Scientists trying to combat our ongoing obesity crisis have made an important discovery: Intermittent calorie restriction causes significant changes in both the gut and the brain, which may open up new options for maintaining a healthy weight.
Researchers in China studied 25 volunteers classified as obese over a 62-day period, during which they participated in an Intermittent Energy Restriction (IER) program – a regimen that involves careful control of calorie intake and relative fasting over certain days.
Not only did the study participants lose weight — an average of 7.6 kilograms (16.8 pounds), or 7.8 percent of their body weight — there was also evidence of changes in the activity of obesity-related areas of the brain and the makeup of gut bacteria.
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“Here we show that an IER diet alters the human brain-gut-microbiome axis,” health researcher Qiang Zheng of China’s Second Medical Center and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases said when the results were published in December 2023.
“The changes observed in the gut microbiome and in activity in addiction-related brain regions during and after weight loss are highly dynamic and linked over time.”
It is not clear what causes these changes, or whether the stomach is affecting the brain or vice versa. However, we know that the gut and the brain are closely connected, so treating certain areas of the brain may be a way to control food intake.
Changes in brain activity, revealed via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, were in regions believed to be important in the regulation of appetite and addiction – including the inferior frontal orbital gyrus.
What’s more, gut microbiome changes, analyzed through stool samples and blood measurements, were linked to specific brain regions.
For example, bacteria Coprococcus comes and Eubacterium Hallii Activity in the left inferior frontal orbital gyrus, an area involved in executive function, including our willpower when it comes to food intake, was negatively correlated.
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“The gut microbiome is thought to communicate with the brain in a complex, bi-directional way,” said Xiaoning Wang, a medical scientist at the State Clinic Center for Geriatrics in China.
“The microbiome produces neurotransmitters and neurotoxins that reach the brain through the nerves and circulation. In turn, the brain controls eating behavior, while nutrients from our diet change the composition of the gut microbiome.”
More than one billion people worldwide are estimated to be obese, which puts them at increased risk for a multitude of health problems, from cancer to heart disease.
Learning more about how our brains and guts are interdependent can make a big difference in effectively preventing and reducing obesity.
RELATED: Hidden Rhythms in Your Brain and Stomach Share a Surprising Link
“Another question to be answered is the exact mechanism by which the gut microbiome and the brain communicate in obese individuals, even during weight loss,” said Liming Wang, a biomedical scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Which specific gut microbiome and brain regions are important for successful weight loss and healthy weight maintenance?”
The research was published in 2015 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.
An earlier version of this article was published in December 2023.
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