TY  - JOUR
AU  - Temba, Godfrey S
AU  - Pecht, Tal
AU  - Kullaya, Vesla I
AU  - Vadaq, Nadira
AU  - Mosha, Mary V
AU  - Ulas, Thomas
AU  - Kanungo, Sneha
AU  - van Emst, Liesbeth
AU  - Bonaguro, Lorenzo
AU  - Schulte-Schrepping, Jonas
AU  - Mafuru, Elias
AU  - Lionetti, Paolo
AU  - Mhlanga, Musa M
AU  - van der Ven, Andre J
AU  - Cavalieri, Duccio
AU  - Joosten, Leo A B
AU  - Kavishe, Reginald A
AU  - Mmbaga, Blandina T
AU  - Schultze, Joachim L
AU  - Netea, Mihai G
AU  - de Mast, Quirijn
TI  - Immune and metabolic effects of African heritage diets versus Western diets in men: a randomized controlled trial.
JO  - Nature medicine
VL  - 31
IS  - 5
SN  - 1078-8956
CY  - [New York, NY]
PB  - Springer Nature
M1  - DZNE-2025-00633
SP  - 1698 - 1711
PY  - 2025
AB  - African heritage diets are increasingly being replaced by Western-style dietary patterns because of urbanization, economic development, increased access to processed foods, globalization and changing social norms. The health consequences of this nutrition transition are not well understood. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in the Kilimanjaro region in Northern Tanzania to investigate the immune and metabolic effects of switching between Kilimanjaro heritage-style and Western-style diets for 2 weeks and consuming a traditional fermented banana beverage ('Mbege') for 1 week. Seventy-seven young and healthy volunteers assigned male at birth, some living in urban areas and some living in rural areas, were recruited in the trial. Primary outcomes were changes in the immune and metabolic profile before and after the intervention and at the 4-week follow-up. The switch from heritage-style to Western-style diet affected different metabolic pathways associated with noncommunicable diseases and promoted a pro-inflammatory state with impaired whole-blood cytokine responses to microbial stimulation. In contrast, the switch from Western-style to heritage-style diet or consuming the fermented beverage had a largely anti-inflammatory effect. Some of the observed changes in the immune and metabolic profiles persisted at the follow-up, suggesting a sustained impact from the short-term intervention. These findings show the metabolic and immune effects of dietary transitions and the consumption of fermented beverages, underscoring the importance of preserving indigenous dietary practices to mitigate noncommunicable disease risk factors in sub-Saharan Africa. ISRCTN trial registration: ISRCTN15619939 .
KW  - Humans
KW  - Male
KW  - Tanzania
KW  - Adult
KW  - Diet, Western: adverse effects
KW  - Young Adult
KW  - Diet
KW  - Musa
KW  - Adolescent
KW  - Cytokines: blood
KW  - Cytokines (NLM Chemicals)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:40181181
C2  - pmc:PMC12092257
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41591-025-03602-0
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/278797
ER  -