Our gut contains a vast community of microorganisms. One characteristic scientists use to describe this community is microbial diversity — essentially, how varied the microorganisms living in the gut are.
Greater diversity has often been associated with better health. New research suggests that this may also be relevant to healthy aging.
What did the latest study find?
A large 2026 population study identified several different patterns of gut microbiota.
One pattern stood out because it had particularly high microbial diversity.
People with this profile tended to have lower systemic inflammation, including lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a widely used marker of inflammation.
They also showed a more favorable metabolic and physiological profile.
By contrast, the less favorable, low-diversity Bacteroides 2 microbiome pattern was associated with higher body mass index (BMI), higher triglycerides, lower HDL cholesterol and lower cardiorespiratory fitness.
These differences suggest that microbiome diversity may be connected not only with gut health, but also with processes affecting the whole body.
Could diversity also be linked to future health?
The researchers were able to follow participants through national health records for up to nine years.
People with the high-diversity microbiome profile had about a 21% lower overall rate of new hospital-associated diagnoses during follow-up.
This is important because the association was not limited to inflammation or metabolic measurements taken at a single point in time. The microbiome profile was also associated with subsequent health outcomes.
However, this does not prove that greater microbial diversity itself prevented disease.
Why might diversity matter?
Different gut microorganisms perform different biological functions.
They can help process components of food, produce biologically active substances and interact with the intestinal barrier, metabolism and immune system.
A diverse microbial community may therefore provide a broader range of functions and contribute to a more resilient gut ecosystem.
But more diversity is not automatically better.
Which microorganisms are present — and what they actually do — also matters. There is currently no single diversity score that defines a healthy gut.
What does this mean for healthy aging?
The emerging evidence suggests that microbial diversity is one useful feature of gut health.
In this study, a high-diversity microbiome was associated with lower inflammation, a healthier metabolic profile and lower subsequent disease risk.
That does not make diversity a stand-alone measure of health, but it strengthens the case for the gut microbiome as one of the biological systems potentially relevant to healthy aging.
Based on Research
Eriksen C, Chatzigiannidou I, Dehli RK, et al. Gut microbiota composition outperforms chronological age in predicting systemic inflammation and incident disease risk. Nature Communications. 2026.
