The gut microbiome — the complex community of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the large intestine — has been a hot topic for a few decades (the National Institutes of Health launched the Human Microbiome Project in 2007). As scientists learn more about the connections between the gut microbiome and overall health, the topic has grown even hotter. The health of the gut microbiome has been linked to everything from digestive health to bone health to brain health.
Does it play a role in how well we age, too? Perhaps. Scientists have found that our population of gut microorganisms does change with age, but it’s unclear if these changes contribute to the aging process, or if aging contributes to the changes in the gut. It’s likely that it’s a two-way street: the microbiome changes with age and in response to age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, but the microbiome also influences how healthfully we age physically and cognitively.
Age-related changes in the gut microbiome vary from person to person based on personal, lifestyle, medical and environmental factors, and different patterns of change may be associated with different health outcomes later in life. Some research suggests that the diversity and uniqueness of your microbiome may be a key factor. For example, a 2021 study that analyzed the gut microbiomes of 9,000 people ages 18 to 101 found that as people get older, the gut microbiome does tend to change — and the.
