alt Hacker NewsIt makes sense for chocolate given that cocoa flavanols are prebiotic fiber for GABA-secreting bacteria which of course affects the parasympathetic nervous system.
It makes sense for chocolate given that cocoa flavanols are prebiotic fiber for GABA-secreting bacteria which of course affects the parasympathetic nervous system.
The paper didn’t say that the microbiome was driving food preferences.
It measured some bio markers and some dietary preferences and claims some correlation.
The correlation is that what you eat fuels the microbiome. So your diet influences the microbiome by fueling or starving different bacteria.
Complex theories about causality going the other way through complex chains of flavonoids to bacteria to neurotransmitters to the parasympathetic nervous system sound impressive with all of the big words, but it’s such a complex theory that would need other testing to even begin to understand if there was something there.
Testing the other direction is easy and obvious. You can grow many bacteria in a Petri dish and see that some grow better or worse with different nutrients.