Bacteria in gut linked to ‘sweet tooth’
Dr. Lynnette McCluskey, neuroscientist in the Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University has made an important discovery. It is something Chris Woollams hypothesized for a decade in his articles.
She has shown that the bacteria in your gut are responsible for your ‘Sweet Tooth’.
In fact, she stopped the craving by using part of the wall from bacteria of the strain E. coli. Although E. coli is often associated with sickness, only a few strains make us ill, the rest being important constituents of the gut.
A part of the wall or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is already used in vaccines to boost immune response. In McCluskey’s research, it reduced sweet tooth desires.
In the confines of the gut, LPS appears to prompt a reaction which ends up controlling mouth sensations – it triggers higher levels of the hormone leptin, which is known to reduce the taste for sweets, McCluskey said.
Leptin is made by fat cells, and is found in both the gut and brain. Research has shown it influences receptors in the taste buds and dampens a positive response to sweet items.
See: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160419103840.htm
