Sugar is a siren song for many people. But some friendly intestinal bacteria can help you resist the bait. At least it is claimed by some probiotics ads.
For many years, consumers have been shocked by the health advantage of taking probiotics: improving intestinal health, gaining more energy, and “becoming light”. Some also claim to reduce sugar craving.
But can the dose of daily bacteria calm down the craving for candy and cookies?
There is no idea completely. The study of mice has shown that some bacteria have been missing. Lactobacillus saliva,,, L. Gasseri,,, L. Johnsonii And Muribaculaceae can send animals to sugar vendors. And that’s not just a sweets. There is no mouse L. Johnsonii And Muribaculaceae will also play with high fat foods. Sarkis Mazmanian, a microbiologist of Caltech, said, “If it’s fun, the mouse will eat more if you miss this organism. When the microorganisms are turned into mice, the binge eating is reduced.
In recent studies Natural microbiology, Researchers in China found how the intestinal bacteria were found. BACTEROIDES Vulgatus And the molecule it produces -pantothenate, aka vitamin B5- Reduce sugar preference of rodents.
The researchers studied genetically manipulated mice in the built -in FFAR4, which is a sensor of some fatty acids. For unknown reasons, if this sensor is insufficient, a level occurs. B. Vulgatus And Pantote Nate goes down, and this mouse canceled in sugar. Providing bacteria and vitamins to this mouse reduced sugar consumption. All of them have lowered sugar consumption thanks to chain reactions associated with GLP-1, a famous protein, because all semagluide drugs such as blood sugar mimic the action of controlling blood sugar and weight.
Pantotate stimulates GLP-1 production. As a result, GLP-1 spurs the production of a protein called FGF21. The protein is not convinced of anything in the hypothalamus of the brain’s appetite control center to reduce the desire for sugar.
B. Vulgatus Only the mouse without ffar4 reduced sugar craving. Mazmanian says that bacteria or vitamin B5 will not be able to do anything to prevent most of the people’s craving, Mazmanian says.
And in some cases it can be harmful. “There is evidence B. Vulgatus There is a dark side. ” The organism can cause intestinal inflammation in mice with certain genetic changes. Most people do not share mutations of rats, but excessive B. Vulgatus Some can cause problems.
Even if animal data is implied, no one knows whether bacteria, which reduce their sugar craving, will be the same for people. It is not just tested by people yet, and what is effective in the laboratory mouse is sometimes not maintained in human research.
Pierre Cohen, an internal medicine doctor at Harvard Medical School, said the company doesn’t even need to test people’s probiotics or prove that they work. Probiotics are not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration because they are sold as a supplement.
According to Cohen, the company says that unless the company claims to treat the disease, the company needs some evidence to support his claim, but can market the product as chosen. That proof? Most animal data.
Cohen said, “The connection has been broken with the actual evidence that humans work.”
Even Mazmanian, who studies beneficial bacteria, has a reservation for commercial probiotics. “In 2025, we are still skeptical of this claim,” he says. Products that claim to reduce sugar cravings do not even contain organisms that satisfy the sweet teeth of mice.
Even if the benefits are found in humans, each person’s unique biology, genetics and microorganisms can greatly diversify their individual results, he said. “All biology we found will not apply to everyone.”
