Your Gut Bacteria Determine Whether Healthy Foods Actually Help You

Scientists mapped 775 plant nutrients and discovered that the gut bacteria’s ability to convert them varies dramatically from person to person.

Illustration by The Epoch Times/Shutterstock

Two people eat the same bowl of blueberries—one gets a surge of anti-inflammatory compounds, the other gets almost nothing. The reason, according to a study, lies in their gut bacteria. It turns out that most people lack key enzymes needed to unlock the health benefits of the fruits and vegetables they’re eating.

The findings, published in December 2025 in Nature Microbiology, show that people differ widely in how well their gut can turn nutrients from plants into forms the body can use—and that this process can be disrupted in chronic diseases.