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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Gut bacteria firmicutes
What is the truth about these things?
It's your body.
It's your life.
It's your health.
Gut bacteria and obesity?:
A little more info, if you please
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So here goes
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Gut bacteria Firmicutes
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Do they cause obesity?
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Gut bacteria and obesity?
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A little more info, if you please.
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The articles were everywhere, claiming that gut bacteria, that is bacteria in your digestive system were possibly responsible for weight gain and obesity.
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A study published by the journal Science Translational Medicine linked gut bacteria to obesity.
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The article points out that the human digestive system has trillions of bacteria that help break down food so that the body can digest it.
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According to a story in Los Angeles Times, the vast majority or around 90% of gut bacteria, or flora, are either Firmicutes or Bacteroidetes.
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The researchers found that the Firmicutes were more predominant in obese subjects.
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Unfortunately for those with high concentrations of this kind of bacteria, Firmicutes are much more effective at breaking down hard to digest foods and turning them into usable calories.
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This means that equal amounts of the same food do not provide the same number of usable calories if the people eating have different concentrations of the two bacteria.
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This is important news, and could lead to breakthroughs on how to combat the growing obesity epidemic.
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But it flies in direct opposition to long held "conventional wisdom" that the only thing that matters is calories in vs. calories out.
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The fact of the matter is that many of those "hard to digest" foods are the healthy, high-fiber, foods that are supposed to help you lose weight.
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This means salad and vegetables provide more usable calories to those with higher concentrations of Firmicutes.
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To make things worse, researchers claim that eating high amounts of fat and sugar can alter gut bacteria in as little as one day, making it easier to gain weight with higher concentations of Firmicutes.
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Unfortunately, they leave out all the middle ground and opposing information, such as what kind of eating can encourage the growth of Bacteroidetes.
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Or are we supposed to believe that one day of bad eating changes your bacterial balance forever more?
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That does not seem very likely.
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Already, there are ads and stories on the Internet aiming to cash in on the data by claiming that various yogurts and other probiotic products can prevent obesity.
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While there is no proof to support that claim. it does raise the idea of whether probiotic products and supplements can be altered to encourage the growth and predominance of Bacteroidetes.
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For example, antibiotics are known to kill gut flora, which is why many doctors suggest yogurt and other probiotics to help afterwards.
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Can probiotics that are designed to be high in Bacteroidetes help to reprogram the gut flora to help people lose weight more efficiently?
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Evolution is perhaps the most powerful force on the planet, and fighting it may prove to be difficult.
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Since Firmicutes have evolved to be more efficient than Bacteroidetes (meaning that they can use a wider variety of food), it might be tough to overcome.
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But for those scientists out there doing research on this, remember that you have hundreds of millions of potential customers around the world waiting for a breakthrough.
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