Cravings for fatty foods traced to gut-brain connection

At Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, scientists studying mice found that fat entering the intestines triggers a signal.

A dieter wrestling with cravings for fatty foods might be tempted to blame their tongue: the delicious taste of butter or ice cream is hard to resist. But new research investigating the source of our appetites has uncovered an entirely new connection between the gut and the brain that drives our desire for fat.

At Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, scientists studying mice found that fat entering the intestines triggers a signal. Conducted along nerves to the brain, this signal drives a desire for fatty foods. Published September 7, 2022, in Nature, the new study raises the possibility of interfering with this gut-brain connection to help prevent unhealthy choices and address the growing global health crisis caused by overeating.

"We live in unprecedented times, in which the over-consumption of fats and sugars is causing an epidemic of obesity and metabolic disorders," said first author Mengtong Li, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of the Zuckerman Institute's Charles Zuker, PhD, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "If we want to control our insatiable desire for fat, science is showing us that the key conduit driving these cravings is a connection between the gut and the brain."

This new view of dietary choices and health started with previous work from the Zuker lab on sugar. Researchers found that glucose activates a specific gut-brain circuit that communicates to the brain in the presence of intestinal sugar. Calorie-free artificial sweeteners, in contrast, do not have this effect, likely explaining why diet sodas can leave us feeling unsatisfied.

"Our research is showing that the tongue tells our brain what we like, such as things that taste sweet, salty or fatty," said Dr. Zuker, who is also a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics and of neuroscience at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "The gut, however, tells our brain what we want, what we need."

Dr. Li wanted to explore how mice respond to dietary fats: the lipids and fatty acids that every animal must consume to provide the building blocks of life. She offered mice bottles of water with dissolved fats, including a component of soybean oil, and bottles of water containing sweet substances known to not affect the gut but that are initially attractive. The rodents developed a strong preference, over a couple of days, for the fatty water. They formed this preference even when the scientists genetically modified the mice to remove the animals' ability to taste fat using their tongues.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

 

A good night's sleep is the secret to overall health

While a lot has been said about sleep and its effect on our health, a new study has indicated that poor sleep is linked to poor gut microbiome which in turn affects the overall health.

Not sleeping properly can have negative effects on your gut microbiome, which can lead to additional health issues, according to a study.

Given the strong gut-brain bidirectional communication they likely influence each other said one of the researchers.

Based on previous reports, we think that poor sleep probably exerts a strong negative effect on gut health / microbiome diversity, he added.

For those wondering what is gut microbiome, it's all the microorganisma ( bacteria, viruses, protoza and fungi) and their genetic material found in your gastrointestinal tract (GI).

For this study, participants wore what he called an " Apple Watch on steroids" to bed, which monitored all sorts of vitals. This way, researchers could determine just how well a night's sleep the subjects received and then they tested the subjects' gut microbiome.

What the findings indicated was that those who slept well had a more diverse or better gut microbiome.

He explained that gut microbiome diversity is associated with other health issues, such as Parkinson's disease and autoimmune diseases, as well as psychological health ( anxiety and depression).

Thus, more diverse someone's gut microbiome is, the likelihood is they will have better overall health.

We know that sleep is pretty much the " Swiss Army Knife of health. Getting a good night's sleep can lead to improved health, and a lack of sleep can have detrimental effects" he said.

So, what determines someone's gut microbiome? According to another researcher, there are a couple of factors that come into play.

One is genetics- some people are predisposed at a genetic level to have a more diverse gut microbiome than their friends and neighbours.

Another is drugs- certain medications, including antibiotics, can have an impact on the diversity of your gut microbiome. Your diet plays a factor as well.

 

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement              

Different ways by which your Gut affects you

People that suffer from chronic digestive issues will know that having an upset tummy is not fun at all, but the long-term effects of gut problems may be even worse than you expected. In the past few years, science learned a lot about our digestive system, and one of the hottest topics in medicine today is that of the gut microbiome, meaning all the beneficial microorganisms that live in our gut and help us so much.

 

Scientists all around the world now believe that what you eat and what bacteria you promote in your gut can affect anything from allergies to heart disease and everything in-between.

1. An unhealthy gut may promote heart disease.

It’s no news that heart disease is linked to high cholesterol levels, but only recently scientists  discovered the connection between an unhealthy gut and high blood cholesterol levels. It was found that certain kinds of gut bacteria make your blood vessels absorb more of the unhealthy cholesterol from the gut into your blood. The excess cholesterol then leads to the formation of plaques in your blood vessels and causes heart disease. It is unclear, however, which strains of bacteria affect cholesterol absorption. 

What is clear, though, is that foods rich in fiber and fiber supplements, such as psyllium husks and flax-seeds, can lower the absorption of the cholesterol into the blood by as much as 25%. That is why it is always a good idea to pair fiber-rich foods with foods that are high in cholesterol, such as red meat and eggs, or to supplement fiber if you know that your diet contains a lot of foods high in cholesterol.

2. Your mental health depends on your gut health.

Your intestines share some real-estate with a lot of nerve tissues that regulate your digestion and communicate with your spine and brain. These nerves are often referred to as the gut-brain, but the scientific term is actually the enteric nervous system.

This gut-brain is suspected to regulate your mood and anxiety levels by exchanging chemical signals called neurotransmitters with your brain. In this way, what you eat and how your intestines digest food can influence your mood.

But it also goes further than that, as scientists now believe that an unhealthy gut and a poor diet may cause depression and anxiety disorders. In several studies, there was a marked improvement of anxiety and depressive symptoms after patients were administered probiotic supplements. 
Even if you don’t suffer from anxiety or depression, you can make use of the gut and brain connection, as a 2016 article suggests that fermented foods (i.e. foods rich in probiotics) can increase a person’s cognitive abilities and mood. 

3. Can intestinal problems be a cause of obesity?

It is no secret that eating too much will upset your digestive system and make you gain weight, but there is another way in which a bad diet can make you overweight. 
In a recent study, the authors sum up that our friend from the previous section, the gut-brain, can sometimes trick our brains into thinking they are hungry. The gut-brain communicates with a gland that is situated in the brain called the pituitary gland that is responsible for producing hormones regulating your appetite, among other things. 

Usually, all is well and your pituitary gland will produce just enough hormones for you to feel satiated after a meal. But when something goes awry with your tummy, the pituitary gland will not do its job properly and you’ll feel hungry all the time, which can lead to obesity.
To prevent this mismatch from happening and to heal your gut, it is necessary to consume foods rich with probiotics, which can be found in fermented foods, such as yogurts, pickles, and kimchi.

4. An unhealthy intestinal tract may cause allergies.

Did you know that more than 75% of your immune cells live in your digestive system? So, it comes as no surprise that the foods you eat will affect your body’s ability to fight off all kinds of germs. Together with your gut bacteria, immune cells help your body resist infections in all of your body, and not only in the digestive system. 
An example of this can be observed if we consider allergies. It is now widely believed that a lack of beneficial gut bacteria can make your immune cells unable to distinguish between good and bad bacteria. When that happens, your immune system will activate to harmless compounds and you will experience an allergic reaction.

In fact, several studies suggest that allergic symptoms can be greatly improved by promoting gut health, such as this clinical trial, in which seasonal allergy sufferers were given probiotic supplements for 8 weeks, which significantly reduced their allergy symptoms.
So, to promote the diversity of beneficial gut bacteria and improve your gut health you will need to have a diet rich in a variety of different foods, including but not limited to nuts and seeds, foods rich in fiber, probiotic-rich foods, and whole grains. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
 PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                               
     https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                     
  FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                              https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com