What we eat is one of the cornerstones of our health. Whether we’re eating healthy, nutritious meals or foods loaded with sugars and fats, we are directly impacting how our body creates and stores energy. But what drives us to choose the foods that we do, what causes us to have intense cravings for certain foods? The answer may lie in our own stomachs.
Our stomachs have a unique microbiome filled with thousands of different species of bacteria. These bacteria are primarily responsible for breaking down the food we eat, but they have other responsibilities too. These bacteria create neurotransmitters, which are responsible for different emotions in our brains. So, what happens when these bacteria get hungry?
Inducing Cravings
The research study began with flies and mice before turning to humans, but what they found was the bacteria in the microbiome could induce cravings for certain foods. However, not all of these foods were beneficial. Flies have a natural diet high in yeast for the proteins it provides, yet some flies would avoid yeast because the microbes wanted something else. Mice with germ-free stomachs, or no microbiomes, had altered taste buds. Once they were given a microbiome, their taste buds changed along with their food preferences.
The researchers were able to pinpoint the preferences of some bacteria, including fiber for Bifidobacteria and fat for bacteroidetes. And when these bacteria get hungry, they create changes in the body to get what they want.
The microbes are able to create toxins if we don’t feed them exactly what they want. They are also able to change our taste buds, open different receptors in our brain, and create dopamine and serotonin. By using these tricks they are able to get us to crave certain foods that the bacteria want, even if they’re not good for us.
We can make strides to remove the bad bacteria from our systems. We can also diversify our diet to prevent any specific bacteria from dominating our microbiome. Another option is to eat more fiber to help beneficial Bifidobacteria. But ultimately, we need to watch what we eat to prevent our microbiomes from causing more harm than good.
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