Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices

[bananas]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140815192240.htm

Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices
Date: August 15, 2014
Source: University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

It sounds like science fiction, but it seems that bacteria within us – which outnumber our own cells about 100-fold – may very well be affecting both our cravings and moods to get us to eat what they want, and often are driving us toward obesity.

In an article published this week in the journal BioEssays, researchers from UC San Francisco, Arizona State University and University of New Mexico concluded from a review of the recent scientific literature that microbes influence human eating behavior and dietary choices to favor consumption of the particular nutrients they grow best on, rather than simply passively living off whatever nutrients we choose to send their way.

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Fortunately, it's a two-way street. We can influence the compatibility of these microscopic, single-celled houseguests by deliberating altering what we ingest, Maley said, with measurable changes in the microbiome within 24 hours of diet change.

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"Microbes have the capacity to manipulate behavior and mood through altering the neural signals in the vagus nerve, changing taste receptors, producing toxins to make us feel bad, and releasing chemical rewards to make us feel good," said Aktipis, who is currently in the Arizona State University Department of Psychology.

<snip>

The speed with which the microbiome can change may be encouraging to those who seek to improve health by altering microbial populations. This may be accomplished through food and supplement choices, by ingesting specific bacterial species in the form of probiotics, or by killing targeted species with antibiotics. Optimizing the balance of power among bacterial species in our gut might allow us to lead less obese and healthier lives, according to the authors.

<snip>

The authors met and first discussed the ideas in the BioEssays paper at a summer school conference on evolutionary medicine two years ago. Aktipis, who is an evolutionary biologist and a psychologist, was drawn to the opportunity to investigate the complex interaction of the different fitness interests of microbes and their hosts and how those play out in our daily lives. Maley, a computer scientist and evolutionary biologist, had established a career studying how tumor cells arise from normal cells and evolve over time through natural selection within the body as cancer progresses.

In fact, the evolution of tumors and of bacterial communities are linked, points out Aktipis, who said some of the bacteria that normally live within us cause stomach cancer and perhaps other cancers.

<snip>

"Targeting the microbiome could open up possibilities for preventing a variety of disease from obesity and diabetes to cancers of the gastro-intestinal tract. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the importance of the microbiome for human health," she said.

The co-authors' BioEssays study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Bonnie D. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Study, in Berlin.

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Journal Reference:
Joe Alcock, Carlo C. Maley, C. Athena Aktipis. Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms. BioEssays, 2014; DOI: 10.1002/bies.201400071

Cite This Page:
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). "Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 August 2014. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140815192240.htm

[arcane1]

1. Because kissing our mitochondria's ass wasn't debasement enough

Further proof that there isn't really an "individual" human. Lewis Thomas would've loved this news!

[freshwest]

2. Makes sense. Like an article saying the plant kingdom brainwashes us to spread their rule of Earth.

Muahaha! We're all doomed!

[blkmusclmachine]

3. ,

,

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[Paka]

5. As a microbiologist,

I find this fascinating. I might be tempted to come out of retirement if I could be involved in this study.

[truedelphi]

6. On the time or two when I have attempted to do cleanses of

my gut from parasites, it does seem like cravings flare up just when maybe I am reaching success.

So I guess when I fail at such, I don't need to point to my own weakness, an dalck of will power, but can instead place a finger of blame on the microbe world:

"Microbes have the capacity to manipulate behavior and mood through altering the neural signals in the vagus nerve, changing taste receptors, producing toxins to make us feel bad, and releasing chemical rewards to make us feel good," said Aktipis, who is currently in the Arizona State University Department of Psychology.
####

And will the "Twinkie Defense" become the "microbe defense"?