Gut bacteria may be the key to finally conquering those cravings for sugary, tasty treats! According to a study using mice, when the bacteria in the mice’s guts were removed with antibiotics, the mice ended up eating way more of these yummy foods than they normally would. But when the researchers put the bacteria back into the mice’s guts, the overconsumption stopped. And get this – the mice with depleted gut bacteria were also more motivated to go after sugary treats and had increased activity in brain regions related to motivation and reward-seeking after eating sugary food.
But the real kicker is that the researchers identified specific types of gut bacteria that seemed to help control how much the mice ate of the tasty treats. When they put these types of bacteria into the guts of mice with depleted microbiomes, the mice ate less of the sugary food.
So it looks like our gut bacteria might play a role in how much we crave and eat yummy treats. Who knew our little gut buddies had such a big influence on our snacking habits? And who knows – maybe one day we’ll be able to use these findings to finally conquer our own cravings for sweet, delicious snacks!
GIbiome 