u/HelenEk7

TL;DR:

Human evolution has endowed Homo sapiens with a remarkable capacity to adapt and thrive across a wide range of environments (92). In today’s environment of food abundance, however, those same adaptive strategies can become liabilities.

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Abstract:

Since the mid-twentieth century, there has been a rapid rise in the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) so that they now contribute up to 60% of dietary energy intake in several Western countries. Existing accounts emphasize economic, political, food-system, and socio-cultural drivers of this shift. In this conceptual article, we discuss whether from a historical perspective, UPFs are a unique category of foods or rather an intensified extension of a long-standing trajectory of humans using various methods, such as mechanical processing, fermentation and cooking, to improve the digestibility, energy availability and palatability of their foods. Hereto we identify the typical properties used to explain the appeal of UPFs, distinguishing (i) direct intake drivers: engineered palatability, food matrices that enable high eating rates, high energy density and high sensory variety and (ii) market-mediated product attributes: convenient and portable formats, low effective cost, branded and marketed, ubiquitous availability, and long shelf life. We show that for none of these, UPFs form a clearly distinct grouping, but that what sets them apart is that on average they score higher on these properties, and they combine more of them at the same time. We then propose a conceptual framework to assess whether UPFs are unique in the way that they appeal to our evolved food intake regulation system. Hereto we map the properties onto (quantifiable) characteristics of the food intake regulation system in a testable framework. We conclude that a property-based assessment of UPFs suggests them to be an extension, rather than a categorical break from historical traditions, and that understanding the contemporary prevalence of UPFs requires explicit consideration of their interaction with evolved food intake regulation mechanisms, alongside established structural explanations, and we outline implications for future empirical tests and multi-level interventions.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13105965/

An article about the study: "Shared gut microbe imbalances found across autism, ADHD, and anorexia nervosa" https://www.psypost.org/shared-gut-microbe-imbalances-found-across-autism-adhd-and-anorexia-nervosa/

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Highlights

• Children with ASD, ADHD and AN display some common features of dysbiosis.

• Bacteroidetes, Desulfovibriota and Escherichia are associated with behavioral disorders.

• Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota and Bifidobacterium are associated with healthy controls.

• Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobiota and Desulfovibriota are linked to satiety hormones.

• Microbiota typical for psychopathology negatively correlates with PYY.

Abstract

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and anorexia nervosa (AN) significantly impact affected individuals and their families. This study investigated differences in gut microbiota composition, neurotrophic factors, intestinal inflammation biomarkers, and food intake–regulating hormones between affected children and healthy controls. As these disorders are often accompanied by abnormal eating behaviours, we also explored the levels of food intake regulating hormones and their interrelations with other parameters. Our cohort comprised 117 children, including 65 patients (30 boys with ASD, 21 girls with AN, and 14 patients with ADHD) and 52 age- and sex-matched healthy children. We found several common patterns in dysbiosis of different disorders. Richness was lower in ASD and ADHD, and the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio was higher in all disorders. The Desulfovibriota abundance was increased in ADHD and AN, and Escherichia-Shigella was elevated in ASD and ADHD. Faecalibacterium abundance was decreased in ADHD and AN. A reduction of Bifidobacterium was also common. Children with ASD exhibited an elevated Bacteroidetes and a diminished Actinobacteriota, and Ruminococcus. Children with ADHD manifested reduced Firmicutes. Girls with AN displayed a decreased Firmicutes and increased Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Verrucomicrobiota. Calprotectin, zonulin and neurotrophic factors levels showed no significant differences. Lower PYY levels in ADHD and reduced PYY, leptin, and ghrelin levels in AN patients were found. Notably, certain resemblances was observed in the microbiotic taxa abundances across all patient cohorts, underscoring the conceivable influence of gut microbiota composition on the behavioral manifestations of mental disorders.

https://www.ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-4522(25)00860-7/abstract