High sugar intake reduces gut bacterial diversity during antibiotic use

A study published in the journal Nature indicates that a high-sugar diet can significantly exacerbate the damage to the gut microbiome during broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment. Researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health, and City of Hope analyzed the relationship between nutrition, medication, and microbial diversity.

The study examined 9,419 meals from 173 hospitalized adult blood cancer patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants between 2017 and 2022. Approximately 80% of these patients received at least one broad-spectrum antibiotic. By analyzing over 1,000 stool samples from 158 patients, the team tracked changes in bacterial composition.

The findings revealed that for every additional 100g of sweets or sugar-rich foods consumed (based on dry weight), bacterial alpha-diversity decreased by approximately 24.1% during antibiotic exposure. A more specific analysis of macronutrients showed a 20.6% reduction in bacterial diversity per additional 100g of sugar.