Can Microbes Be Affecting Your Diet?

https://www.sciencenews.org/sites/default/files/18295
(This is not the research of Emory University researchers.)

Are you a big eater? Well a study shows that eating more many not simply be because of all the calories that are ready and available. This study suggests that microbes in the gut could actually help drive appetite. Sounds crazy right? Well, let’s get right into this new study by Emory University researchers.

Previous studies show that overweight people and normal-weight people each carry different types and amounts of microbes that naturally live in the intestine. The Emory University researchers looked into mice to see why this was and found shocking information. The mice with an altered immune system were fatter than regular mice and had many disorders such as insulin problems and high blood pressure.  The altered “immunity” in the mice mean “somewhat” different bacteria grew in their intestines than that in normal mice.  According to Andrew Gewirtz who is an associate pathology professor at Emory, this drove bigger appetites, metabolic syndrome, and a low-grade inflammation believed to be key to obesity’s illnesses.

Gewirtz then transferred bacteria from the fat mice into the germ-free intestines of normal newborn mice. These “newborn” mice than began eating more and developed inflammation and insulin problems like the “fat mice.” Gewirtz also noted that if you restrict access to food, the altered mice do not gain weight, but experience other symptoms.

This article was very interesting due to the fact that microbes have such a huge impact on us. In class I learned that microbes actually help digest food but to hear they can also be causing you to eat more is pretty fascinating! I believe this article was well written but I feel it should have included more detail; such as what actual microbe or microbes were causing more mice to eat. Are these the same microbes found in mice that are found in humans? I feel this article should have included more “human research” if there is any. Overall this article was shocking and makes you realize all the things microbes can do to your body.

http://www.latimes.com/health/sns-health-bacteria-big-eaters,0,1246678.story#axzz2uwFwnRyf