The intestinal flora of thin and fat people is different. However, this does not necessarily mean that we can transplant flora and make people gain or lose weight.
Can you transplant excess weight? US researchers succeeded in a surprising experiment: They planted the intestinal flora of twin sisters in mice raised aseptically – one slim the other overweight . After that, the rodents were allowed to eat a high-fat diet. But only the mice that carried the fat sister’s microbes became overweight themselves.
“That opened the eyes of many in the research world,” says Professor Christian Sina. At the Institute for Nutritional Medicine, he researches individual nutritional therapies that include the microbiome where it has been known for a long time that the colon colonization of thick and thin people differs.
However, the twin experiment now suggests that a changed microbiome can actually also lead to obesity. “There are some indications from case reports after a stool transplant,” says Sina. Weight gain was a side effect.
Individual microbiome
So all you need is the right mix of microbes and the pounds drop? Experts see little prospect of a simple solution. “The influence depends strongly on the genetics, the disposition of each individual,” explains Dr. Siegfried Ussar, who researches the relationship between the microbiome and obesity.
Therefore, only a highly personalized approach promises success. Unlike in the laboratory, many environmental influences can hardly be controlled in humans. What we eat also determines which microbes feel good.
According to Dr Ussar, it would be conceivable to support a change in diet with microbe therapy. Those who eat one-sidedly reduce the biodiversity in their intestines. “Like extinct animals in a jungle, they do not return by themselves,” says Dr Ussar. With special probiotics, they might be settled again.
Things that can contribute to weight gain:
- Hungry germs: What we eat and how much could be influenced by bacteria, researchers suspect. Namely, by influencing our appetite via signal substances.
- Too much salt: our microbiome does not get a salty diet. Synthetic sweeteners are also likely to be unfavorable.
- Antibiotics: The drugs are still used for fattening animals in many countries. They arguably accelerate weight gain by changing the microbiome.
Remember using Holistic Colon hydrotherapy to clean out your colon can help to re-establish a healthy microbiome and assist with many other health issues.
