{"id":247274,"date":"2025-02-26T14:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T14:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/can-probiotics-actually-curb-sugar-cravings\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T14:36:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T14:36:15","slug":"can-probiotics-actually-curb-sugar-cravings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/can-probiotics-actually-curb-sugar-cravings\/","title":{"rendered":"Can probiotics actually curb sugar cravings?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/MAR_014_25_A_598X336_option2_V02.png?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Can probiotics actually curb sugar cravings?\" title=\"Can probiotics actually curb sugar cravings?\" \/><\/div> \r\n<br><div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n<p>Sugar is a siren song to many people. But some friendly gut bacteria might help you resist its lure. At least that\u2019s what ads for some probiotics claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For years consumers have been bombarded with supposed health benefits of taking probiotics: improve gut health, get more energy and \u201cfeel lighter.\u201d Some also claim to reduce sugar cravings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But can a daily dose of bacteria really calm crav\u00adings for candy and cookies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea is not totally out there. Studies with mice have found that missing some bacteria, <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/erv.3004\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Lactobacillus salivarius<\/em>, <em>L. gasseri<\/em><\/a>, <em>L. johnsonii <\/em>and Muribaculaceae, can send the animals on sugar benders. And it\u2019s not just sweets; mice missing <em>L. johnsonii <\/em>and Muribaculaceae will also gorge on high-fat foods. \u201cAnything that\u2019s pleasurable, the mice will eat more if they\u2019re missing these organisms,\u201d says microbiologist Sarkis Mazmanian of Caltech. Returning the microbes to mice reduces bingeing.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<style><![CDATA[\n.email-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  color: white;\n  margin-top: 50px;\n  background-image: url(\"\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.jpg\");\n  padding: 20px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n\n]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rich-text embedded-conversion-content is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article-type\/deep-end-podcast?cta=top\">\n  <\/a><\/div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article-type\/deep-end-podcast?cta=top\">\n<\/a>\n\n<style><![CDATA[\n#dynamic-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  max-width: 100%;\n  height: auto;\n  clear: both;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>In a recent study in <em>Nature Microbiology, <\/em>researchers in China discovered how the gut bacterium <em>Bacteroides vulgatus <\/em>and a molecule it produces \u2014 pantothenate, aka vitamin B5 \u2014 can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41564-024-01902-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reduce rodents\u2019 preference for sugar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers studied mice genetically engineered to lack FFAR4, a sensor for some fatty acids, in their guts. For unknown reasons, lacking this sensor causes levels of <em>B. vulgatus <\/em>and pantothenate to go down, and these mice gorge on sugar. Giving the bacteria and vitamin to these mice low\u00adered sugar consumption \u2014 all thanks to a chain reaction involving GLP-1, a protein that has become famous because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/ozempic-wegovy-semaglutide-weight-loss-drugs-2023\">semaglutide drugs such as Ozempic<\/a> mimic its action in controlling blood sugar and weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pantothenate stimulates GLP-1 production. In turn, GLP-1 spurs produc\u00adtion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/hormone-shot-drunk-mice-sober-quickly\">a protein called FGF21<\/a>. That protein does something \u2014 scientists aren\u2019t yet sure what \u2014 in the hypothalamus, an appetite-control center in the brain, to reduce the desire for sugar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>B. vulgatus <\/em>reduced sugar cravings only in mice lacking FFAR4. That sug\u00adgests the bacterium or vitamin B5 may do nothing to stop sugar cravings in most people because they have intact FFAR4, Mazmanian says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in some cases, it may even be harmful. \u201cThere\u2019s some evidence that <em>B. vulgatus <\/em>has a dark side,\u201d he says. The organism can cause intes\u00adtinal inflammation in rats with cer\u00adtain genetic alterations. While most people don\u2019t share the rats\u2019 muta\u00adtions, an excess of <em>B. vulgatus <\/em>could cause tummy troubles for some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if the animal data are sug\u00adgestive, the reality is, no one knows whether any bacteria that reduce sugar cravings in mice will do the same for people. It just hasn\u2019t been tested yet in people, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/dirty-mice-better-lab-raised-mice-studying-human-disease\">what works in lab mice<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/50-years-cure-intoxication-sober\">sometimes fails<\/a> to hold up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/50-years-cure-intoxication-sober\">in human studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies aren\u2019t even required to test probiotics in people or prove that they work, says Pieter Cohen, an internal medicine doctor at Harvard Medical School who studies supple\u00adment safety. Because probiotics are sold as dietary supplements, they aren\u2019t subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As long as they don\u2019t claim to treat diseases, Cohen says, companies can market their products as they choose, though they do need some evidence to back up their claims. That evidence? Mostly animal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is disconnected from any ac\u00adtual evidence in humans that they work,\u201d Cohen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even Mazmanian, who studies beneficial bacteria, has reserva\u00adtions about commercial probiotics. \u201cIn 2025, I\u2019m still skeptical of these claims,\u201d he says. Products that claim to reduce sugar cravings don\u2019t even contain the organisms that seem to satisfy mice\u2019s sweet tooth. <\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-elements-27c40654034fbeecef6418d6adfe0794\" style=\"color:gray; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:.9rem;\">Sponsor Message<\/p>\n<!-- Tag ID: sciencenews-org_leaderboard_incontent -->\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>Even if a benefit were found in humans, each person\u2019s unique biology, genetics and microbiomes could cause in\u00addividual results to vary widely, he says. \u201cAny biology that we discover \u2026 is not going to apply to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n<br>\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/probiotics-sugar-cravings\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sugar is a siren song to many people. But some friendly gut bacteria might help you resist its lure. At least that\u2019s what ads for some probiotics claim. For years consumers have been bombarded with supposed health benefits of taking probiotics: improve gut health, get more energy and \u201cfeel lighter.\u201d Some also claim to reduce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/MAR_014_25_A_598X336_option2_V02.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[125631,651,191731,6730],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247276,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274\/revisions\/247276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}