UA researcher launches 5-year study of maternal diet and gut nutritional memory

A researcher at University of Arizona is launching a five-year study to know if gut cells called neuropods store information on maternal diets that can later influence what we eat.

The study is funded by a high-risk, high-reward kind of grant from the National Institutes of Health for early career scientists.

Neuropod cells that live in the intestine and colon share what we eat with the brain and this drives some behavior.

“What if these sensory cells of the gut are actually encoding information from the maternal diet? So when we are developing in utero and early on when we’re breast feeding,” said Maya Kaelberer, an assistant professor in the UA physiology department.

By understanding how a mother’s diet and seasonal changes influence the foods people eat, Kaelberer hopes to help them overcome unhealthy cravings.

“Or maybe reset some of those gut sense so that moving forward it may not be as difficult for you to make good food choices,” Kaelberer said.

One day understanding how what a mom eats affects food choices by her child can be used to help fight obesity.

Kaelberer’s previous work found that neuropods are able to distinguish real sugar from artificial sweeteners.

The new study began in September and is in the basic research phase.