It seems like we’ve always heard that the key to losing weight is calories in, calories out. Hitting the gym, more exercise, and less eating, as well as trendy diets and cleanses seem to be the only recommendations we’ve heard about, and many times they have not been effective. More and more research is actually revealing that there’s more to the story. The gut microbiome may hold an important link to weight loss.
Understanding the Gut Microbiome
Your gut contains more than 100 trillion microbial cells, responsible for managing digestion, metabolism, and inflammation. Those cells make up a community of microorganisms known as your microbiome. It includes a variety of bacteria, viruses, archaea, and fungi. Just as a city’s community has an impact on its functioning, the makeup of the gut microbiome can have a significant effect on our health.
The Gut-Weight Connection
Recent studies show a strong link between the gut microbiome and weight management. An imbalanced gut microbiome has been connected with weight gain and obesity. But how exactly does this gut bug community have an effect on our waistlines?
Gut bacteria have an important job in removing energy from the food we eat. Some types of bacteria are very effective in breaking down complex carbohydrates and turning them into energy. This means that the makeup of your gut bacteria could affect how much energy you absorb from the food you eat.
Gut Microbiome Structure and Weight Loss
People with more diversity in their gut microbiome tend to have a healthier weight.1 A broad range of gut bugs provides optimal functioning of digestion, nutrient absorption, and even metabolism. However, an imbalanced gut microbiome has been linked to weight gain and even insulin resistance.2
Researchers have found specific kinds of bacteria linked to weight management. Bacteroidetes and firmicutes are two important bacterial groups in the gut, representing 90% of all gut bacteria, and have been associated with obesity. Having high firmicutes/low bacteroidetes has been linked to weight gain and difficulty losing weight.3
Understanding How It Works
The gut microbiome sends messages to our brain through the gut-brain axis, affecting appetite, cravings and even mood. If your cravings have ever seemed to have a mind of their own, it could very well be your gut bugs influencing your desires. The gut microbiome can produce different particles that can have an effect on our brain’s perception of hunger and satiety.
Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) are another part in this complex system. They are created when the bacteria that live in our gut ferment fiber. SCFAs help manage metabolism, decrease inflammation and help improve insulin sensitivity. This may help with weight loss by helping the body be able to use stored fat for energy.
Maximizing Your Microbiome for Success
The good news is that you have the ability to have a positive impact on your gut microbiome. Here are some ways to support your gut microbiome:
- Probiotic foods: Help nourish and feed the beneficial bacteria in your microbiome. Examples: Kefir, yogurt, fermented pickles, sauerkraut, kvass, kimchi, coconut kefir.
- Fibrous prebiotic foods: Help feed the probiotics in your microbiome. Examples: Asparagus, apples, artichokes, garlic, raw carrots, leeks, sweet potatoes, radishes.
- Increase the variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Eating seasonally is a great way to do this.
- Cut out refined and inflammatory foods which negatively affect the gut microbiome, and lead to inflammation of the gut.
- Stress management: Chronic stress leads to high levels of cortisol and inflammation of the gut. Cortisol impairs appetite control, making you hungrier and increasing your craving for sugar.
- Movement and exercise increase the diversity and abundance of beneficial gut bacteria.4
Our gut microbiome is an often overlooked friend in helping with weight loss. By nourishing and balancing our gut microbiome through diet and lifestyle adjustments, we can enhance our weight loss efforts and increase our overall health.
References:
- Hullar, M. A., & Lampe, J. W. (2012). The gut microbiome and obesity. Nestle Nutrition Institute workshop series, 73, 67–79.
- Lee, C. J., Sears, C. L., & Maruthur, N. (2020). Gut microbiome and its role in obesity and insulin resistance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1461(1), 37–52.
- Stojanov, S., Berlec, A., & Štrukelj, B. (2020). The Influence of Probiotics on the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes Ratio in the Treatment of Obesity and Inflammatory Bowel disease. Microorganisms, 8(11), 1715.
- Dalton, A., Mermier, C., & Zuhl, M. (2019). Exercise influence on the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Gut microbes, 10(5), 555–568.
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