While people may indulge in consuming their favorite foods or snacks once in a while, constant food cravings can lead a person to develop unhealthy food habits such as overeating.
One in eight Americans over 50 (13 percent) show signs of food addiction, according to research by the University of Michigan.
Recently, a team of scientists from institutions in Lithuania, Japan, Spain, and Ireland collaborated to explore the potential of gut microbiota as a therapeutic approach to overcoming food addiction.
Assessing gut microbiota in mice
In a new study, researchers conducted experiments on extreme subpopulations of food-addicted and non-addicted mice.
Scientists used a food addiction model on mice that involved the administration of prebiotics and the bacterium – Blautia wexlerae .
The bacterium is associated in the scientific literature with a decreased risk of obesity and diabetes, explained Solveiga Samulėnaitė, author of the study.
“Mice were given drinking water with two different prebiotics (lactulose or rhamnose) and the bacterium Blautia wexlerae ,” stated Samulėnaitė.
The results of the experiment proved successful enough as both the prebiotics and the bacteria seemed to have paused the development of food addiction.
Increasing Blautia via prebiotics and probiotics could be key
Additionally, prebiotics increased the population of the genus Blautia in the murine gut as per a statement by the scientists.
In another study published in 2021, scientists in the journal Gut Microbes explained that Blautia is a genus of anaerobic bacteria with probiotic characteristics that occur widely in the feces and intestines of mammals.
Samulėnaitė says the results show that the genus Blautia can prevent eating disorders.
“Our research suggests that the modulation of gut microbiota with prebiotics or probiotics could be a potential strategy for combating food addiction,’ added the academic.
Using the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) 2.0 criteria, the study aimed to identify signs of variating gut microbiota that could be associated with the susceptibility to addiction.
They not only observed the signs in mice but also in humans using the YFAS approach. The gut microbiota was analyzed in individuals diagnosed with food addiction to identify signs of vulnerability to the condition.
In oder to identify the susceptibility in humans, differences in the relative abundance of certain bacterial species, such as Blautia wexlerae , between addicted and non-addicted individuals were observed.
According to the statement, the study discovered a lower Blautia wexlerae relative abundance among addicted individuals.
Unhealthy diet could lead to food addiction
Samulėnaitė says the finding spotlighted the significance of gut microbiota, exhibiting that an unhealthy diet that causes various imbalances may be linked to the development of food addiction.
The results were uniformly seen in both mice and human cohorts, ascertaining that a certain microbiota profile could be linked to the susceptibility to developing compulsive eating behavior.
The researcher emphasized that the studies demonstrate that the presence of bacteria from the Blautia genus appears to have a protective effect, reducing the risk of developing food addiction.
‘The study reveals the potential of gut microbiota as a therapeutic approach to
overcoming food addiction,” says Dr Aurelijus Burokas in Lithuania, also the leader of the study.
“We need further research to elucidate the exact mechanisms and develop effective microbiota-based treatments or preventive measures.”
The study was published on June 26, 2024, in the journal – Gut .
Study abstract:
Objective Food addiction is a multifactorial disorder characterized by a loss of control over food intake that may promote obesity and alter gut microbiota composition. We have investigated the potential involvement of the gut microbiota in the mechanisms underlying food addiction.
Design We used the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) 2.0 criteria to classify extreme food addiction in mouse and human subpopulations to identify gut microbiota signatures associated with vulnerability to this disorder.
Results Both animal and human cohorts showed important similarities in the gut microbiota signatures linked to food addiction. The signatures suggested possible non-beneficial effects of bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria phylum and potential protective effects of Actinobacteria against the development of food addiction in both cohorts of humans and mice. A decreased relative abundance of the species Blautia wexlerae was observed in addicted humans and of Blautia genus in addicted mice. Administration of the non-digestible carbohydrates, lactulose and rhamnose, known to favour Blautia growth, led to increased relative abundance of Blautia in mice faeces in parallel with dramatic improvements in food addiction. A similar improvement was revealed after oral administration of Blautia wexlerae as a beneficial microbe.
Conclusion By understanding the crosstalk between this behavioural alteration and gut microbiota, these findings constitute a step forward to future treatments for food addiction and related eating disorders.
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