Saturday, November 8, 2014

Diet Microbes

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.

2 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. I 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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