GLOSSARY

Gut Microbiota Major Phyla Table

Taxonomic names evolve; broad phylum proportions do not diagnose gut health or prescribe an athlete diet.

Gut Microbiota is the intestinal microbial assemblage, emphasizing organisms rather than only genes or metabolites.

Microbiota refers to organisms in an environment; microbiome can also include their genes and ecological setting, depending on the definition. Gut communities contain more than bacteria, and intestinal regions differ. Stool offers a useful view of part of this system, not a complete map of small-intestinal or mucosal populations. Define the sample and terminology before interpreting a report as a description of the entire body.

Microbes interact with substrates, chemistry, the host and one another, rather than forming a simple good-versus-bad list. Cooperation, competition and use of another organism's products coexist. A species' effect depends on strain, location and context. In sports nutrition, a varied tolerable dietary pattern is more useful than maximizing one bacterial name without human evidence. Ecological relationships cannot be inferred from a single abundance measurement alone.

Composition identifies detected groups; functional potential concerns genetic capacity, while activity concerns what is actually expressed or produced. Different communities can share functions. A gene's presence does not guarantee a particular metabolite output. Organism names alone therefore establish neither extra usable energy nor improved absorption, strength or recovery. Distinguish taxonomic detection, measured activity and meaningful human outcomes when assessing a microbiome claim.