I have never used probiotics, because they have always seemed like a fad and gimmicky. Because of the things we have learned about in this class , I am now interested in trying them.
I am a life long dieter. I started dieting as a teenager. Along with three pregnancies, my weight has been up and down all of my adult life, mainly up.
Four years ago I lost 40 lbs and jogged two miles a day. Then last year, during covid, my pet parrot was ill at the same time I was quarantined. The combination of being restricted at home and caring for my parrot led me to gain back most of the weight. In addition to that, last spring I decided to let myself eat food I normally never eat, but love. This included french friends, good quality fast food hamburgers (I tried to get grass fed beef), and all sorts of Starbucks goodies, (chocolate covered almonds and croissants, etc.).
What I have found over time is that when I eat in a certain way I become addicted to that kind of food. For example, when I eat a lot of junk food, I get addicted to that kind of food and it becomes more difficult to eat healthy food. When I started eating french fries, I would crave them a few times a week. In the same way, when I eat a healthy, low calorie diet, I become addicted to that kind of food and have a hard time eating junk food like pizza, french fries, pastries, ice cream, etc.
I wonder if these addictions and cravings are due partly to changes in my microbiome as I change my diet. We have learned in this class that there are microbes that can suppress our appetite hormones. If our microbiome changes as we change our diet, perhaps certain bacteria have a way of interacting with our appetite hormone, or some other kind of hormone, that makes our brains crave the kinds of foods that are prominent in our diet to keep the bacteria thriving in the gut.
Currently, I am back on a low calorie diet. I eat a lot of leafy greens and vegetables and mainly chicken and salmon for protein. I have much more energy than when I was eating whatever I wanted. It makes sense to me that a healthy diet would lead to a healthier, more balanced microbiome. I’m guessing my Bacteroides and Firmicutes are pretty well balanced. I don’t suffer from any particular disease, don’t take any medications and I am eating healthy while losing weight at the same time.
I have thought that by restricting my calories and eating healthier foods, I might be starving bacteria in my microbiome that thrive on junk food, if there are any. I think it’s an interesting concept, that some bacteria thrive on high fats, salts, sugars etc. and these may be considered bacteria that cause problems in one’s gut.
I am not supplementing my diet with any probiotics and I don’t eat yogurt products. Because of the restrictions in my current weight loss diet, I am probably lacking in some nutrients. I might actually be getting depleted of some microbes, and a probiotic supplement may be a really good idea.