Fasting Diets May Change Your Brain

A group of researchers in China put 25 people through 62 days of intermittent energy restriction, IER for short, a fancy term for fasting. They dropped an average of 16.8 pounds, and their gut bacteria and brain activity underwent some dramatic changes in the process.

Using brain scans and poop samples, researchers found that the IER diet tweaked parts of the brain involved in appetite, addiction, and that little voice that says “yes” to a third helping of junk food. Specifically, the left inferior frontal orbital gyrus, a part of the brain that regulates appetite and plays a key role in addiction.

It showed changes tied to two bacteria: Coprococcus and Eubacterium hallii. These microbes seem to fend off food cravings.

Fasting Changes How Your Gut And Brain Talk To Each Other

The gut and brain, it turns out, are having a constant back-and-forth. One sends neuro-signals, and the other sends neurotransmitters and sometimes neurotoxins. All of this influences not only how we feel but also whether we count the Oreos we eat individually or by the sleeve.

More than a billion people are dealing with obesity globally, so figuring out this gut-brain communications network could be huge. This study doesn’t just suggest that intermittent fasting helps shed pounds—it hints that reprogramming the gut might reboot the brain’s snack-obsessed operating system.

Basically, your microbiome might be the most important warrior in the ongoing battle against overeating and your general bad eating habits.

Scientists are still trying to decode exactly who’s calling the shots, gut microbes or brain waves. Either way, considering how one affects the other, it would be no surprise if the next major wave of medical weight loss treatments is all about manipulating that gut/brain communication bridge.