Spiny Norman said:

Weight gain single-handedly prevented by a gut microbe

Researchers have homed in on a single gut microbe that acts to prevent fat gain, even with a high-fat diet. The discovery adds to the booming science of finding ways to enlist the microbes that already live in our bodies to help us improve our health.

It’s been known for some time that our gut microbiome – the collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microscopic critters living in our intestines – can influence weight gain or loss. But narrowing down exactly which members of this microbial community do what can take some effort to tease out. That’s because microbes that live inside the body don’t do well outside of it, so to test them, they often have to be processed inside airtight environments, because oxygen can often kill them. This takes time.

However, researchers at the University of Utah (U of U) say they have succeeded in whittling down about 100 bacteria suspected of fighting weight gain to just one that really does: Turicibacter.

In their study, mice that were fed a high-fat diet and were also given Turicibacter saw reduced blood sugar, lower levels of fat in the blood, and less overall weight gain compared to a control group.

“I didn’t think one microbe would have such a dramatic effect – I thought it would be a mix of three or four,” says June Round, professor of microbiology and immunology at U of U Health, and senior author on the study. “So when brought me the first experiment with Turicibacter and the mice were staying really lean, I was like, ‘This is so amazing.’ It’s pretty exciting when you see those types of results.” Klag is the first author on the study.

https://newatlas.com/diet-nutrition/weight-gain-gut-microbe/

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