Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss Changes Gut Microbiome, Brain Activity [Study]

Many have turned to intermittent fasting to shed the extra pounds they packed. Intermittent fasting is effective for weight loss, but many are unaware of how it affects the gut microbiome and brain activity.

Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss

In a new study, researchers looked at the "intermittent energy restriction" (IER) weight loss strategy, which alternates regular eating days with fasting. Researchers discovered that the gut microbiome group of beneficial bacteria in your stomach and brain activity can interact with this diet. The group said that by comprehending these connections, it may be possible to identify the elements that go into successful dieting and maintaining a healthy weight.

Researchers from the Health Management Institute of the PLA General Hospital in Beijing, Professor Qiang Zeng, and team members closely watched the blood, brain activity, and gut flora of twenty-five Chinese adults averaging 27 years old. Every individual had a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 28 to 45, indicating obesity. If a person's BMI is greater than 30, they are considered obese.

A "high-controlled" and a "low-controlled" fasting phase were the two food phases that each participant experienced.

Dietitians provided meals to the participants for 32 days during the high-controlled phase, gradually reducing the number of calories to around 25% of their daily energy requirements. After that, they went through a 30-day low-controlled fasting phase, during which they were given a list of suggested meals that would provide the men with 600 calories per day and the women with 500 calories per day. The participants lost an average of about 17 pounds-roughly 7.8 percent of their average body weight-after these fasts.

Intermittent Fasting Affects Gut Microbiome and Brain Activity

According to a statement from Zeng, the changes in the gut microbiome that have been seen during and after weight loss and the activity in brain regions connected to addiction are extremely dynamic and coupled across time.

The researchers observed that following the fasts, activity levels in specific brain regions linked to the control of hunger and addiction decreased, and they hypothesized that modifications in the microbiome caused these changes.

The group discovered that several bacteria, including E. Coli, were linked to decreased activity in the part of the brain involved in willpower during weight loss. Additionally, they discovered a positive correlation between increased activity in brain regions linked to emotion, learning, motor inhibition, and attention and the presence of other species of bacteria.

"The gut microbiome is thought to communicate with the brain in a complex, two-directional way," said paper co-author Xiaoning Wang of the Institute of Geriatrics at the PLA General Hospital,

"The microbiome produces neurotransmitters and neurotoxins which access the brain through nerves and the blood circulation. In return the brain controls eating behavior, while nutrients from our diet change the composition of the gut microbiome," Xiaoning added.

This suggests that modifications in the microbiome and the brain impact one another following weight reduction.

The researchers are still unsure of the precise source of these changes and the reason behind the high level of interaction between the brain and microbiota, though, as the study only examined correlations rather than causality.

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