How You Can Take Back Control Over Your Appetite

In addition to stimulating appetite and accelerating digestion so you want to eat more, bacteria can punish you for not eating the foods they want by releasing toxins. Diarrhea can sometimes be a bacterial temper tantrum to punish you for not eating what your bacteria want, not just an invasion of your digestive tract by diarrhea-causing microbes. So what can you do to take back control over your appetite when the bacteria in your system sabotage your best efforts to control what you eat so you can lose weight?

The best answer seems to be to work with the bacteria that help you keep your appetite in check. Bifidobacter bacteria feed on fiber. Fiber is good for you in a number of ways.  It slows down the speed of food through your digestive tract. You feel fuller longer. You don't want to eat as much.

And the bacteria that feed on fiber in your large intestine use it to make food for themselves with a byproduct called butyric acid, which reduces inflammation in the colon and also reduces the risk of colon cancer.

How can you get the Bifidobacterium bacteria you need into your digestive tract. This really isn't hard at all.

• Eat cultured dairy products (yogurt) or cultured soy milk or coconut milk that contains live cultures of Bifidobacterium. It's important that the label includes the description "live cultures," since pasteurized milk without live bacteria added back will not do anything for your bacterial balance.
• You can also take probiotics that contain the needed Bifidobacterium, either in capsule or "shot" form. The Canadian natural products maker Alive! makes a drink mix containing these and many other helpful strains of bacteria.
• In addition to consuming the probiotics that provide the bacteria your body needs, eat at least small amounts of the prebiotics that feed friendly bacteria. Prebiotic foods include just about anything with soluble fiber (wheat bran contains insoluble fiber), but especially foods like chicory, radicchio, prunes (which also contain chemicals that increase bowel movement), and fresh fruit. Sauerkraut, pickles, fermented soy products such as miso, and kimchi provide other bacteria that help fight off the "bad" bacteria that make you want to eat more.

It doesn't take long for friendly bacteria to help you get your appetite back under control. They begin releasing neurotransmitters that encourage your brain to direct you to fiber-rich foods about 24 hours after they get into your system. 

See Also: Why Belly Fat is Unhealthy and Why Soluble Fiber may be Your Lifesaver

What can go wrong if you use probiotics as a diet aid? The answer is, not a lot. However, if your doctor puts you on any kind of antibiotics while you are dieting, be sure to replace the healthy bacteria your body needs every day to make sure the diet-friendly bacteria you need maintain their numbers.