Study suggests ‘genetic advantage’ keeps some people slim and healthy
36 replies, posted
Probably at some level, and probably how people were raised.
One interesting thing that’s been discovered is that when you eat shitty food your body craves it more and more because your gut is like an ecosystem of bacteria. The bacteria that thrives on sugar will grow in numbers and will send signals to your body to go get more sugar.
They can literally affect your thoughts in a way.
I've heard this one around the block, but I've honestly not seen any truly compelling evidence of it yet.
To be fair, you must not be looking very hard. 🤔
Collective unconscious
You can save the snark for when you actually post an article that goes over what I asked about. What you linked doesn't even mention the microbiota influencing your food choices (unless I missed something in my cursory reading, but in that case - feel free to point it out), and as far as I can tell, basically all the other claims about human behaviour being influenced by the microbiota are based on studies of animal models (mainly - or purely - rats) and/or small studies showing correlations between gut microbiomes and autism/schizophrenia/dementia that type of deal.
Like I'm not saying the whole field is a piece of shit, but I also just asked about one very specific claim (that your gut microbiota can tell you to eat more burgers or whatever), and you posted something that didn't even mention it.
If you want some compelling evidence, I believe there's this thing called "epigenetics" and "DNA methylation" which is influenced by nutrition that may have one answer for it.
There are studies strongly suggesting that during pregnancy, it is the maternal nutrition and hormones that may have a long-lasting impact on the offspring’s growth and health way into adulthood.
Didn't mean to come off as snarky or condescending, sorry 😃
I don't think that anyone is trying to make claims quite that specific about how these microbes are influencing dietary choices. The microbiome isn't per-say telling you to eat more cheeseburgers, it is thought to be modulating the response that you would have from a normal response to a bolus. i.e. You would normally get a kick of signaling chemicals, with the microbiome reinforcing a response that would otherwise be there. Learning is driven by a complex balance or neurotransmitters and hormones, we shouldn't ever pretend that a single factor is driving behavior.
If the microbiome is effecting post-prandial glucose levels there's a pretty clear mechanism for changes to host dietary frequency behavior. Mechanisms Linking the Gut Microbiome and Glucose Metabolism
Animal models work very well in these highly conserved systems.
I mean yeah my original statement was a bit pointed because I know a lot of people watched that one Kurzgesagt video, and that's basically the impression they gave viewers.
However, there being a potential mechanism, doesn't mean it's actually used. It also doesn't mean that bacteria could tell you which kind of (sugary, fatty, whatever, rather than simply more) food to eat (which was the claim I reacted to).
And sure, animal models can work very well, but you're stretching the definition of "conserved systems". Yes, humans and rodents both have brains and guts, but that's about where the similarities end.
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