The Key to Losing Weight May Be in Your Gut
Many people over look the impact of having the right balance of bacteria in our gut. Studies have shown that gut bacteria may hold the key to obesity as well as many other diseases.
Kefir Preparation
The healthy amount of bacteria to have in our gut is 85% of the “good” bacteria and 15% of the un-beneficial bacteria. Unfortunately our diet which is high in sugars, grains and fructose makes the equation more the other way round.
Studies have found that “obese individuals had about 20 percent more of a family of bacteria known as firmicutes, and almost 90 percent less of a bacteria called bacteroidetes than lean people. Firmicutes help your body to extract calories from complex sugars and deposit those calories in fat.”
Another study showed that a 5% reduction in abdominal fat and more than a 3% reduction in subcutaneous fat was recorded for individuals who drank a probiotic fermented drink over a twelve week period.
“Two new studies show that obese people have different intestinal bacteria than slim people. What’s more, the microbes in an overweight body are much more efficient at extracting calories from food.
One study looked at mice, the other looked at humans. In both, a family of bacteria known as firmicutes were more plentiful in the obese (20 percent more). Bacteria called bacteroidetes were also much more abundant in those of normal weight (the obese had almost 90 percent fewer bacteroidetes).
Most likely because of the firmicutes, the obese mice were more efficient at taking calories out of complex sugars and depositing those calories in fat. When these microbes were transplanted into the normal-weight mice, those mice started to gain twice as much fat.
As obese people lost weight, their bacteroidetes increased, while the numbers of firmicutes decreased.”
Foods such as yoghurt (plain, not sugar laden), kefir, natto and various pickled fermentation of vegetables such as carrots, eggplant, onions and squash are good sources of fermented foods to eat.
Or you could try a good quality probiotic supplement
“We know that to gain weight and become obese, [it] requires you to eat more. The question is, Why do people eat more? Our results suggest that one reason people might be eating more is because of changes in their intestinal bacteria.” says Andrew Gewirtz at Emory University who conducted studies on mice and gut bacteria.
Read more about the how gut bacteria may hold key to obesity in article one and article two here.
