8 ms·

Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota?

61 points by mparramon 12y ago

dschiptsov 12y ago
> Alternative hypotheses for unhealthy eating and obesity Where is the hypothesis that states of hunger and states of anxiety are "signaled through the same mechanisms" (sorry, no time to locate all the long names) and, that the state which in other languages is called "being full" is gives "relief" from anxiety and stress. In other words, overeating is just a misuse of food as an answer to increased stress. Binge eating is not like binge drinking of a stupid youth, it is like "aged" alcoholism of "staying stable" with a glass in each two hours. And it is much closer to tobacco smoking than to drug abuse (there is a nice course "Drugs and Brain" on coursera, btw). Sometimes I wish I could be one of these "meme"-scientists claiming that they have found oversimplified single cause (it is microbes, like fly, stupid!) for a vastly complex, multiple-causation phenomena. Of course, microbes have some influence over host's eating behavior, via described neuro-chemical feed-back loops, but of course this is not a "single" or even the "most powerful" cause. "Change of social norms" was a good insight - now it is OK to live this way.
- tlholaday 12y ago
  > an answer to increased stress It appears you did not read the article. The microbes increase the host's feeling of stress (dysphoria) because it influences the host to overeat.
  - dschiptsov 12y ago
    More than everything else? Without quantitative analysis - does it amount for a 0.5% of stress or 3% (which I think is intractable problem) it is an "empty message". Nightfall also increase a feeling of stress, so what? TV increases it more than darkness. How could you distinguish between these causes of stress outside a lab?
dlss 12y ago
This is a very interesting (though not new) hypothesis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21303428 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21303428 is the usual citation. Neither paper has data how much of your dietary behavior is microbe related, which is a shame. Here's the data I have from developing a pseudo-FMT probiotic: During initial beta testing, I found myself snacking less and forgetting to eat. The forgetting to eat bit was extremely abnormal, as I'm usually very regular about meal times. I also found myself eating breakfast for the first time since starting at college. These and the experiences of my co-founder were sufficiently interesting that we added questions to our pilot study, where 72% of participants reported a reduction in food cravings and mild weight loss. So the effect is much bigger than you might imagine. Here's a customer describing his rather extreme subjective experience: "I started a total fast on Monday, and for the first 3 days only consumed water or green tea (and your probiotic), and today I only had BCAAs and a plain salad with vinegar, and so far this has been by far the easiest fast I've ever done. I haven't even gotten to the point where I feel physically hungry yet, and even my psychological desire for food is much weaker than it has been in past fasts." If anyone here is interested in a longer discussion of health related microbiome research, http://www.generalbiotics.com/science http://www.generalbiotics.com/science (which my co-founder wrote) provides a fairly through overview.
- zoba 12y ago
  What do you mean by "developing a pseudo-FMT probiotic"? How did you do that? I ask because your results are interesting enough that I'd like more information to understand if I should pursue it.
  - maroonblazer 12y ago
    I believe he's referring to the product he's selling [1]. I've been struggling with digestive issues all my life. The recent findings on gut microbiome have interested me. I checked out the site below and appreciate the rigor behind the product development. Enough that I'll part with $37 to see if it helps. [1]http://www.generalbiotics.com/ http://www.generalbiotics.com/
- wdewind 12y ago

61 points by mparramon 12y ago

> Alternative hypotheses for unhealthy eating and obesity Where is the hypothesis that states of hunger and states of anxiety are "signaled through the same mechanisms" (sorry, no time to locate all the long names) and, that the state which in other languages is called "being full" is gives "relief" from anxiety and stress. In other words, overeating is just a misuse of food as an answer to increased stress. Binge eating is not like binge drinking of a stupid youth, it is like "aged" alcoholism of "staying stable" with a glass in each two hours. And it is much closer to tobacco smoking than to drug abuse (there is a nice course "Drugs and Brain" on coursera, btw). Sometimes I wish I could be one of these "meme"-scientists claiming that they have found oversimplified single cause (it is microbes, like fly, stupid!) for a vastly complex, multiple-causation phenomena. Of course, microbes have some influence over host's eating behavior, via described neuro-chemical feed-back loops, but of course this is not a "single" or even the "most powerful" cause. "Change of social norms" was a good insight - now it is OK to live this way.

tlholaday 12y ago
> an answer to increased stress It appears you did not read the article. The microbes increase the host's feeling of stress (dysphoria) because it influences the host to overeat.
- dschiptsov 12y ago
  More than everything else? Without quantitative analysis - does it amount for a 0.5% of stress or 3% (which I think is intractable problem) it is an "empty message". Nightfall also increase a feeling of stress, so what? TV increases it more than darkness. How could you distinguish between these causes of stress outside a lab?

dlss 12y ago

This is a very interesting (though not new) hypothesis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21303428 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21303428 is the usual citation. Neither paper has data how much of your dietary behavior is microbe related, which is a shame. Here's the data I have from developing a pseudo-FMT probiotic: During initial beta testing, I found myself snacking less and forgetting to eat. The forgetting to eat bit was extremely abnormal, as I'm usually very regular about meal times. I also found myself eating breakfast for the first time since starting at college. These and the experiences of my co-founder were sufficiently interesting that we added questions to our pilot study, where 72% of participants reported a reduction in food cravings and mild weight loss. So the effect is much bigger than you might imagine. Here's a customer describing his rather extreme subjective experience: "I started a total fast on Monday, and for the first 3 days only consumed water or green tea (and your probiotic), and today I only had BCAAs and a plain salad with vinegar, and so far this has been by far the easiest fast I've ever done. I haven't even gotten to the point where I feel physically hungry yet, and even my psychological desire for food is much weaker than it has been in past fasts." If anyone here is interested in a longer discussion of health related microbiome research, http://www.generalbiotics.com/science http://www.generalbiotics.com/science (which my co-founder wrote) provides a fairly through overview.

zoba 12y ago
What do you mean by "developing a pseudo-FMT probiotic"? How did you do that? I ask because your results are interesting enough that I'd like more information to understand if I should pursue it.
- maroonblazer 12y ago
  I believe he's referring to the product he's selling [1]. I've been struggling with digestive issues all my life. The recent findings on gut microbiome have interested me. I checked out the site below and appreciate the rigor behind the product development. Enough that I'll part with $37 to see if it helps. [1]http://www.generalbiotics.com/ http://www.generalbiotics.com/
wdewind 12y ago