High Fat Diet May Cause Your Gut Bacteria and Brain to Change

A high fat diet may not only cause your gut bacteria to change; it may also cause you to be unable to tell when you're full. A new study reveals that high-fat indulgence alters signaling to the brain, which can cause overeating.

"When we switch the rats to a high fat diet, it reorganizes brain circuits," said Krzysztof Czaja, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The brain is changed by eating unbalanced foods. It induces inflammation in the brain regions responsible for feeding behavior. Those reorganized circuits and inflammation may alter satiety signaling."

The researchers also found that there was a shift in microbiota when rats switched to a high fat diet. While some may be fine, though, others can become ill.

"In the regular physiological state, many different strains of bacteria live in a balanced environment in the intestinal tract," said Czaja. "They don't overpopulate. There are little shifts, but in general this population is quite stable. When we start feeding the rats a different diet, there is an immediate effect. Suddenly, different nutrients are changing the microenvironment in the gut and some bacteria begin to overpopulate. Some sensitive bacteria begin to die and some populations may even vanish. So, introducing a significant change in the gut microenvironment triggers a cascade of events that leads to this population switch."

The changes can actually cause inflammation that damages the nerve cells that carry signals from the gut to the brain, resulting in gut-brain miscommunication. It's not yet known whether this change is permanent or reversible, but scientists plan to explore this topic further in the future.

The findings were presented at the 23^rd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior.

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