Adding gut transit time data improves predictions of gut microbiota composition beyond diet alone, indicating that individual gut rhythms influence disease risk and treatment responses.

A comprehensive 2023 review of thousands of participants across multiple studies links gut transit time to distinct microbiome profiles, with faster and slower transit associated with different microbial communities and health implications.

Slower transit, constipation, and related gut conditions show links to metabolic, inflammatory, and even neurological disorders, including potential connections to Parkinson’s disease, underscoring transit time’s health relevance.

Faster transit tends to associate with microbiomes rich in fast-growing, carbohydrate-lean bacteria and more variable stool consistency, while slower transit favors protein-utilizing species and may reduce diversity.

The study was published in 2023 in the journal Gut, with an earlier version noted as published in December 2025.

The findings advocate treating gut rhythm as a factor in research and clinical practice to tailor diets, probiotics, medications, and other therapies to individual gut dynamics.

Transit time can be estimated using swallowable sensor capsules, Bristol Stool Scale assessments, and markers like blue dye or corn to infer how long intestinal contents stay in the colon.

Incorporating transit time measurements can deepen understanding of diet–microbiota interactions and microbiome-related health and disease across the lifespan.