Human height is not affected by microbes, while metabolic parameters like weight, waist-to-hip ratio, and cholesterol levels are influenced by the microbiome and human genes.

“So, for example, if you look at human height, it is not affected by the microbes whatsoever. So almost all of the explanations for differences in human height came from the human genes and not from the microbes. However, when we looked at a number of metabolic parameters such as weight, waste to heat ratio, cholesterol levels, and many other metabolic features, we found that the microbes...the microbiome and the human genes had independent and very substantial effects on these traits.”