>people in U.S. cities...people in less developed parts of the world
What about people in the US who are not in cities? That's the more interesting comparison to me. Why would that be left out?
What about people in the US who are not in cities? That's the more interesting comparison to me. Why would that be left out?
At least in the US, my lay-intuition is that you wouldn't see much of a difference between average Americans between urban, suburban, and rural settings. That's perhaps worth testing, but I think the much more interesting test would be between wealth and class groups.
(Again, wild speculation: it's easy to imagine that most gut biota don't care about the difference between dollar-store knockoff sodas and brand-name sodas, but definitely do care about $14 free-range, organic eggs.)
Can you elaborate on why you think this is the case? Intuitively to me, most folks’ diets are going to be mostly cooked eggs which would reduce any effect on bacteria in the gut.
It wouldn't surprise me, but that would call into question the entire notion that the article is attempting to create -- that urban (and therefore non-urban) is the key factor in the differences it mentions in gut flora.
(Update: I was thinking about this from a scientific perspective, ignoring the idea that people might be interested in what it means for them personally (facepalm) )