Chronic dieting and appetite dysregulation
What is the current research around how chronic energy restriction or following crash diets affects appetite hormones and/ or appetite regulation long term. Is there a physiological mechanism influencing overeating attributable to appetite dysregulation caused by chronic dieting. I ask as this is something I am often tackling in my nutrition consultancy but research in biochemical and physiological mechanisms seems lacking.
weight periodization
Are there best practices for the maximum duration someone should spend in fat loss or weight gain phases? Or perhaps an optimal ratio of fat loss/weight gain to maintenance phases? For example, should fat loss phases be for a maximum of 12 weeks followed by maintenance of at least equal duration before resuming a fat loss phase?
Bacteria, obesity, and the brain
In 2018 a poster was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience titled “The human brain microbiome; there are bacteria in our brains!” which showed bacteria apparently penetrating and inhabiting the cells of healthy human brains. While the work was preliminary, have you heard of any further work in this area? What is your opinion on the possibility that, if bacteria do inhabit the brain, they could play a part in appetite regulation and/or obesity similar to how the gut microbiome can affect our health?