Did you know that some types of bacteria found in obese people are different than those found in the intestines of lean individuals? But no one really knew the significance, if any, of that observation.
The following information is from an article in a very prestigious scientific journal Vijay-Kumar et al, Science, 328: 228-231, 2010.
The test observed a strain of mice that are genetically predisposed to obesity with wild type (genetically lean) mice. They first looked at the intestinal bacteria. It turned out that the obese mice and lean mice had the same differences intestinal bacteria that humans have.
And just like obese humans the obese mice displayed insulin resistance, and elevated levels of triglycerides, cholesterol and blood sugar. (They were pre-diabetic). Since the obese mice also ate more than the lean mice, many of the observed differences could have been due to the excess calories and resulting weight gain.
To test this, scientists limited the amount of food that the obese ice ate so that it was identical to what the lean mice ate. Even though the obese mice were no longer overweight, they still displayed increased insulin resistance compared to the genetically lean mice.
Based on this and other experiments the scientists eventually concluded it was the insulin resistance that was causing the mice to overeat and, therefore, become obese.
Further tests included: killing the intestinal bacteria in obese mice with high doses of antibiotics, depleting intestinal bacteria in some mice and it completely prevented the insulin resistance, and sterilized the intestines of the lean mice and then colonized their intestines with intestinal bacteria from obese mice. In the last experiment lean mice developed characteristics of the obese mice, including insulin resistance, overeating, obesity and hyperglycemia.
The lean mice became overweight and developed diabetes.
Does this mean that you should rush out and buy some probiotics (friendly bacteria) as part of your weight loss strategy? No. That would be premature
But it is known that bad bacteria in the intestine can compromise the immune system, convert foods that you eat to cancer causing chemicals, and cause chronic inflammation, which contributes to a number of major diseases.
There's guarantee that the "good bugs" will help keep you slim, but it is known that it keeps a person healthy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment