Diet Microbes
Most people understand that weight gain and obesity is caused mainly by environmental
factors, lifestyle factors, and to a certain extent, genetic factors. According
to a recent study by researchers at King’s Department of Twin Research, a
little known bacterial family that is highly heritable is more common in
individuals with low body weight. It has been found that our genetic makeup
influences whether or not we will become fat by shaping which types of microbes
thrive in our body. This certain microbe has
also been found to protect against weight gain, after transplanting and testing
it in mice. Even though there has been previous research that linked genetic
variation and the composition of gut microbes to metabolic disease and obesity
all results were presumed to be negligible.
In this study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, genes of
microbes were sequenced from 1,000 fecal samples of 416 pairs of twins. Since identical twins share 100% of their
genes there was an abundance of specific microbes that were more similar in
identical twins, rather than fraternal. This proved that genes influence the
composition of gut microbes. The bacterium that was most abundant due to the
influence of genetics is a recently identified family of bacterial called
Christensenellaceae. Individuals with low body weight vs. obese individuals had
more bacteria from this health-promoting family. This microbe was tested in
mice and it was found that mice treated with the microbes gained less weight
then untreated mice, which suggest that increasing this microbe could, prevent
or reduce obesity.
This is such an interesting article because as a girl living in such a
superficial society I can’t help but be self-conscious of my weight. Not only
that, but as someone who cherishes nutrition I know that there is an absurd amount of overweight and obese people living in this country. As a matter of
fact for the first time in history there are more overweight people then
starving people. With the discovery of this microbe personalized probiotic therapies can be optimized to
reduce obesity-related diseases based on an individual’s genetic make-up. This
human microbiome represents an exciting new target for dietary change and
treatments that can fight one of the most detrimental problems our country is
facing, obesity.
This is extremely interesting considering new discoveries can be used to help individuals suffering from obesity. These microbes can help produce potential personalized treatments for individuals in need of them. Since the bacteria Christensenellaceae is naturally found in our gut, there will probably be very few issues when prescribing this treatment to patients, which is beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI find this article interesting because I myself have a smaller than average body weight. I have always attributed it to a fast metabolism that runs in the family making it nearly impossible for me to gain weight. It is fascinating to know that it may be because of the number of microbes present in my stomach.
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