Free Republic

ST. LOUIS - The microorganisms that live in your gut could explain one of the sources of obesity, says a new study from researchers at Washington University. Bacteria live throughout the body, but some intestinal bacteria appear to be better than others at helping their hosts turn food into energy, say researchers Buck S. Samuel and Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon. They believe changing the mix of bacteria in the intestine could influence how much people weigh. Bacteria and archaea, another kind of single-celled organism, are common in the human intestine. Researchers are discovering that together, they help their human hosts...