Posted on 12/20/2012 4:07:35 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Chinese researchers have identified a bacteria which may cause obesity, according to a new paper suggesting diets that alter the presence of microbes in humans could combat the condition.
Researchers in Shanghai found that mice bred to be resistant to obesity even when fed high-fat foods became excessively overweight when injected with a kind of human bacteria and subjected to a rich diet.
The bacterium -- known as enterobacter -- had been linked with obesity after being found in high quantities in the gut of a morbidly obese human volunteer, said the report, written by researchers at Shanghai's Jiaotong University.
The mice were injected with the bacterium for up to 10 weeks as part of the experiment.
The experiments show that the bacterium "may causatively contribute to the development of obesity" in humans, according to the paper published in the peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.
A human patient lost over 66 pounds in nine weeks after being placed on a diet of "whole grains, traditional Chinese medicinal foods and prebiotics", which reduced the bacterium's presence in the patient's gut to "undetectable" levels, the paper said.
One of the report's authors, Zhao Liping, lost 44 pounds in two years after adopting a diet of fermented probiotic foods such as bitter melon to adjust the balance of bacteria in his gut, the American magazine Science said in an article this year on his previous research.
Zhao's work on the role of bacteria in obesity is inspired by traditional Chinese beliefs that the gut is the "foundation for human health", Science reported...
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Dependinf on your size any conventional diet would do the same thing IMO.
Dependinf on your size any conventional diet would do the same thing IMO.
Depending on your size any conventional diet would do the same thing IMO.
Depending on your size any conventional diet would do the same thing IMO.
An American could probably lose twice that much by eliminating their daily Starbucks.
Who in hell can afford Starbucks?
If you take in more calories than you burn you gain weight.Burn more than you take in and you lose weight.Take in and burn the same number of calories and you stay the same.It ain’t rocket science.
We're all tightening our belts already! ;-)
Interesting. I’ve had gut trouble in the past, after a serious diverticulitis episode, and used to take probiotics to counteract the effects of antibiotics that I was prescribed from time to time to fight infection.
Recently, the past couple of years, I’ve lost a number of pounds and several inches. My doctor is a bit puzzled, as I’m still doing about the same amound of eating and exercising. But one difference is that I’ve been taking probiotics on a regular basis, instead of only occasionally. Possibly that ties in with these findings. Crowd out the malign bacteria with benign ones.
For whatever reason, it’s also been about five years since I last had any recurrence of the diverticulitis problem. Again, that could be the result of a better bacterial balance. I’m pretty much sold on the probiotics.
Enterobacter is a genus of common bacteria, several strains of which are pathogenic. But the obesity connection is an interesting one.
Typically, a healthy person’s flora has between 300-1000 different kinds of just bacteria (along with a vast number of viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms.)
However, of this 300-1000, only 30 or 40 of them take up the vast majority of physical space. These are your “core flora” and are essential to digestion and health. They are very interactive with your immune system.
But here’s the zinger: “In a recent study, over 1/3rd of gut bacteria in a morbidly obese volunteer was found to be enterobacter. After 23 weeks, the volunteer lost almost 1/3 of his weight by virtually eliminating the bacteria via diet, while being prevented from exercising.”
That is, enterobacter bacteria had *displaced* most of the other “good” bacteria. And having this much enterobacter likely caused inflammation that *resulted* in obesity.
The way this happens is because your fat contains clusters of cells called MAST cells. When these cells are irritated, they release histamines and heparin. In turn, these chemicals irritate other MAST cell clusters, but *also* cause the body to retain more fat.
And as you get fatter, along with the fat are created a more than proportionally greater number of MAST cell clusters. So a morbidly obese person’s fat is loaded with them, making it easier to gain weight.
But irritated MAST cell clusters do so much more. They can activate all sorts of autoimmune system diseases, from many forms of arthritis, to Crohn’s disease, to psoriasis, etc.
But how to reduce the proportion of enterobacter in the flora? Both by changing the diet to make the intestinal environment less beneficial to it, and by consuming a lot of other digestive bacteria, to displace the enterobacter.
Healthy digestive bacteria are available OTC and sold in stores.
I should add that it takes about a determined month to significantly change the profile of your intestinal flora.
What kind of probiotics do you use?
Would you mind recommending some brands?
I’m not an expert on it, but I’ve had good luck with Vitacost Pro-biotics 15-35. I tried a cheaper kind earlier, with fewer kinds of bacteria in it, but that one seems to work for me.
http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-probiotic-15-35-35-billion-cfu-240-vegetarian-capsules
Would you mind recommending some brands?
***
I am interested in that answer, as well. Thanks.
I’ve recently become impressed by a drink called Kefir, which is now available in several brands in some grocery stores. Some of them have 10 or more different probiotic strains, and is much less expensive than probiotic supplements.
Tastes like a flavored (or unflavored) yoghurt smoothie. Some people have taken to making their own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir
Importantly, the diet mentioned that the bad bacteria was inhibited by changing the intestinal pH. This is tricky to pull off, so it is probably easier to consume probiotics for at least a month.
What is the diet for eliminating the enterobacter bacteria?
any suggestions? I know quite a few people that would love to know
do you have a small list of these foods?
“If you take in more calories than you burn you gain weight.Burn more than you take in and you lose weight.Take in and burn the same number of calories and you stay the same.It ain’t rocket science.”
—
I don’t agree. My family and I are among the lucky ones——no weight problems,but I saw a woman at the beach once with an adolescent son and they were morbidly obese.
It was horrendous the way that they looked and I felt so sorry for them. There is no way they ate their way to that size.
.
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