Overview
- The peer-reviewed research in Gut Microbes analyzed nearly 100 Los Angeles–area adults using brain scans during food cues, fecal metabolite profiling, plasma oxytocin, BMI, and behavioral assessments.
- Married participants reporting strong emotional support had lower BMI and fewer food-addiction behaviors than married peers with low support.
- Functional MRI showed greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation to food images in well-supported married participants, while unmarried participants did not show the same pattern.
- Supported married participants had higher plasma oxytocin, and authors propose it may link self-control circuitry with healthier gut metabolic profiles, including favorable tryptophan metabolites.
- The study captured a single time point with a modest, overweight-skewed sample and older married participants, and the authors call for larger, more diverse longitudinal studies before inferring causality.