(ETX Daily Up) – The intestine is referred to as the second brain, as we now know that the two organs are connected to the point of influencing our emotions. We have also just discovered that the intestinal microbiota has a responsibility in our alcohol consumption.
A small glass, and then yet another, and why not a next one… You are aware of it, your alcohol consumption is important. We are educated in moderation and knowing how to make the right decision to say no to yet another drink. In reality, it would be more complicated for some, especially if their intestinal microbiota corresponds to that identified by Spanish researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid. Scientists have indeed discovered that a certain type of microbiota dictates our behavior in the face of the intoxicating substance.
To find out, they interviewed 507 young volunteers who not only answered questions about their drinking habits but also provided their faeces. These last unsavory samples were indeed necessary to locate them on the Bristol scale, a visual marker developed by the university of the British city to classify human stools into seven families. Bacteriological samples were also taken.
So much organic evidence to compare them to the same samples from volunteers not drinking alcohol. By performing analyzes on male rats on which were transplanted faecal samples from alcohol-dependent animals, it was found that their voluntary intake of alcoholic substances was increased. Moreover, when the rats received a dose of antibiotics, which act by preventing the development of bacteria, the scientists were able to reverse the trend and reduce alcohol consumption.
It remains to precisely identify the bacteria responsible for formatting the particular intestinal microbiota of heavy alcohol consumers – it is still necessary to determine from how many glasses an alcohol consumption is considered important.
However, Spanish scientists believe that these recent discoveries already make it possible to consider probiotics, prebiotics and also synbiotics as effective treatments against intestinal disorders caused by alcohol.
In 2018, American researchers for their part made the link between alcohol and microbiota … of the mouth. Women who drank more than two drinks a day and men more than three a day were distinguished from non-drinkers by the proliferation of bad bacteria in the mouth, some of which could affect the health of the gums, among other things.