Some dieters struggle more than others to lose weight, despite following sensible advice, and this may come down to the bacteria in our guts. Specifically, the enzymes carried within it.
“What we eat is available to us, and to the bacteria inside our guts, which digest parts of food we lack the enzymes to do,” says Purna Kashyap, associate professor at the Mayo Clinic and head of its Gut Microbiome Laboratory.
“This process generates additional calories that the gut microbiota can give back to us, so it’s a mutually beneficial relationship where bacteria give us more bang for our buck from what we eat,” he says.
Kashyap tested to see if, when switching to a lower-calorie diet, gut bacteria can be more efficient in deriving calories from food, which would be helpful when food isn’t plentiful, but could also hinder weight loss.
In a pilot study, 26 participants went on a
lower-calorie diet high in fruit and vegetables, and some didn’t lose as much weight as others. Analysis of their gut bacteria found participants had different levels of two particular types of bacteria, and one, Dialister, that hindered weight loss.
In those unable to lose weight, this bacteria was able to break down carbohydrates and use their energy. more effectively, Kashyap says.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190212-could-gut-bacteria-microbes-make-you-fat
I've often thought about how the efficiency of the digestive system could determine the size of a person or an animal and this study seems to show a link.
In high school, the guy who wrestled in the lightest weight class only weighed 96 pounds. The coaches wanted him to get closer to the 106 limit and told him to eat more. This guy would eat twice as much as guys who wrestled in the heaviest classes and never gained a pound. Food seemed to go through him as fast as he ate it. The guy in the 113 pound class was the same way. When some on the team had to be careful about how much they ate, these to guys were packing away the food. Neither of these guys had any body fat and couldn't float in water.
A more efficient digestive system that could pack on body fat would have been an advantage in surviving the times when food was scarce. Studies are finding that some women are too fit to get pregnant because a certain amount of body fat seems to be necessary. It makes sense that having a reserve supply to feed any offspring would be necessary.
