Heritage diets are disappearing as food systems homogenize; their effects on immunity, metabolism and host–microbiome biology remain poorly understood. The World Diet Initiative offers a framework to document heritage diets and investigate their effects before they are lost
Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe
This is a preview of subscription content, access
Access options
Access through your institution
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
39,95 €
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Popkin, B. M. Nutr. Rev.62, S140–S143 (2004)
NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Nature653, 510–518 (2026)
Sonnenburg, E. D. & Sonnenburg, J. L. Nat. Rev. Microbiol.17, 383–390 (2019)
David, L. A. et al. Nature505, 559–563 (2014)
Sonnenburg, J. L. & Bäckhed, F. Nature535, 56–64 (2016)
Wastyk, H. C. et al. Cell184, 4137–4153 (2021)
Zhang, F. et al. Cell Metab37, 2128–2148 (2025)
Nat. Med. 31, 1371 (2025)
LeBlanc, K. E. et al. Adv. Nutr.15, 100221 (2024)
Herforth, A. et al. Adv. Nutr.10, 590–605 (2019)
Spinosa, J. P., Lee, D. C., Duraj, T. & Seyfried, T. N. Nutr. Metab.22, 123 (2025)
Temba, G. S. et al. Nat. Med.31, 1698–1711 (2025)
Shin, P.-K. et al. Nutrients12, 2468 (2020)
Santiago-Torres, M. et al. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.103, 366–374 (2016)
Jones, J. P. H., Abdullah, M. M. H., Wood, D. & Jones, P. J. H. Food Nutr. Res. 63, (2019)
Acknowledgements
This Comment was enabled in part by collaboration within the Africa–Europe Cluster of Research Excellence “Translational Research in Infection, Immunity and Inflammation” (Tri-I), led by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-intensive Universities. The authors also acknowledge funding from ZonMw (the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) for the TransMic and TransInf studies (grant 5290162210003), which informed the development of the scientific rationale for the World Diet Initiative.
Author information
Author notes
These authors contributed equally: Quirijn de Mast, Carly V. Brown
These authors jointly supervised this work: Bruno Sunguya, Mihai G. Netea
Authors and Affiliations
Department of Internal Medicine, Radboudumc Research Institute for Medical Innovation, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Quirijn de Mast, Carly V. Brown, Godfrey S. Temba, Vinod Kumar & Mihai G. Netea
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, KCMC University, Moshi, Tanzania
Quirijn de Mast, Carly V. Brown & Godfrey S. Temba
School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Felistar Mwakasungura & Bruno Sunguya
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda
Damalie Nakanjako
Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Damalie Nakanjako
Nitte University Centre for Science Education & Research, Paneer campus, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangalore, India
Vinod Kumar & Anirban Chakraborty
Department of Nutrition Science, Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University, Central Java, Indonesia
Adriyan Pramono
Department of Medical Genetics and Department of Translational Immunology, Medfuture Institute for Biomedical Research, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Tania O. Crișan
Human Genomics Laboratory, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, Romania
Anca Riza
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Community for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Marien I. de Jonge
Institute for Management Research and Global Data Lab, Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Natascha Wagner
Division of Gastroenterology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Frank Hoentjen
Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Adaliene Versiani M. Ferreira
Department of Medical Oncology, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangalore, India
Anirban Chakraborty
Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Mauro Teixeira
CDT-Africa, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abebaw Fekadu
Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Brighton and University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Abebaw Fekadu
Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Ramnik J. Xavier
Program in Immunology, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Ramnik J. Xavier
Department of Immunology and Metabolism, Life and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Mihai G. Netea
Authors
- Quirijn de MastView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Carly V. BrownView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Felistar MwakasunguraView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Damalie NakanjakoView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Godfrey S. TembaView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Vinod KumarView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Adriyan PramonoView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Tania O. CrișanView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Anca RizaView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Marien I. de JongeView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Natascha WagnerView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Frank HoentjenView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Adaliene Versiani M. FerreiraView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Anirban ChakrabortyView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Mauro TeixeiraView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Abebaw FekaduView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Ramnik J. XavierView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Bruno SunguyaView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
- Mihai G. NeteaView author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Mast, Q., Brown, C.V., Mwakasungura, F. et al. Studying vanishing dietary diversity before it is lost: the World Diet Initiative.
Nat Med (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04520-5
Published:15 July 2026
Version of record:15 July 2026
DOI
:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04520-5
