A new study on gut microbiome activity suggests that diet and eating schedules may affect the body’s propensity to become obese and unhealthy.
A new study on gut microbiome activity suggests that diet and eating schedules may affect the body’s propensity to become obese and unhealthy.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine tested the theory on mouse models, evaluating how time-restricted feeding (TRF) can impact food processing and overall metabolic health. Specifically, diet-induced obesity (DIO) and TRF change the ileal microbiome composition and transcriptome. The paper was published in Cell Reports.
They investigated how food is processed from the ileum of the small intestines to the cecum in the large intestines in two mouse groups: those that did not do TRF, where mice could eat whenever and whatever, and those who did TRF. The scientists found that DIO and no TRF led to irregular gut microbiome rhythms and signals modulating intestinal clocks.
“It is interesting that restricting food access with TRF acts not only through restoration of patterns affected under the unhealthy state, but also through new pathways. It’s a very complicated relationship between the microbiome and the host, with the former helping determine the latter’s gastrointestinal functioning and health,” Amir Zarrinpar, M.D., Ph.D., study author, assistant professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and gastroenterologist at UC San Diego Health, said.
“What we’ve learned is that cyclical changes in the gut microbiome are quite important for health since they help with the circadian clock, and with that the regulation and control of glucose, cholesterol and fatty acids — and overall metabolic health,” added Zarrinpar.
The results shine a light on future investigations on how the gut functions and, in terms of therapies, how medications might interact with the gut based on its state at the moment of intake and time of day. Understanding gut responses and meal scheduling might be significant in the fight against obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Studies on time-restricted feeding have been conducted over the years in a bid to find a way to prevent or treat obesity. In February, a similar trial by Chinese scientists compared the effects of different TRF regimens in healthy participants who were not obese, identifying insulin resistance as the primary endpoint. After five weeks, those on TRF demonstrated improved insulin sensitivity, reduced body mass and adiposity, increased gut microbial diversity and reduced fasting plasma glucose.
However, another study published in April tested TRF on participants who were already obese and found that TRF’s effects pale in comparison to daily calorie restriction with regard to reduction in body weight, body fat, or metabolic risk factors. Details of the study are published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
