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"You hear all the time about what diets are the best/the worst, right? But interesting new research shows that your eating choices might not be entirely up to you. Wait, that sounds a little spooky. Here&amp;#x27;s some clarification: It might have something to do with the bacteria in your stomach. (Hold on, is that even spookier?) Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco, Arizona State University, and the University of New Mexico found that the collection of microbes in our digestive tracts may actually play a role in influencing what we choose to eat. So even if your brain wants to follow that vegan, paleo, or low-carb diet, your gut bacteria may have other ideas. Here&amp;#x27;s the thing: These little bacteria have different nutritional needs based on the jobs they perform within our GI tracts. And sometimes, their needs meet our newest diet goals. But sometimes...they don&amp;#x27;t. According to the study&amp;#x27;s senior author, Athena Aktipis: &amp;quot;[These] microbes have the capacity to manipulate behavior and mood through altering the neural signals in the vagus nerve, changing taste receptors, producing toxins to make us feel bad, and releasing chemical rewards to make us feel good.&amp;quot; Naturally, there&amp;#x27;s still a lot of research to be done...but whoa! This is crazy interesting, and has left me&amp;amp;#8212;in the meantime&amp;amp;#8212;wondering about gut bacteria and food sensitivities. How do you know? Some ideas: * Evaluate your diet. Does eating pizza and wings for dinner keep you up all night? Do you feel awful the next day? Try to take stock of the foods that make you feel bad; be aware of the things you eat. Try increasing your intake of probiotics and see if that makes a difference. * See your doctor. Yeah, I know: duh. But your doctor can send you for a slew of tests&amp;amp;#8212;blood, skin, or even a small intestine culture&amp;amp;#8212;that can help you figure out what&amp;#x27;s going on in your body...and what your body might not want to have in said body. * Get a hydrogen breath test. Only anaerobic bacteria in the colon are able to produce hydrogen; these bacteria hydrogen when they are exposed to unabsorbed food. So when there&amp;#x27;s hydrogen present in your breath, there may problem with your digestion or absorption of food. Food for thought (heh), right? What do you think?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2014/08/gut-bacteria-diet-failure>