INTERMITTENT fasting rewires the brain to help beat obesity, a study shows.
The trendy diet — followed by Kourtney Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston — may help reduce people’s “addiction” to food, Chinese researchers said.
Dr Qiang Zeng, of the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, said: “An intermittent energy restriction diet changes the human brain-gut-microbiome axis.
“The observed changes in the gut microbiome and in the activity in addiction-related brain regions during and after weight loss are highly dynamic and coupled over time.”
Around 38 per cent of adults in England are overweight, and a further 26 per cent obese.
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The NHS says obesity costs £6.1billion a year, but the total cost of all linked conditions is believed to be much higher.
Intermittent fasting is a type of food regime that involves restricting when you can eat to a certain time window.
It has become increasingly popular among celebrities and influencers, with fans claiming it can cause a host of benefits including weight-loss and boosted metabolism.
Previous research has shown time-restricted eating can improve blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol in the short-term.
The latest study, published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, looked at how it affects the gut-brain axis to influence people’s eating patterns.
Dr Xiaoning Wang, of the NCRCGD, said: “The gut microbiome is thought to communicate with the brain in a complex, two-directional way.
“The microbiome produces neurotransmitters and neurotoxins which access the brain through nerves and the blood circulation.
“In return the brain controls eating behaviour, while nutrients from our diet change the composition of the gut microbiome.”
Researchers tracked 25 obese people for 62 days.
They took part in an intermittent energy restriction program, which involved careful control of calorie intake and relative fasting on some days.
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They lost 7.6kg (16.8lb) or 7.8 per cent of their body weight on average.
There were also shifts in the activity of obesity-related regions of their brains and in the make-up of their gut bacteria.
Dr Liming Wang, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “The next question to be answered is the precise mechanism by which the gut microbiome and the brain communicate in obese people, including during weight loss.
“What specific gut microbiome and brain regions are critical for successful weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight?”