“Gut Bugs” and Obesity?

Posted by Lorren on July 17, 2008

Newsweek.com had a recent article about “Gut bugs” that got me thinking.

The gist of the article was that there are microscopic bugs in your gut that aid in digestion. Okay, most of us knew that. There’s that whole “probiotic” movement going on, and you have new yogurts out that are supposed to help with that.

A scientific study on mice has recently discovered that bacteria will take some of the food that you have trouble digesting, and break it down so that it releases more calories for you. Some people get up to 10% of their daily calories this way.

Nobody has the same bacteria as other people do. And some bacteria are more efficient at releasing more calories than others are. The study on mice showed that those mice with more efficient bacteria ended up gaining more weight than other mice who ate the exact same thing. Perhaps this can explain how some people just seem to have better metabolisms than others.

You could even take this a step farther. Or at least I did. Over the course of my lifetime, people have been getting fatter. They’re also eating larger portions in general, but is that it? Food manufacturers are using more high fructose corn syrup. Farmers are using more hormones and pesticides. Most of the food that we’re eating is more processed.

Could all this processing, hormones, pesticides, and high fructose corn syrup have an effect on the type of gut bugs that we have? Could this be why people easily lose weight while eating raw food diets? Just some speculation that I’ve been thinking of. Maybe if the scientists do some more research they’ll find some more answers.