Our gut microbiome contributes to cravings
May
26
These are based on mice studies by Dr. Kevin Kohl, assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Trevelline, Rose postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Dr. Trevelline said the microbes in the gut were beneficial contributors to a lot of processes, particularly by synthesizing the nutrients humans need and supplementing our diets.
Their research showed that the mice that received diverse types of microbiota voluntarily changed their diet preferences. “Our work shows that animals with different compositions of gut microbes choose different kinds of diets,” Dr. Kohl said.
Drs. Trevelline and Kohl also discovered that that varying levels of tryptophan in mice’s blood led to their choosing different diets, according to the Medical News Today article.