Weekend binging just as bad as regular junk food intake
Dieters who reward themselves with a weekend junk food binge may be undoing all their hard work.
A University of New South Wales study shows that junk food disrupts gut bacteria in rats. This disruption may lead to inflammatory bowel disease and obesity.
“The findings indicate that intermittent exposure to junk food three days a week is sufficient to extensively shift the gut microbiota towards the pattern seen in obese rats consuming the diet continuously,” says Professor Margaret Morris, the Head of Pharmacology at UNSW and lead researcher of the study.
In the study, rats are either fed a healthy diet, a junk food diet, or a cycle between the two. After 16 weeks, rats on the cycled diet were 18% heavier than those on the healthy diet, while leptin and insulin levels in cycled rats were in between rats fed junk or healthy food.
The researchers found the microbiota of cycled rats was almost indistinguishable from rats fed a constant diet of junk, with both groups’ microbiota significantly different from those in the rats fed a healthy diet.
Professor Morris said a greater understanding of the role of energy rich foods and dieting on microbial changes is important, given the current obesity epidemic and the prevalence of yo-yo dieting in Western countries.
“The study suggests certain gut microbiota, including Ruminococcus and Blautia, may be promising targets for future therapeutic strategies to treat metabolic disorders,” Professor Morris said.
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