At a probiotic symposium, Rajiv Gauba, Member, NITI Aayog, stated that India’s rich history of fermented foods should be utilized to counteract the ongoing trend towards ultra-processed diets, which pose a threat to gut health and long-term public health.

According to a statement released on Saturday by the NITI Aayog, social media-driven food choices, shifting lifestyles, and the growth of fast commerce are pulling people away from traditional, nutrient-dense diets, Gauba said at a symposium hosted by the Gut Microbiota and Probiotic Science Foundation.

Since it is predicted that 56. 4% of India’s disease burden is caused by poor or unbalanced diets, he warned that these tendencies may have significant long-term effects on gut health.

India is in a good position to spearhead the worldwide probiotic movement by integrating traditional wisdom with genomic and microbiome research to create clinically validated probiotics, owing to its long history of fermented foods and old culinary practices, he said.

He emphasized the significant public health benefits of probiotics in lowering the burden of infectious and chronic illnesses, enhancing nutrition, and boosting the immunity of the population.

Gauba warned that “micro-organisms might have macro consequences” and encouraged scientists and doctors to combat deceptive marketing in the probiotics and dietary supplements industry.

Gauba noted that out-of-pocket health costs have decreased from 62. 6% to 39. 4% between FY15 and FY22, saving households over Rs 1. 25 lakh crore, citing government programs like Ayushman Bharat, PM-JAY, PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.

Only by having a healthy workforce and making timely preparations for active and healthy aging as the proportion of older people in the population increases can India truly benefit from its demographic dividend, he added.

In order to extend specialized treatment to underserved populations, he pushed healthcare professionals to prescribe more inexpensive generic medications and make better use of data analytics, telemedicine, digital health technologies, and artificial intelligence.

According to Gauba, microbiome science has moved from descriptive studies to mechanistic and translational research. He emphasized emerging frontiers like synthetic biology, CRISPR-enabled engineering of probiotic strains with specific anti-inflammatory and metabolic functions for precision medicine, and next-generation microbiome-based therapy.