How gut bacteria may trigger binge eating or weight gain
Certain gut bacteria may increase the risk that a person will binge eat and become obese, a new study suggests.
Certain gut bacteria may increase the risk that a person will binge eat and become obese, a new study suggests.
In a series of experiments, mice and humans with a propensity for binge eating had similar levels of two types of bacteria in their microbiomes — one detrimental and one beneficial — according to the report presented Thursday at a meeting of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and published in the journal Gut.
The researchers also found that if they increased the number of a type of beneficial bacteria called Blautia, they could prevent addictive eating behaviors from developing in mice.
The new findings are “very important because they show that this type of bacteria in effect protects against the development of compulsive food addiction,” said Elena Martin-Garcia, a senior study author and an associate professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain.
The team looked at both mice and humans initially to see if there were any consistent microbiome patterns.
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