Discussion: Do our gut bacteria affect what we want to eat? page

[White Fox]

I subscribe to several paleo friendly blogs, and I just got this interesting link on my e-mail:
Does gut flora composition influence food cravings and dietary habits?

I found the information really interesting... What do you think? Maybe the "gut feeling" I sometimes get is actually some hungry microbes "telling" me what to eat...?

[namelesswonder]

I think they definitely impact cravings, and that's why it can take time for people to adjust to a new diet. Like getting away from a lot of sugar (SAD to paleo/primal), your gut is still used to a much higher fiber and sugar intake, so it will take some time for the flora to adapt and stop giving you cravings for sweets. For some people, those cravings may be indicators of missing nutrients (I crave ice cream when I need to up fat, oranges when I'm sick), but for others, it may just be "habit" from poor nutrition prior to the change. Since this is all established as soon as we are out of the womb, it can be very hard to change these cravings or get rid of them. But everybody's adaption period is different.

[Omni]

As far as gut bacteria go, we are their world and they want to keep us alive and kicking.
There is a whole branch of science starting to look at the symbiotic relationships involved and the types of signalling mechanisms between the bacteria and our own cells. I read a while ago a paper titled something like:
"Who does the fat belong to?" it was about the signalling mechanisms involved in fat storage and it appears that gut flora play a significant role there, so if they tell us to store fat, then is it ours or theirs???????

Found it, it was Hyperlipid:
Hyperlipid: Search results for fiaf fat storage

[Paleobird]

As far as gut bacteria go, we are their world and they want to keep us alive and kicking.
There is a whole branch of science starting to look at the symbiotic relationships involved and the types of signalling mechanisms between the bacteria and our own cells. I read a while ago a paper titled something like:
"Who does the fat belong to?" it was about the signalling mechanisms involved in fat storage and it appears that gut flora play a significant role there, so if they tell us to store fat, then is it ours or theirs???????

Found it, it was Hyperlipid:
Hyperlipid: Search results for fiaf fat storage

Omni beat me to it. I was just going to suggest that post. Actually I think Peter did a three part series of posts on FIAF.

[White Fox]

Agreed, I found that my cravings slowly "vanished" when I had been on a paleo diet for some time

[BennettC]

thanks for the link, very informative