Antoaneta Sawyer, PhD
The bacteria in our bowel, also known as residents (normal inhabitants) are between 10- 100 trillion. In order the human body to be healthy, they must function in a constant equilibrium, being intimately connected with immunity and metabolism. The gut bacteria are not just passive microorganisms, they provide us with many benefits but on times they may compromise our health. In a new study was proved that they may not only influence our metabolism but to determine how much calories we absorb from food. They may be the new hypothetical reason behind metabolic syndrome and obesity.
Until now the science shows data that every person has 160 different kinds of gut bacteria, which belong to two main families: the family of Bacteroidetes and the family of Firmicutes. These bacteria are found not only in humans and in animals, but they are also isolated from water and soil samples. Normally they are beneficial but when they overpopulate- they may cause a disease. (Source, Wiki)
“On the whole, our gut bacteria are beneficial as they prevent disease-causing bacteria from taking hold in our body simply by filling up all the available space. And they help us digest foods, such as some starches that we cannot break down ourselves, producing vitamins and energy sources we can use,” states Ruth Ley, a microbial ecologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.(Source, Los AngelesTimes)
A comparative study done by the same team (2005) at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studied the gut bacteria in mice, and compared lean mice with genetically obese ones. The genetically obese mice had a mutation in the hormone leptin, which normally controls appetite and metabolism. Similarly to mice, the two main gut inhabitants in humans were Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The researchers were surprised to find out that obese and lean mice had different proportions of each. In particular, fat mice tended to have more Firmicutes, and fewer Bacteroidetes, just the opposite to lean mice who had more Bacteroidetes than Firmicutes.
In a separate study, the same team worked with sterile (bacteria-free) mice that have no gut bacteria. Generally, these mice eat a lot, but do never get fat, presumably because they don't have Firmicutes bacteria to absorb all the calories from the food. For their surprise, when the researchers implanted the same bacteria from fat mice to their sterile counterparts, the recipients mice gained weight. This result, reported in Nature (2006), directly suggests that intestinal bacteria are directly connected with obesity and weight gain.
In another study also published in Nature (2006), the team tried to compare the results in mice with people, and studied the proportion of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in 12 people. They examined the bacteria in obese people in one year of follow up diet program. Before the diet started, the subjects had more Firmicutes and fewer Bacteroidetes, but as the diet progressed, the Bacteroidetes went up, while the Firmicutes numbers went down. Despite the conclusions in 12 people are far from being statistically significant, the question behind the new obesity hypothesis is still open for a future research.
Generally, babies are born “bacteria-free” (sterile), but start collecting bacteria from their mothers and their family. It is obvious that there is also an inheritance from family members. If the gut-obesity theory proved correct, that would suggest obesity risk could be over passed with correct diet, selected foods and drinks which regulate the kind of bacteria that are not beneficial.
A study found that ‘a "high-fat, high-sugar" diet changes the composition of bacteria in the gut, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. ’According to the study published in the new Journal of Translational Medicine, ‘the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours." Researchers led by Andrew Gewirtz at Emory University found that bacteria in human gut may play an important role in whether the body will use fat for energy or will store fat for future occasion. " If a person has changes in their gut bacteria — and that could be due to anything, to diet, to illness or antibiotic use and if that person has kids, then they can transfer those gut bacteria and maybe transfer the problem," Gewirtz stated. (Source, Time)
Otherwise, Firmicutes are seen as bacteria that absorb maximum calories from food by fighting for each available calorie from food and drinks, while signaling the body to either to store fat, slowing down metabolism. In fact the more Firmicutes one individual has the more obese he (she) is.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
The bacteria in our bowel, also known as residents (normal inhabitants) are between 10- 100 trillion. In order the human body to be healthy, they must function in a constant equilibrium, being intimately connected with immunity and metabolism. The gut bacteria are not just passive microorganisms, they provide us with many benefits but on times they may compromise our health. In a new study was proved that they may not only influence our metabolism but to determine how much calories we absorb from food. They may be the new hypothetical reason behind metabolic syndrome and obesity.
Until now the science shows data that every person has 160 different kinds of gut bacteria, which belong to two main families: the family of Bacteroidetes and the family of Firmicutes. These bacteria are found not only in humans and in animals, but they are also isolated from water and soil samples. Normally they are beneficial but when they overpopulate- they may cause a disease. (Source, Wiki)
“On the whole, our gut bacteria are beneficial as they prevent disease-causing bacteria from taking hold in our body simply by filling up all the available space. And they help us digest foods, such as some starches that we cannot break down ourselves, producing vitamins and energy sources we can use,” states Ruth Ley, a microbial ecologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.(Source, Los AngelesTimes)
A comparative study done by the same team (2005) at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studied the gut bacteria in mice, and compared lean mice with genetically obese ones. The genetically obese mice had a mutation in the hormone leptin, which normally controls appetite and metabolism. Similarly to mice, the two main gut inhabitants in humans were Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The researchers were surprised to find out that obese and lean mice had different proportions of each. In particular, fat mice tended to have more Firmicutes, and fewer Bacteroidetes, just the opposite to lean mice who had more Bacteroidetes than Firmicutes.
In a separate study, the same team worked with sterile (bacteria-free) mice that have no gut bacteria. Generally, these mice eat a lot, but do never get fat, presumably because they don't have Firmicutes bacteria to absorb all the calories from the food. For their surprise, when the researchers implanted the same bacteria from fat mice to their sterile counterparts, the recipients mice gained weight. This result, reported in Nature (2006), directly suggests that intestinal bacteria are directly connected with obesity and weight gain.
In another study also published in Nature (2006), the team tried to compare the results in mice with people, and studied the proportion of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in 12 people. They examined the bacteria in obese people in one year of follow up diet program. Before the diet started, the subjects had more Firmicutes and fewer Bacteroidetes, but as the diet progressed, the Bacteroidetes went up, while the Firmicutes numbers went down. Despite the conclusions in 12 people are far from being statistically significant, the question behind the new obesity hypothesis is still open for a future research.
Generally, babies are born “bacteria-free” (sterile), but start collecting bacteria from their mothers and their family. It is obvious that there is also an inheritance from family members. If the gut-obesity theory proved correct, that would suggest obesity risk could be over passed with correct diet, selected foods and drinks which regulate the kind of bacteria that are not beneficial.
A study found that ‘a "high-fat, high-sugar" diet changes the composition of bacteria in the gut, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. ’According to the study published in the new Journal of Translational Medicine, ‘the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours." Researchers led by Andrew Gewirtz at Emory University found that bacteria in human gut may play an important role in whether the body will use fat for energy or will store fat for future occasion. " If a person has changes in their gut bacteria — and that could be due to anything, to diet, to illness or antibiotic use and if that person has kids, then they can transfer those gut bacteria and maybe transfer the problem," Gewirtz stated. (Source, Time)
Otherwise, Firmicutes are seen as bacteria that absorb maximum calories from food by fighting for each available calorie from food and drinks, while signaling the body to either to store fat, slowing down metabolism. In fact the more Firmicutes one individual has the more obese he (she) is.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
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