It’s Not You, It’s Them: The Bugs In Your Gut Control Your Food Cravings

The microbes in our gut signal the brain to decide what foods we should crave for

Tanvi Shinde, PhD
Curated Newsletters

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Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

If you find it next to impossible to resist the 3 p.m. sugar cravings, that hit you every day and you end up blaming yourself for your lack of self-control, let me tell you, it’s the bugs in your gut that tempt you to eat doughnuts and cakes.

Scientists are at task trying to understand how it is not our “self-control” but the “microbes” residing in our gut (gastrointestinal tract) that controls our appetite and cravings.

Let’s try to understand how do they do this and how we can control them instead of them controlling what we crave for.

Don’t let a sweet tooth or carb cravings limit you from reaching your health goals.

Food choices are a two-way street

Scientists have known for quite some time that what we eat change the balance of microbes in our gut (or gastrointestinal tract) — famously known as the microbiota, based on the types of food we habitually eat.

Choosing to eat junk foods rich in ultra-processed carbs, fats and sugar over healthy food choices (whole fruits and vegetables, whole-grains, fish and…

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Tanvi Shinde, PhD
Curated Newsletters

. Biomedical Researcher interested in inflammation and microbiome for gut health and beyond . Published Academic author . Gut Health Evangelist . Mom . Reader .