Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Bacteria's Affect on Weight



Many people are completely ignoring a part of their body that plays a huge factor in their health. There are 10 x more bacterial cells in a human body than their own cells. These bacteria play many different beneficial roles such as immunity and nutrients. Therefore, it’s logical to think that bacteria can determine with how much weight we gain from the foods we eat. The bacteria in our guts play a major role in how we store fat and what are the glucose levels in our blood. So, people with different concentration of bacteria will have different reactions to the same food.

Scientist performed an experiment with genetically identical mice. These mice were given the same amount of food in a sterile environment. However, some mice received gut bacteria from an obese person while the others received gut bacteria from a lean person. As a result, the mice that received bacteria from the obese person gained more weight than the others even though they received the same amount of food. I believe more research needs to be done to really identify how the bacteria manipulate weight gain in people. However, I am very excited to learn how much bacteria manipulate our bodies and what new methods can be done to improve health.

6 comments:

  1. I had read similar things regarding our dependence on bacteria before, specifically that on the bacteria within our stomach and the assistance in digestion. It is incredible to think that we basically could not survive without the assistance of these microscopic bacteria.

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  2. "The bacteria in our guts play a major role in how we store fat and what are the glucose levels in our blood. So, people with different concentration of bacteria will have different reactions to the same food." Everyone has different effects when it comes to food and bacteria is all around us. Bacteria is a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Although there are people that OCD such as myself, I know that bacteria is a crucial part of development. IT also helps prevent illness because of the amount that can be built up of Good bacteria.

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  3. The experiment with the mice is especially interesting. The fact that the mice that received bacteria from a lean person gained less weight is concerning because it leads me to think that the new weight loss trend could involve "lean gut bacteria." This could lead to a beneficially new way to combat obesity, but it could also be abused by weight loss companies to make a profit. Hopefully, further research can determine if the use of weight loss causing bacteria is safe or something to stay away from.

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  4. So I know that metabolism obviously plays a role in weight gain and loss, but this article makes me think that maybe the bacteria in our gut slow down in the same way that our metabolism can slow down with old age. Maybe we have less of the bacteria as we age which can cause weight gain in people as they age? Who knows. Very interesting article and would like to know more about the subject and a possible correlation.

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  5. Such an interesting article. Makes you really think about why people are more likely to gain weight or gain weight faster as they age. Maybe there is more than just metabolism and that its the bacteria. Would like to learn more about this.

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  6. That is so fascinating. I never would have thought that bacteria in our gut could influence obesity…time to take probiotics. Very interesting research. It would be cool to find out the biology of how bacteria actually manipulate weight gain/loss.

    I also like the picture!

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