New study suggests the microbes in humans' intestines may influence food choices | Hacker News Reader

New study suggests the microbes in humans' intestines may influence food choices

theatlantic.com

34 pointsdctoedt19 comments

There is so much yet to come from studying the microbiome and its influence over "us" (the brain part, that is).

For a good overview of how much there is still to uncover, see the 2012 New Yorker article "Germs Are Us": http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/germs-are-us

For a lighter-still take on the gut-brain connection, Radiolab had a segment a couple of years ago on the vagus nerve (mentioned as a possible culprit in the linked article/study): http://www.radiolab.org/story/197242-gut-feelings/

Emily Deans routinely blogs about the gut-brain connection: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/...

If anyone knows a legal way around the paywall, I'd love to hear about it. I wonder if they go into detail about probiotics that are actually "proven" to reduce fat or improve mood, among other things. Also, did they actually demonstrate a correlation between gut bacteria and mood/cravings, or do they merely discuss "possible" ways such a connection might exist?

> If anyone knows a legal way around the paywall....

That's why I linked to the Atlantic article and not to the (paywalled) journal article.

BTW, the title I originally used (per HN rules) was the actual title of the Atlantic article, namely Your gut bacteria want you to eat a cupcake. The mods changed it to the Atlantic posting's subtitle, which is certainly more informative.

You're welcome to use subtitles as well when, as is often the case, they're more accurate and neutral. Our goal is to avoid rewriting or editorializing titles ourselves.

Since headlines are often written by someone other than the article author, a subtitle (or the first sentence of the article) is often closer to the author's intent anyway.

http://www.biologydirect.com/content/9/1/14

On a related topic, is there a reasonably priced option to actually get access to all of these journals (instead of subscribing to a single one or buying individual articles) .

Something like Factiva or EbscoHost, etc - but offering individual subscriptions (and not limited to just a single journal/publisher).

It's a little pricey and I've never used it, but I think DeepDyve is what you're looking for.

Interesting, yes DeepDyve looks exactly like what I had in mind. Thank you, will give it a try.

The other reply (no longer visible for some reason) mentioned the university library through the alumni association. I've gotten in touch with the library and received the following reply: "Due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to provide remote access to Research Port databases to alumni. Complete access to all of the Libraries' databases is still available through computers at any of our eight branches." . So it seems like the policy varies from university to university.

Haven't heard back from my local library yet - might stop by there tomorrow and find out.

Wow, I found the full article: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237130401/Is-eating-behavior-manip...

It's amazing how important organisms that live in our intestines (and other parts of our body) are to our health, mood, immune system, and even our offspring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Microbiome_Project

http://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp/overview

So I still don't buy it. It seems to me that someone who eats a lot of a certain type of food would naturally increase the type of bacteria that thrive on that type of food. I dont eat a lot of Thai food, not because I dont enjoy the flavor, but because my gut bacteria seems to want to cast it out in as painful a manner as possible. I bet if I were to eat Thai food every day for a year, things would change and my guts flora would reflect that. Bacteria cant think for you...

The article says that the microbiome can be different for people with identical diets, and the people will have different cravings. Just because some bacteria thrive on certain food doesn't mean they will make you crave that food.

I don't think it's that far-fetched.

If you accept the proposition that it's possible for a microbe to secrete a protein or something into the bloodstream that causes you to prefer a certain type of food (and keep in mind that we already have evidence of biologically-driven food cravings, e.g. in pregnant women), then there's a good argument that evolutionary pressure would eventually cause gut flora that could help deliver its own preferred food source to predominate in human digestive systems.

Ok now I'm curious (as a westerner living in thailand) - are you talking about vomiting, or the other end?

In either case, I can't work out how specifically thai food would make you do either consistently.

Peanuts and hot sauce/peppers? I realize that's not all Thai food, but a lot of people start with a dish containing those things. Like when someone says Korean food doesn't agree with them, having only tried the gimchi.

Sounds like that wasn't the case but this concept is quite interesting, having been here for close to 2 years now.

In Australia it seems most people think of Pad Thai or Green Curry when it comes to thai food.. I'm not sure what the US "default" for thai food is?

In my experience, the Thai restaurants around me (East coast US) like to make their sauces very oil/butter heavy, which contributes to the second phenomenon you alluded to. I've never been to Thailand, so I don't know if this is an exclusively American phenomenon or not.

I personally really like a good Lat na, but what I'm served is often noodles in a thick, chicken flavored grease (rather than stock or gravy).

Yeah ok sounds like a local "adaption" of the menu.

Even with a Thai owner and/or chef, it seems in most countries, there is some degree of adapting each dish to the local environment. This may be because of available ingredients or because of local tastes.

Thai people do love to fry things (both shallow and deep), but in my experience that doesn't necessarily translate into particularly oily sauces. In my time here I've once had a green curry that actually had a visible layer of oil (about 1cm thick) floating on top of the sauce itself, but that is definitely not the norm!

In terms of butter, that is very surprising to me. The only thing I've ever seen butter used for here is to fry fresh roti (which are then served with condensed milk and banana or chocolate or sugar or whatever you want)..

Try small volumes to start?

You might have some allergy or food intolerance to a common ingredient. Then directed selection of your gut biome won't help.

(I love Thai food myself, but it is a bit dangerous to even go into restaurant, since I'm really allergic to nuts and peanuts. I can't even be in the same room as peanuts.)

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