Study Suggests Westernized Diet Leads To Obesity Via Gut Microbes

[HuckleB]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170695.php

"US researchers who transplanted human intestinal microbes into germ-free mice and then switched their diet from a low-fat plant-based one to a more Westernized diet, high in fat and sugars, found that within one day obesity-linked microbes were thriving in the gut and the mice eventually became obese.

The study was the work of Dr Jeffrey I Gordon and colleagues and was published on 11 November in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Gordon, the senior author of the study, is director of the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Gordon and colleagues wrote how over time, compared with mice kept on a low-fat, plant-based diet, the "humanized" mice fed the Westernized high-fat, high-sugar diet diet became obese, and that their weight gain patterns followed shifts in the types of bacteria present in their gut.

..."


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Interesting, or say I think.

[supernova]

1. So, they might discover

that it's theoretically possible to change your weight by changing your gut inhabitants?

[trotsky]

4. I think that would be a short-term fix.

If the obesity-linked critters find our diet to be a favorable selection factor, they will simply return if the diet does not change.

[supernova]

7. That's exactly what I was thinking of

That a person would make permanent dietary changes.

It's very possible. After a while, the cravings for the foods you used to eat die down, as you feel better nourished.

[eShirl]

5. if you change gut inhabitants by changing to a low fat, plant based diet, yeah. n/t

[paulsby]

13. neither low fat nor plant based

is sufficient or necessary to lose fat.

i say that as somebody who has to make weight several times a year, and who used to be a personal trainer.

plenty of people on low fat diets can gain fat, and there is nothing special about plant based diets vs. omnivorous diets. if you eat too much on either one, you get fat.

[JackintheGreen]

6. I heard an interview with the dr. this morning

And even though it was NPR, it was still the radio, so details were limited, but what he was saying is that it is easy to switch the microbes on to encourage obesity. As the OP posted, it happens within 24 hours. What wasn't clear was whether or not they can be turned back to non-obesity microbes.

The mice who were injected with the obesity microbes were still fed a low fat, vegetable diet, but they continued to gain fat. It seems that once they are on, it's wicked hard to turn them off.

[supernova]

8. Thank you for that

"It seems that once they are on, it's wicked hard to turn them off."

Ain't that the truth. :nopity:

[mzmolly]

11. Actually there are studies that support

your theory. Here is more on the topic from Time.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1938023,00.html

[mopinko]

2. very interesting

i think we do not pay enough attention to our microflora. there are studies suggesting that ibd is related to these issues, as well.

[Richard D]

3. I'll add . . .

. . . that I think colon cancer will end up on that list as well. Possibly liver cancer.

[juno jones]

9. K&R!

This is very interesting. Thank you.

[mzmolly]

10. K and R

Wow! VERY interesting, thanks Huck. :hi:

[tandot]

12. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.