A recent LinkedIn post by Dr Michael Bartholomew has highlighted and answered a problem that confounds most health-conscious eaters: why is that two people eating the same meal can have completely different biological outcomes?
It’s a common head scratcher, particularly for couples trying to reduce weight or improve health outcomes together.
“We’ve all seen it: Two people follow the same diet. Same calories. Same macros. Same discipline. One thrives. The other struggles,” he said.
For years, we’ve blamed willpower, hormones, or “body type.” But the truth is far more interesting and far more hopeful. Inside each of us lives a microbial ecosystem that determines how we metabolise, respond, and recover.
“It’s not just the food. It’s how your microbiome interprets the food.”
Here’s what emerging research is revealing:
Some individuals harbour more Bifidobacterium longum and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii — bacteria shown to convert dietary fibres into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), improving gut-barrier integrity and lowering systemic inflammation (Zheng et al., 2020; Guo et al., 2021).
Others show a higher Prevotella-to-Bacteroides ratio — a microbial signature that can predict post-meal glucose spikes more accurately than the glycaemic index itself (Zeevi et al., 2015; Kovatcheva-Datchary et al., 2015).
In women with PCOS, higher levels of Akkermansia muciniphila correlate with stronger gut barrier function, reduced endotoxin leakage, and improved insulin sensitivity (Depommier et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2023).
“This isn’t old-school nutrition. This is biology explaining its nuance. We are entering the era of precision nutrition, where we move beyond calories and start decoding microbial fingerprints.
“Where 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, and metabolomics help us design diets that work with the gut ecosystem rather than against it.”
Bartholomew says the future of nutrition isn’t about restriction, it’s about interpretation.
Same meal. Different microbiome. Different biology. Different outcome.
“What we’re learning now is reshaping how we approach:
• metabolic health
• mental health
• PCOS and women’s health
• autoimmune disorders
• and even biological ageing
“The gut isn’t just a passenger. It’s a conductor. And it’s time we started listening.”
Footnote:
Dr Michael Bartholomew is the CEO and Founder of Transformational Future, a thought‑leadership and health innovation platform dedicated to helping people thrive in an age of relentless change. Known for his engaging storytelling and scientific clarity, he has become a trusted voice in longevity science, particularly in areas such as peptide therapy and mitochondrial health.
