Research
Macro partitioning
A weight loss diet reduced in carbohydrates and high in protein decreases the abundance of Eubacterium rectale and Collinsella aerofaciens, likely due to reduced substrate availability for these specific bacterial groups.
When following a low-carbohydrate weight loss diet, you may see a decrease in certain butyrate-producing bacteria like E. rectale. This is likely due to less carbohydrate substrate for them to ferment. This is a normal physiological response to the diet composition rather than a sign of gut damage.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Relatives of Eubacterium rectale increased on RS (to mean 10.1%) but decreased, along with Collinsella aerofaciens, on WL.
Why this rating
Controlled trial with qPCR data showing significant decrease (P<0.029).
Source
Dominant and diet-responsive groups of bacteria within the human colonic microbiota
Alan W. Walker et al. · The ISME Journal · 2010
DOI 10.1038/ismej.2010.118
crossover · n=14Cited 1,617×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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