Problems losing weight? Start with your microbiome

Beach bodies and weight loss are hot topics each summer. But losing those extra pounds is a struggle for many people. What if a crucial piece of information was missing?! Did you know about the connection between the microbiome and weight? They are in fact so related, that scientists can tell if a person is lean or obese just by looking at the composition of their gut microbes [1, 2].

Besides wanting to lose weight to feel great in a swim suit, it is also relevant from a health perspective, as obesity increases the risk for metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In the US, 37.32% of adults and 21.38% of children are obese (BMI ≥ 30) and even more are overweight [3]. In 2020, 39 million children under 5 were overweight or obese worldwide. [4]

How the microbiome influences our weight

• It plays a central role in our digestion and metabolism

• Low microbial diversity can lead to obesity and microbial differences precede obesity [5]

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I wrote this article for MyMicrobiome.info and publish it here with kind permission of MyMicrobiome.

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Sources / References:

1. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gut-microbiomes-differ-between-obese-lean-people

2. https://ideas.ted.com/a-major-cause-of-obesity-may-be-hiding-in-your-gut/

3. https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

4. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5082693/

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5500185/

7. https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-022-01418-5

8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19901833/

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7333005/

10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27255389/

11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957428/