How Can A Strict Diet Change The Food Lust From Within The Brain?

JAKARTA - Researchers in China found that a diet with calorie restrictions not only had an impact on weight loss, but also triggered significant changes in brain function and digestive system.

The findings suggest that communication systems between the brain, intestines, and microbiomes can change when a person undergo a low-energy diet.

Citing the Science Alert report on Monday, this study was conducted on 25 people with obesity who took part in the energy restriction (IER) program for 62 days. The diet includes a period of strict calorie restriction which is intertitted by controlled fasting days.

During the study, participants lost an average of 7.6 kilograms or about 7.8 percent of their initial body weight. In addition to physical changes, the study also found a shift in activity in the brain related to controlling appetite and food responses, as well as changes in the composition of bacteria in the intestines.

"Here we show that the IER diet is changing the brain axis of human microbiomes," said health researcher Qiang Zeng of Second Medical Center and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases in China.

Researchers explain that changes in gut microbiomes and neurological activity occur gradually and influence each other. Bacteria in the intestines are known to produce various substances such as neurotransmitters and neurotoxines that can reach the brain through the nervous system and blood flow. On the other hand, the brain regulates a person's eating behavior, while the nutrients consumed also change the balance of intestinal bacteria.

Through a fMRI scan, changes in neural activity were detected in areas such as frontal inferior orbital girus, parts of the brain that play a role in the regulation of feeding impetus and the addiction mechanism. These changes are also reflected in the results of analysis of specimens and the blood of the participants who show a shift in the microbiome arrangement in line with weight loss.

"The gut microbioma is expected to communicate with the brain in a complex two-way manner," added medical scientist Xiaoning Wang from the same research center.

According to the researchers, a deeper understanding of the relationship between the brain and the intestines could open up new opportunities in the development of more effective methods to prevent and overcome obesity.