature looked at gut bacteria, diet, and health markers in over 34,500 people in the US and the UK. The data came from the ZOE PREDICT program, run by the microbiome testing company Zoe.

Researchers used machine learning to study 661 different bacteria in the participants' guts. They looked for links between these bacteria and health markers like BMI, blood sugar, triglycerides, and HbA1c. From these, they identified the 50 most beneficial an...