Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms
Open accessAbstract
Microbes in the gastrointestinal tract are under selective pressure to manipulate host eating behavior to increase their fitness, sometimes at the expense of host fitness. Microbes may do this through two potential strategies: (i) generating cravings for foods that they specialize on or foods that suppress their competitors, or (ii) inducing dysphoria until we eat foods that enhance their fitness. We review several potential mechanisms for microbial control over eating behavior including microbial influence on reward and satiety pathways, production of toxins that alter mood, changes to receptors including taste receptors, and hijacking of the vagus nerve, the neural axis between the gut and the brain. We also review the evidence for alternative explanations for cravings and unhealthy eating behavior. Because microbiota are easily manipulatable by prebiotics, probiotics, antibiotics, fecal transplants, and dietary changes, altering our microbiota offers a tractable approach to otherwise intractable problems of obesity and unhealthy eating.
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Animal studies have provided evidence that microbiota communication with the brain involves the vagus nerve and this interaction can lead to mediating effects on the brain and subsequently, behavior.
“Indeed, animal studies have provided evidence that microbiota communication with the brain involves the vagus nerve and this interaction can lead to mediating effects on the brain and subsequently, behavior (127).”
From Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [127]
Preclinical evidence suggests that GM-mediated mechanisms are likely involved in modulating brain processes, including brain biochemistry, response to stress, pain interpretation, feeding, emotional behaviors, and cognition.
“Preclinical evidence suggests that GM-mediated mechanisms are likely involved in modulating brain processes, including brain biochemistry, response to stress, pain interpretation, feeding, emotional behaviors, and cognition (57–64).”
From Signalling cognition: The gut microbiota and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
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- Authors
- Alcock, J., Maley, C. C., & Aktipis, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Center for Evolution and Cancer Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center San Francisco CA USA
- Corresponding author
- Maley, Carlo C.
- Venue
- BioEssays
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-08-08
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 940-949
- ISSN
- 0265-9247 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-1878
- PMC
- PMC4270213
- OpenAlex
- W1864360976
- Cited by
- 454
- References
- 120
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 3.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BioEssays (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Arizona State University Library Digital Repository (Arizona State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- American Cancer Society (117209-RSG-09-163-01-CNE)
- Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation
- National Cancer Institute (CA132450, CA91955, CA149566, CA170595, CA140657)
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, dietary habits, food cravings, satiety, reward pathways, gut-brain axis, vagus nerve, taste receptors, dysphoria, obesity, prebiotics, probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, antibiotics, evolutionary pressure
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Evolution, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Models, Biological, Obesity, Gastrointestinal Tract, Microbiota
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