14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with King's College London in the UK believe to have found the key to fighting obesity. Thus, they argue, according to evidence at hand, bacteria populating the guts of skinny individuals could help those who are plumper get in shape.
Truth be told, this idea is not exactly new. On the contrary, it was in September 2013 that scientists in the US managed to keep a group of laboratory mice from gaining weight by transplanting gut bacteria taken from slim individuals into their bodies.
What the King's College London specialists bring new to the table is the discovery of a specific family of gut bacteria that populate the entrails of slim folks in great numbers and that appear to prevent weight gain that could lead to obesity.
How people don't all have the same gut bacteria
In a paper published in yesterday's issue of the journal Cell, the researchers explain that, as part of their investigation into how gut bacteria can influence a person's weight, they analyzed the makeup of over 1,000 stool samples from 416 pairs of twins.
This analysis allowed them to determine exactly which bacteria inhabited the guts of the participants to the study. It was discovered that, whereas identical twins whose genetic makeup was exactly the same had virtually the same gut bacteria, non-identical twins didn't.
It was therefore concluded that, to begin with, a person's genetic heritage dictates which bacteria can thrive in their entrails. In turn, the genetically-determined gut bacteria found in one individual or another is argued to dictate how much a person can come to weigh.
Thus, of the volunteers that this study focused on, those whose guts were home to lots and lots of bacteria belonging to a family dubbed Christensenellaceae had a fairly low body weight, the King's College London specialists say.
By comparison, the participants who didn't pack all that many microorganisms belonging to this family were found to be more likely to be overweight and even obese, the scientists behind this research project go on to detail in the journal Cell.
“Our findings show that specific groups of microbes living in our gut could be protective against obesity – and that their abundance is influenced by our genes,” says Professor Tim Spector, head of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology.
Using gut bacteria to treat obesity
In light of these findings, the King's College London researchers argue that it might be possible to use gut bacteria taken from slim individuals to help people struggling with their weight get in shape. Besides, the same bacteria could serve to prevent weight gain in the first place, the scientists claim.
“The human microbiome represents an exciting new target for dietary changes and treatments aimed at combating obesity,” Professor Tim Spector comments on the importance of this study in a recent interview with the press.
Interestingly enough, the researchers have already toyed with gut bacteria to prevent weight gain. More precisely, they claim to have used microorganisms belonging to the Christensenellaceae family to keep a group of laboratory mice from getting plump when offered treats packing too many calories for their own good.