STUDIES & REPORTS
The number of bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract greatly outnumber the cells in your body; your
gut has 100 trillion microorganisms while you have about 10 trillion cells in your body!
Thin people may have a different ratio of bacteria in their gastrointestinal tract than obese people.
What this means is that the microflora in your gut is a powerful and compelling force in your body,
one that may influence far more than how well your food gets digested. This living inner ecosystem
is becoming a favorite topic among scientists and nutritionists alike, and you may be wise to listen
up to what the newest research is revealing.
Thin people may have a different ratio of bacteria in their gastrointestinal tract than obese people.
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis found that obese people have more of a
family of bacteria called firmicutes than lean people. Among normal weight people, meanwhile,
bacteria called bacteroidetes were less plentiful. And it appears the bacteria were having a major
impact on weight.
Obese mice, researchers found, were more efficient at extracting calories from food and depositing
those calories in fat than lean mice. And when the bacteria from the obese mice were transplanted
into the lean mice, they gained twice as much fat.
"It's not just your brain and your body fat and your body organs involved in your energy balance
equation. It may also be the bugs that are in your body as well,” Sam Klein, a study co-author and
professor of gastroenterology at the university, told USA Today.
Stanford University researchers recently found that people who take probiotics after gastric bypass
surgery lose weight faster than those who don’t. In fact, after three months those who took
probiotics had a 48 percent weight loss, compared with 39 percent among those who didn’t.
"Bacterial overgrowth can be bad in that it changes your motility, how you empty. A lot of people
aren't aware that we all carry about a lot of bacteria in our intestines and that they're extremely
helpful in aiding digestion … Part of the obesity puzzle may be due to the kind of bacteria you have
in your intestine.”
While probiotics may help your body achieve its ideal weight, you should use them in combination
with a healthy diet and regular exercise if you’re trying to lose weight.
Sources
Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery July 2009
ScienceDaily.com July 13, 2009
NutraIngredients.com May 7, 2009
Nature December 20, 2006
USAToday.com December 27, 2006