11/21
Does you gut drive your dietary choices? Some believe that, for some people, the intestinal flora influences cravings for fatty or sugary foods which may lead to obesity.
Scientists have a new take on of recent scientific literature in a recent review. They’ve concluded that microbes can actually trigger cravings in an attempt to procure more of the foods that will support their growth. This process affects actual eating behavior. Though the authors of the review concede that it is “unclear” how the microbes achieve this end, that do theorize that microbes may influence food cravings and choices by releasing signaling molecules into the gut. These molecules have, connections to key systems in the body, which impact health significantly including the immune system, endocrine system and nervous system.
Additional theories include the vagus nerve. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico, suggest that gut bacteria may influence eating decisions by working through the vagus nerve’s connection to the 100 million nerve cells which link the digestive tract to the base of the brain.
Fortunately, the study’s reviewers find that food choices can alter and improve the microbiome within a day’s time. The review author’s comment that microbiota “are easily (manipulated) by prebiotics, probiotics, antibiotics, fecal transplants, and dietary changes…(offering) a tractable approach to otherwise intractable problems of obesity and unhealthy eating.”
It is important to remember that individual microbiomes are widely varied from one individual to another. Each person’s health is greatly affected by his or her own unique blend of organisms. Because recent research suggests, that as a population, microbiomes are generally becoming increasingly less balanced, we have to consider the impact to our health individually and on a larger scale. Diets weighed down by processed foods and increased exposure to antibiotics is worrisome.
The researcher’s review indicates a likelihood that we will ultimately need to exercise control over our own microbiomes, rather than allow them to continue to drive us toward ill health and obesity.
