New research published in Nature has uncovered an entirely new connection between the gut and the brain that drives our desire for fat. Scientists from Columbia′s Zuckerman Institute have found that in a mouse model, the fats entering the intestines trigger a signal that is conducted along nerves to the brain, increasing the desire to consume fatty food. The study has raised the possibility of interfering with the gut-brain connection to prevent the consumption of unhealthy food and overeating.

The first author, Dr. Mengtong Li, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of the Zuckerman Institute′s Dr. Charles Zuker, Ph.D., stated that overconsumption of fats and sugars is causing an epidemic of obesity and metabolic disorders. Hence, the insatiable desire for fat and sugar can be controlled by using the connection between the gut and the brain. She added that in the previous study on sugar control, his team found that glucose activates a specific gut-brain circuit that communicates to the brain in the presence of intestinal sugar, but similar effects were not seen in the case of calorie-free artificial sweeteners.

In the study, mice were fed with bottles of water containing dissolved fats, including a component of soybean oil, and bottles of water containing sweet substances that are known to not affect the gut. Over a couple of days, they found that the rodents have developed a strong preference for fatty water. The findings of the study also revealed that a similar preference was observed even after genetically modifying the mice by removing the animals′ ability to taste fat using their tongues. Dr. Li explained that fat activates specific brain circuits driving the animals′ behavioral response to fat. She supported her theory by measuring the brain activity in mice while feeding them fatty water and revealed that the neurons in one particular region of the brainstem, the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (cNST) were activated.

(Source: https://www.livemint.com/science/health/cravings-for-fatty-foods-traced-to-gut-brain-connection-study-11662853840363.html )