High-sugar diet alters intestinal bacteria, making losing weight more difficult
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NaturalNews.com printable article
Originally published December 22 2009
High-sugar diet alters intestinal bacteria, making losing weight more
difficult
by E. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) A report published in the new journal Science
Translational Medicine has made an interesting discovery concerning
the relationship between sugar intake and the balance of intestinal
flora. Researchers have discovered that a diet high in sugar and fat
substantially alters the bacterial composition in the gut, making it
difficult to maintain a healthy weight.
Dr. Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis has been
accumulating research for years that highlights the role intestinal
bacteria plays in regulating bodily weight. Intestinal flora,
sometimes called "good" bacteria, is vital for the proper digestion of
food and assimilation of nutrients into the blood. When digestive
bacteria is out of balance or otherwise altered, the body is unable to
convert otherwise indigestible foods into digestible form.
The research, conducted on mice, experimented with implanting various
strains of bacteria into mice in order to observe their effects. The
two primary divisions of bacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes,
compose approximately 90 percent of all bacteria. Studies by Dr.
Gordon have revealed that Firmicutes bacteria are more efficient at
digesting food that the body is unable to digest on its own.
With this in mind, Dr. Gordon decided to experiment with the various
bacteria in gnotobiotic mice, or mice which had no bacteria in their
intestines because they were raised in a sterile environment. What he
found was that gnotobiotic mice who received bacteria from obese mice
became obese as well. Similarly, those gnotobiotic mice who received
lean-mice bacteria tended more towards leanness.
The same experiment was tried with human intestinal bacteria and
similar results were achieved. What also became apparent was that mice
who received bacteria from lean human intestines had a much higher
proportion of Bacteroidetes than they did Firmicutes.
These mice, who began with a low-fat diet rich in healthy plants, were
switched to a high-sugar, high-fat diet following the implant of the
lean human bacteria. It was discovered that within 24 hours, the two
phyla compositions switched resulting in the Firmicutes bacteria
becoming more dominant than the Bacteroidetes bacteria.
This study illustrates the powerful correlation between diet and
health in a way that has not typically been studied by researchers.
The foundation of bodily health lies in the gut where bacterial
colonies are designed to properly route and process nutrients for use
in the body. When they get thrown out of balance due to improper diet,
the entire body becomes susceptible to all sorts of diseases,
including obesity.
Sources for this story include
http://www.latimes.com/features/hea...Share Buzz up!6 votes
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