A resource for health professionals, parents, teachers, counselors & kids on the childhood obesity epidemic.

Studies have found that women afflicted with anorexia nervosa possess fewer total gut bacteria, especially of particular varieties. It’s a mental/emotional health problem that correlates with countable quantities of microbiota.

Organisms that populate the digestive tract play a role not only in food digestion and nutrient absorption, but in pain perception, vulnerability to sickness, resiliency, stress management, and decision-making. They have sensory, signaling, and immune functions and can exacerbate or alleviate systemic inflammation. Sending their molecular messengers through the central nervous system, they influence glucose and lipid blood levels and mess with the liver’s cellular metabolism.

They are known to influence and, one might even say, manipulate our psychological states. As Dr. Billi Gordon writes:

These little critters affect mood, perception, and other types of cognitive function that influence your health, relationships, job, and last but not least, your boyish or girlish figure.

Obviously, negative mental states influence such behavior as binge eating. Peter Andrey Smith reported for The New York Times:

Micro-organisms in our gut secrete a profound number of chemicals, and […] among those chemicals are the same substances used by our neurons to communicate and regulate mood, like dopamine, serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These, in turn, appear to play a function in intestinal disorders, which coincide with high levels of major depression and anxiety.

The mechanism by which the antidepressant Zoloft works doesn’t seem to be known, but it affects dopamine and serotonin and a number of other brain chemicals. Childhood Obesity News mentioned how researchers would like to replace bariatric surgery with nutritional intervention, and some harbor the ambition of pushing pharmaceutical intervention into obsolescence, all of which might be possible by remodeling the patient’s microbiome.

Depression

The further on the spectrum toward “severely obese” first-graders are, the more likely they are to complain of pain, visit the school nurse, and (eventually) drop out of school. In a study of well over a thousand six-year-olds from eight Oklahoma counties, Dr. Amanda W. Harrist found that severely obese children are more likely to be socially withdrawn, depressed, and even aggressive.

Particular microbes influence serotonin production, which impacts food intake, sleep, the regulation of appetite, and the sense of well-being. Although serotonin is regarded as a brain chemical, approximately 80% of it is produced in the gastrointestinal tract.

Scientific American reported on a study in which healthy volunteers who consumed a mix of two particular bacteria, Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum, experienced less anxiety and depression. Dr. Emily Deans investigated the link between clinical depression and internal inflammation, and examined schizophrenic patients who “often have extensive inflammatory changes in the GI tract,” along with the possibility that dopamine blockers work because they reduce inflammation in the digestive system.

She wrote:

Folks with schizophrenia tend to have markers of inflamed guts and have reactions to common food proteins in wheat and dairy, gluten and casein… Could these vulnerabilities somehow begin in the brain? Or does the issue start with the gut, immune activation, and systemic poisons (neuroactive food fragments and infections) hastening an inflammatory decline in the brain in the genetically vulnerable? Do antipsychotics work by being anti-inflammatory in the gut, by decreasing dopamine activation in the brain, or both? (or neither?).

Dr. Emeran Mayer says that overweight people show a different dopaminergic response to food cues, and adds this sad observation:

Studies have also shown that the area of the brain that releases dopamine from the actual hedonic pleasure of eating decreases in compulsive overeaters compared to normal eaters. How tragically ironic that is. It seems overeaters eat more, but enjoy their food less.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Much More Than a Gut Feeling,” PsychologyToday.com, 07/22/14
Source: “Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?,” NYTimes.com, 06/23/15
Source: “As early as first grade, children with severe obesity are more likely to be ostracized,” ScienceDaily.com, 05/25/16
Source: “Why we feel emotions in our guts, and what microbes have to do with it,” LATimes.com, 07/08/16
Source: “9 Weird Things Killing Your Gut,” Rodalewellness.com, 04/08/14
Source: “Gut Bacteria May Exacerbate Depression,” ScientificAmerican.com, 11/01/13
Source: “Schizophrenia and the Gut: Intestinal inflammation is linked to major mental illness,” PsychologyToday,com, 09/21/12
Source: “From the Desk of Emeran A. Mayer, MD,” UCLA.edu, Spring 2014
Image by Felix Batista

As we discussed yesterday, it seems likely that our interior bugs are, in a very real sense, “the boss of us.” Even when this idea was relatively novel, a Nature.com article by John F. Cryan and Timothy G. Dinan outlined the hopes that appeared on the horizon for treating eating disorders and obesity by way of the gut-brain axis.

From the start, connections with stress response were identified. At the time, they wrote:

Accumulating data now indicate that the gut microbiota also communicates with the CNS — possibly through neural, endocrine and immune pathways — and thereby influences brain function and behavior.

Dr. Emeran Mayer, who has been investigating the human microbiome for 35 years, says:

The hypothesis that microorganisms in our intestine have somehow managed to hack into our reward system, enabling them to make us crave for foods that are good for them, is intriguing. If this concept turns out to be correct, one could speculate that as a by-product of this food-seeking strategy, alterations in mood may be a consequence…

Credentialed as both gastroenterologist and neuroscientist, Dr. Mayer directs UCLA’s Oppenheimer Family Center for the Neurobiology of Stress. Via the Center’s Ingestive Behaviors and Obesity Program, he seeks to learn whether, and how, the gut microbiome affects eating behavior in obesity and weight loss. Important questions need to be asked about hedonic value and the effects of hyperpalatable foods.

The Center team studies the impact of stress as expressed through sex, race and culture, and the possibility that brain structure plays a role. Brain-gut interaction is suspected of taking a major part in three particular areas: autism, chronic pain and obesity. Dr. Mayer says:

The question driving our research is: why do overweight people continue obesogenic behaviors even though they deconstruct their lives on multiple levels?[…] 1.4 billion people are overweight. Are all of those brains broken?

In this worldview, the role of family genetics is recognized but occupies a backseat. Also acknowledged is the tendency of bariatric surgery to cause appetite reduction and changes in food preferences. One of the Center’s openly proclaimed goals is to reproduce those brain changes without surgical intervention.

The researchers collaborate with UCLA pediatricians to study food preferences, eating habits and behavior, and brain activity in children. Then, there is what Dr. Mayer calls the chicken and egg question: “Do abnormalities in the gut influence the brain, or do abnormalities in the brain influence the gut?”

Two things are for sure. Microbes and their metabolites send out signals, and our bodies are riddled with receptors where those signals land. In the gut, they activate vagus nerve endings which are compared to an information highway to the brain.

This particularly disturbing quotation concerns stress hormones:

Animal studies have shown that the release of these chemicals can change the gene expression profile of the bacteria in the gut, causing their virulence genes to be up-regulated.

In other words, when the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline, and nerve fibers release norepinephrine, some gut bacteria are stimulated to become more infective and pathogenic. When the chemicals hit the receptors the micro-organisms develop superpowers that enable them to inhibit or evade the person’s immune response and make all sorts of other aggressive moves.

By one estimate, two-thirds of the human immune system resides in the gut. As we have seen, certain bacteria prefer a substance that we can’t ourselves digest, and turn resistant starch into butyrate, which feeds our T cells, which reinforce the gut lining and strengthen the immune system.

Other bacteria are not so cooperative. What if some of the feelings we interpret as stress and anxiety are caused by the tension of the inner battle between our intelligent consciousness, which wants to do what is best for us, and the constant nagging of trillions of organisms that have some contrary agenda in mind?

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Mind-altering microorganisms: the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behaviour,” Nature.com, October 2012
Source: “A Hijacked Brain and a Tongue Held Hostage,” PsychologyToday.com, 08/07/14
Source: “From the Desk of Emeran A. Mayer, MD,” UCLA.edu, Spring 2014
Source: “Why we feel emotions in our guts, and what microbes have to do with it,” LATimes.com, 07/08/16
Source: “9 Weird Things Killing Your Gut,” Rodalewellness.com, 04/08/14
Photo credit: gianky via Visualhunt/CC BY

Over the past few years researchers have zealously pursued knowledge about the microbiome. Many tantalizing clues tie our inner populations of bacteria and other creatures to all sorts of possibilities for avoiding and curing serious medical conditions including obesity and its many co-morbidities. As a picture is constructed, bit by bit, from seemingly unrelated discoveries, the situation is compared to a connect-the-dots game.

Why do people compulsively overeat? How does it compensate for the sorrows and disappointments of life? Is binge eating a behavioral addiction? How much of our behavior is actually dictated by the demands of the trillions of organisms that live inside us? When we order a pizza delivery at 11 PM, is it really the bugs who coerce us to pick up the phone?

Addiction is so complicated because it isn’t just physical. It isn’t only mental, either, or solely emotional. The constituent members of the microbiome resemble addiction, in that they don’t just operate on the physical plane, either. Gastrointestinal bacteria release metabolites into the blood that communicate with the nervous system, and a lot of evidence points to their ability to mess with our heads.

Microbiome studies challenge our preconceptions. Efforts to interpret their evidence take us to the edge of credulity. The microbiota seem able to influence both thought processes and emotions. Critters who can do that need to have a wary eye kept on them. They influence stress-related behaviors, and when they are out of balance and in disarray, they urge us to make bad decisions. The famous gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote:

Digestion, of all the bodily functions, is the one which exercises the greatest influence on the mental state of an individual.

Cell.com says the inhabitants of the GI tract…

[…] can activate neural pathways and central nervous system signaling systems. Ongoing and future animal and clinical studies aimed at understanding the microbiota-gut-brain axis may provide novel approaches for prevention and treatment of mental illness, including anxiety and depression.

Billi Gordon, Ph.D., puts it like this:

If the signaling of informational substances is compromised in the body, the brain is affected. So, in summation, your mind is the sum of the wisdom of your neuropeptides, and other informational substances, under the advisement of your gut-bacteria.

Dr. Gordon indirectly (and probably unintentionally) points the finger of impending doom at a group with no cause for joy about advances in microbiome knowledge — the surgeons who operate on stomachs. Conversely, he mentions Dr. Emeran Myer, who “is looking at changes in the tummy bacteria in bariatric populations that could one day replace bariatric surgery with nutritional intervention.”

While it is true that a morbidly obese person might have psychological and emotional problems, maybe the cause and effect relationship is not what we have been assuming. Maybe when the bugs are in order, with the right proportions of the right species, the obesity is taken care of, and the related psychological and emotional problems melt away.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Gut–brain axis: how the microbiome influences anxiety and depression,” Cell.com, 2013
Source: “Your Mind Does Not Care What Your Brain Thinks,” PsychologyToday.com, 03/10/14
Photo credit: Thomas Quine via Visualhunt/CC BY

An awful lot of obesity is attributable to emotional eating, whether performed in binge mode, or slowly and steadily. The habit of stuffing down emotions by inserting food into the mouth seems to qualify as a bona fide behavioral addiction.

Evidence mounts, pointing to the gut microbiome as an entity that influences emotions and behavior. When the wrong populations of bacteria get out of control they can stir up depression and anxiety disorders. What is going on down there?

Many connections have been observed between behavioral changes, and the beneficial metabolites generated by bacteria who feed on resistant starches. Fitness expert Mark Sisson suggests that resistant starch can be thought of as a special type of prebiotic which, even though we ourselves don’t digest it by enzymatic breakdown, nourishes the microbiota and benefits us indirectly.

Transported through the small intestine into the colon, resistant starch is welcomed by the resident bugs that metabolize it into short chain fatty acids like butyrate. FoodRenegade.com explains the details:

The cells that consume butyrate are T reg or T cells. T cells provide a barrier of defense against pathogens and help strengthen the immune system. In addition to these claims, T cell regeneration is expected to lower the risk of colon cancer, the 4th most common form of cancer to cause death internationally. Any abundance of butyrate, up to a certain point, that isn’t consumed by the T cells moves into the bloodstream and benefits insulin levels and liver function.

One effect of consuming resistant starch is reduced intestinal permeability, which indirectly prevents obesity. Why? Because the inelegantly named “leaky gut syndrome” aggravates such auto-immune diseases as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. People who suffer from these chronic illnesses are unhappy, and often seek to improve their moods by comfort eating. A less permeable gut lining alleviates these painful auto-immune conditions, which increases happiness, and lessens the likelihood of comfort eating.

Beneficial microbes at work

Researchers have shown in the laboratory that resistant starch increases satiety — which generally leads to decreased eating. They also harbor a strong suspicion that giving the microbiota resistant starch promotes the production of the mood stabilizer serotonin, soothing anxiety and alleviating the symptoms of stress. It also appears to boost the production of melatonin, with various beneficial effects.

The American Psychological Association, which knows something about mental health, says…

[…] gut bacteria produce an array of neurochemicals that the brain uses for the regulation of physiological and mental processes, including memory, learning and mood. In fact, 95% of the body’s supply of serotonin is produced by gut bacteria…

Resistant starch does not accomplish these desirable results alone, but through acting in concert with other prebiotics, including fish oil, which reduces inflammation and promotes the growth of bacteria that produce butyrate and other short chained fatty acids.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The Definitive Guide to Resistant Starch,” MarksDailyApple.com, 03/26/14
Source: “Resistant starch: Healthy or Not?,” FoodRenegade.com, undated
Source: “The gut microbiome: how does it affect our health?,” MedicalNewsToday, 03/11/15
Source: “Fish oil may be important to altering the microbiome, reducing anxiety,” MicrobiomeInstitute.org, 10/06/15
Photo via Visualhunt

The struggle against obesity in the United Kingdom has been ferocious and divisive. Five years ago, the government announced that it was considering taxing unhealtful foods such as those containing sugar, salt, and saturated fats. This did not sit well with the freedom-loving Brits. After all, their country is where the Magna Carta and the principle of common law came from.

Two years ago, researchers at Cambridge University produced a study that was published in the British Medical Journal. The subjects were 5,000 people from the school’s immediate area, and it was said to be “the first to look at the combined impact of the home, work and commuting environments.” The report said:

Results from previous studies into the impact of takeaways on obesity have been inconsistent, but most of them focused solely on the residential environment. This study of 5,442 individuals in Cambridgeshire — which accounted for differences between the participants, for example in age, sex, household income, smoking and levels of physical activity — is the first to look at access to takeaway foods at home, work and journeys in between.

In the course of living a normal, everyday life in their own neighborhood, in the area of their work, and in the course of their commute, the average person was exposed to 32 “takeaway outlets” or what we in America call fast food restaurants. That is an average, implying that some people ran into a lot more temptation, while others had a much lower number of daily encounters with such establishments. The stunning result was that people at the top end of the exposure scale “were almost twice as likely to be obese compared with those who encountered the fewest takeaways.”

Those with the highest combined exposure to takeaway outlets consumed an extra 40g of calorific food a week (equivalent to half a small serving of French fries from a typical takeaway food outlet), and had a BMI on average 1.21kg/m2 greater than those least exposed. The association was most pronounced for exposure near people’s place of work.

The study also found that working near such places is more of a risk than living near them. The researchers were careful to note that they had not proven a causal link, but obviously they felt that the numbers were very suggestive. The implication was that the government should take measures to restrict takeaway outlets, especially near workplaces. At the same time, some local authorities had come intuitively to the same conclusion, and placed some restrictions, mainly around schools and in major business districts.

Unwarranted self-congratulation

At the same time, England was congratulating itself for having ONLY a 35% childhood obesity rate, as compared with fellow U.K. countries Wales and Northern Ireland, where 40% of children were found to be obese. U.K. member Scotland felt especially smug, with only a mere 33% child obesity figure. Consulting the Millennium Cohort Study, the same researchers noticed that children were at the highest risk for obesity between ages 7 and 11.

These and other studies inspired the Royal College of General Practitioners, along with an alliance of partner organizations, to suggest that the government create a new branch along the lines of the emergency taskforces formed to deal with national disasters, terrorism and the like. This idea was probably born from a feeling that the country should regard the childhood obesity epidemic as worthy of “state of emergency” status.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Tackling Takeaways could help cut obesity,” cam.ac.uk, 03/14/14
Source: “Childhood obesity surges between ages of seven and 11, study shows,” Telegraph.co.uk, 11/27/14
Photo credit: Internet Archive Book Images via Visualhunt/No known copyright restrictions