Got Fat? Don't Blame Yourself, Blame Bacteria

December 21st, 2006

St. Louis, MO - A new study published in Nature says that obese people have more gut microbes that are especially efficient at extracting calories from food and that may be the reason they get fat.

A new study published in Nature says that obese people have more gut microbes that are especially efficient at extracting calories from food
and that may be the reason they get fat.

Humans need the bacteria to help convert indigestible foods into a digestible form and bacteria in obese people are better at the conversion, scientists from Washington University in St. Louis said in two papers published in Nature. Because the bacteria are good at their job, obese people get more energy than non-obese people from the same amount of food -- and those extra calories are deposited in fat.

When the scientists transplanted gut bugs from obese mice into lean mice, the thin animals start getting fat, providing more support for the theory that the bacteria that populate the gut play an important role in regulating weight. "There appears to be a link between obesity and the type of bugs in your gut," said Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University School of Medicine.

If the findings hold true under further study, researchers said methods could be developed to induce weight loss or prevent weight gain.

Others said it was too soon to manipulate the bacteria in hopes of a slimmer body. For example, the amount of efficient bacteria could be a result of obesity, not its cause.