Binge eating & the Microbiome
Have you ever been caught in the "should I or shouldn't I" battle with dessert or sweet treats? You've eaten a lovely meal full of nutritious food only to find someone offering you dessert at the end. You are full, but accept anyway. You eat a few bites and think "ok that's enough" but then continue to finish the dessert. Yep. Me too. Many of us have. I will paraphrase an article on this and include the link below:
Studies show that the absence of certain bacteria in the gut causes us to binge eat hyperpalatable foods. A gut disrupted by antibiotic use will consume up to 50% more sugary foods than a healthy gut. Of course you know if you've been watching my webinars or social media posts that gut microbiota has important influences on behavior and that these effects can be modulated when the microbiota is manipulated. Remember the gut/brain connection?
The gut microbiome has been shown to influence not only behaviors but also instances of disease like Parkinson's, obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases and the overuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs that bring illicit behavior.
"In another set of experiments, instead of simply having treats placed in their cages, the mice needed to push a button to receive a pellet. Each subsequent pellet required the mice to push the button more and more times. The untreated mice, at some point, would lose interest in pushing the button and wander away. However, the mice given oral antibiotics expended much more effort to obtain more and more sugar, pressing the button repeatedly as if desperately craving a snack."
