Researchers from the Institute of Health Management at PLA General Hospital in Beijing, China, found that losing weight changes the intestinal microflora, reducing the activity of areas of the brain responsible for the formation of addictions (including food addiction). results published In the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.
Scientists explained that a healthy and balanced gut microbiome is critical for energy homeostasis and maintaining a healthy weight. On the contrary, bacterial imbalance can lead to the development of abnormal eating behavior. This is due to the connection between the gut and the brain. Changes in the microbiome can affect the functioning of certain areas of the brain by affecting the endocrine, nervous, and immune systems.
To identify specific changes in the microbiome that contribute to normal eating behavior, scientists conducted a study involving 25 Chinese men and women who were obese. The average age of the subjects was 27 years. Participants first underwent a “strictly controlled fasting phase” that lasted 32 days. It was characterized by a reduction in daily calorie intake to a quarter of the normal number under the supervision of a nutritionist. They then spent 30 days in a “low-controlled fasting phase,” in which women consumed 500 calories and men consumed 600 calories.
At the end of the experiment, scientists evaluated the composition of the participants’ gut microbiome using stool and blood tests. They found that the number of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Parabacteroides distasonis and Bacterocles standardis bacteria increased, while the number of Escherichia coli decreased.
The abundance of P. distasonis and Flavonifractor plautii bacteria was positively associated with activity in brain regions associated with attention, motor inhibition, emotion and learning, the researchers explained. At the same time, reducing the amount of Escherichia coli, Coprococcus, and Eubacterium hallii “helps” the brain’s left orbital inferior frontal gyrus control executive functions, including the desire to lose weight. These changes to the gut microbiome helped participants improve appetite regulation and reduce food addiction.
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