Weight Loss by Intermittent Fasting Can Alter Your Brain Activity

A popular diet can cause lasting changes to both the brain and the bacteria in the gut, a study has found.

This weight loss method, known as “intermittent energy restriction” (IER), involves switching between regular eating days and fasting days. Researchers have found that this diet can influence brain activity and its interaction with the gut microbiome (the collection of beneficial bacteria that lives in the intestines).

The researchers said that understanding these relationships can shed light on the factors involved in successful dieting and maintaining a healthy weight.The full text of the research results was published in the journal Frontiers of Cellular and Infectious Microbiology.

Professor Qiang Zeng, a researcher at the Institute of Health Management, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, said: “The changes in the activity of the gut microbiome and addiction-related brain regions observed during and after weight loss are highly dynamic. “It's linked over time.” Beijing, in a statement.

Zeng and his team looked at the gut microbiome, blood, and brain activity of 25 Chinese adults with an average age of 27. All participants were obese, with a BMI of 28 to 45. A BMI of more than 30 is classified as obese.

Obesity is a major risk factor for several diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. More than 1 billion people around the world are obese and many are trying to lose weight using various diets, including IER.

In this study, each participant went through two eating phases: a “highly controlled” fasting phase and a “lowly controlled” fasting phase.

In the highly controlled phase, participants received meals from a dietitian for 32 days, gradually reducing their calories to about a quarter of their basic energy needs.

After this, for another 30 days, they went through a low-intensity fasting phase and were given a list of recommended foods designed to ensure they only consumed 500 calories per day for women and 600 calories per day for men. .

After these fasts, participants lost an average of about 17 pounds (about 7.8 percent of their average body weight).

The authors also found that patients' microbiomes changed, with the number of some bacterial species rapidly increasing, while others included: Escherichia colifell.

coli iThis is a common bacteria, and some strains can cause illnesses such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illnesses, and pneumonia.

The researchers reported that activity levels decreased after fasting in certain areas of the brain associated with regulating appetite and addiction, and said this was the result of changes in the microbiome.

The research team found that several bacteria were present in large numbers, including: Escherichia coliwas associated with decreased activity in areas of the brain that play a role in willpower when losing weight.

They also found that abundance of other species of bacteria was positively correlated with increased activity in brain regions associated with attention, motor inhibition, emotion, and learning.

“The gut microbiome is thought to communicate with the brain in a complex and bidirectional manner,” study co-author Xiaoning Wang of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital Geriatrics Research Institute said in a statement. Ta.

“The microbiome produces neurotransmitters and neurotoxins that access the brain through the nerves and blood circulation. In turn, the brain controls feeding behavior, while nutrients from our diet are transferred to the gut. “It changes the composition of the internal microbiome,” Xiaoning said.

This means that changes in your brain and changes in your microbiome after weight loss interact with each other.

However, this study looked only at correlations, not causation, so researchers have little insight into what causes these changes and why there is so much interaction between the brain and microbiome. is still not precisely known.

“The next question to answer is how exactly the gut microbiome and brain communicate in obese people, including during weight loss,” said study co-author Liming Wang, a researcher at the Beijing Health Management Institute. It's a mechanism,” he said.

She asked, “What specific gut microbiota and brain regions are important for successful weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight?”

Do you have any tips for science stories? newsweek Should I cover it? Have questions about the microbiome? Let us know at [email protected].