Eating certain types of food supports one type of bacteria or another. They’ve identified a type of bacteria that’s associated with obesity and one that’s associated with leanness. The ratio determines the end result as one outcompetes the other. Smokers, interestingly enough, have a stronger ratio supporting leanness — while they smoke. If you quit, though, you gain an average 10 lbs over the next year. This was thought to be due to higher calorie consumption due to increased appetite, but it was that found that an ex-smoker’s microbiome ratio switches to an obese proportion. The bacteria correlated with obesity are simply more efficient at breaking down food and you essentially consume extra calories with everything you eat until that bacterial population is suppressed.
So a smoker can have a “negative caloric balance” from exercise and diet AND still gain weight after quitting due to shifts in the microbiome. It’s kinda neat. I believe the suggestion i read was just to increase your gut microbiome’s diversity with fermented foods like sauerkraut etc. But yeah we don’t know a damn thing about optomizing the microbiome externally.
It does seem that bad food makes you want to eat bad food though. You’re supporting a particular population with that diet and they literally control your brain to help keep them alive. It’s pretty quick to switch populations, though. I’ve read it’s just like 3 days of a vegetarian diet to change the ratio over to a population that likes veggies.
This may be the reason when I’m eating really healthy that high fat fast food etc just looks unappetizing after I’ve been away from it for awhile.
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