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Gut Bacteria May Spur Obesity, Research Suggests
BusinessWeek ^ | March 4, 2010

Posted on 03/05/2010 5:07:55 AM PST by Zakeet

Intestinal bacteria may contribute to obesity and metabolic syndrome, a new study in mice suggests.

"It has been assumed that the obesity epidemic in the developed world is driven by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and the abundance of low-cost, high-calorie foods. However, our results suggest that excess caloric consumption is not only a result of undisciplined eating but that intestinal bacteria contribute to changes in appetite and metabolism," senior study author Andrew Gewirtz, an associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

He and his colleagues found that increased appetite and insulin resistance can be transferred from one mouse to another via intestinal bacteria. The findings are published online March 4 in the journal Science.

It's believed that intestinal bacteria populations in people are acquired at birth from family members and are relatively stable. However, they can be affected by diet and antibiotics.

"Previous research has suggested that bacteria can influence how well energy is absorbed from food, but these [new] findings demonstrate that intestinal bacteria can actually influence appetite," Gewirtz explained.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: diabetes; diabetes2; health; insulinresistance; medicine; obesity; research

This article caused two of our Freeper favorites to be quarantined as germ factories and placed on death watch

1 posted on 03/05/2010 5:07:56 AM PST by Zakeet
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To: Zakeet

These must be some amazing bacteria. We should figure out what mechanism they use to produce more energy than possible from the materials provided.

Oh, you mean that you still have to force feed your gut the cupcakes? The bacteria aren’t some type of miraculous machine that break our understanding of the laws of nature? They don’t produce fat from nothing?

Then I guess it’s still my fault that I’m a fatass.


2 posted on 03/05/2010 5:10:52 AM PST by Spike Knotts
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To: Zakeet

uh... YEAH!!!. That’s it! bacteria!

ummmmmmmm donuts!


3 posted on 03/05/2010 5:18:14 AM PST by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: Zakeet

Where do I go to get some of this bacteria?


4 posted on 03/05/2010 5:19:06 AM PST by ontap
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To: Zakeet

And I thought he could not have been any uglier!


5 posted on 03/05/2010 5:19:47 AM PST by ontap
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To: Spike Knotts
Then I guess it’s still my fault that I’m a fatass.

Don't give up so quickly. We can still blame our parents, fast food, and global warming.

6 posted on 03/05/2010 5:21:17 AM PST by mbynack (Retired USAF SMSgt)
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To: ontap

where do I go to get rid of some of these bacteria?


7 posted on 03/05/2010 5:22:44 AM PST by silverleaf ("Congress is America's only native criminal class."- Mark Twain)
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To: silverleaf

What ever works!!!


8 posted on 03/05/2010 5:32:01 AM PST by ontap
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To: Zakeet

Gee...and I always thought obesity was caused by the “cannot pull away from the buffet line” gene.....


9 posted on 03/05/2010 5:32:53 AM PST by UCFRoadWarrior (National Security begins at the Border)
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To: UCFRoadWarrior
Gee...and I always thought obesity was caused by the “cannot pull away from the buffet line” gene.....

Either that, or Forkinmouth disease.....

10 posted on 03/05/2010 5:47:25 AM PST by Thermalseeker (Stop the insanity - Flush Congress!)
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To: silverleaf
I had chemo about 3 years ago. I was much more active before. What I have found is that my new set weight after is about 40lbs lower. The difference, the chemo killed damn near everything, including me.

So where do you go? Try your neighborhood oncologist. I think there is something to this “bacteria theory” but I dont think its the only cause. JMHO.

11 posted on 03/05/2010 5:52:42 AM PST by Free_in_Alabama (The average citizen is to lazy to steal from you, instead they are asking the government to do it)
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To: Free_in_Alabama

hmmm, I wonder if the products that promote “good gut bacteria” can help defeat “bad gut bacteria”?

Kudos to you for what you went through, and best wishes for continued good health! But I think I’d choose fat over chemo!


12 posted on 03/05/2010 5:55:55 AM PST by silverleaf ("Congress is America's only native criminal class."- Mark Twain)
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To: neverdem; DvdMom

Guten tag ping.


13 posted on 03/05/2010 6:04:55 AM PST by decimon
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To: Zakeet

Or Peanutbutter...

Or Beer....

Or Pizza....


14 posted on 03/05/2010 6:13:51 AM PST by Porterville ( I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum)
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To: Zakeet

the bacteria that feed on brewers yeast to create beer....


15 posted on 03/05/2010 6:20:57 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Spike Knotts

In my opinion, all bacteria are “amazing”.

This might explain why some surgeries on the gut, though not intending to, cause serious weight loss in patients. This does not happen to all (sorry!) but some doctors were looking into the idea that the intestinal track had some sort of “back door” connection to the brain that regulated hunger and ability to gain nutrition from food taken into the system. As if the gut had it’s OWN brain that regulated it. It’s like you control your breathing while you are at rest, it’s no big deal. You run up six flights of stairs and you are most likely no longer able to control your breathing, your body COMMANDS you to take in more breaths to meet your body’s needs. Likewise with the gut, it starts to tell you that you NEED more intake (perhaps spurred on by that amazing bacteria) and you respond with hunger for specific foods that satisfy that need, and the bacteria!

Gods creation is truly a wondrous and miraculous thing.


16 posted on 03/05/2010 7:33:39 AM PST by Mr. Jazzy ("I AM JIM THOMPSON and moderates make me PUKE!!!")
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To: Zakeet
Forget the bacteria. My appetite just sank without a trace.

<hunting for the brain bleach bottle (again!)>

17 posted on 03/05/2010 8:40:34 AM PST by thulldud (Is it "alter or abolish" time yet?)
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To: Spike Knotts
Parasites are amazing, regardless of the size. See Parasite Rex.

And there's no force-feeding required, the bugs drive your appetite. You can't be happy unless the bugs are happy, so you eat. If you try to starve the bugs, you starve yourself too.

18 posted on 03/05/2010 11:33:22 AM PST by slowhandluke (It's hard to be cynical enough in this age.)
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