Microbiome and weight loss. Diet is important in shaping our gut microbiome. Today we look at microbiome basics before pivoting to new research showing how calorie restriction can cause weight loss associated with disruption of the microbial population of our intestines.
You may be surprised to learn that we are composed mainly of microbes. More specifically, you and I have over 100 trillion microorganisms, outnumbering our human cells ten to one. Most of the microbes inhabit our gut, especially the large intestine.
This bustling microenvironment has bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and viruses. The microbiome may weigh upwards of five pounds, according to the Centers for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health.
While that last observation may be disturbing to you, we need our microbiome to regulate our immune system, digest food, protect against other bacteria that cause disease, and produce specific vitamins. The last include the B vitamins (B12, thiamine, and riboflavin) and Vitamin K, needed for blood clotting.
Microbiome organisms are beneficial colonizers of our bodies. When something in the microbiome ecosystem goes awry, we are more likely to see autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and muscular dystrophy. Might we someday use psychobiotics, given an increasing recognition of the influence of our gut microbiome on how we feel, think, and act?
Knowing that our diet can affect our microbiome, let’s look at extreme calorie restriction (for example, 800 calories consumed daily) and its effects on our gut. A University of California, San Francisco (USA) group of scientists conducted a randomized study looking at a very low-calorie diet.
The research team collected and sequenced fecal samples from 80 subjects — all postmenopausal women — pre-and post- 16 weeks of a very low-fat diet. The investigators then analyzed the data and transplanted the samples into mice raised in sterile environments. The researchers allowed these mice to continue consuming the same amount of food.
The rodents with a transplant of the calorie-restricted microbiome dropped their weight and fat more than did mice that received pre-diet microbiota: The researchers created weight loss simply by colonizing these mice with a different microbe population.
The microbial agent of change? Higher levels of Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) bacteria. While we would expect more inflammation (and diarrhea, for example) from infection with this bacteria, the transplanted mice had only mild inflammation.
Our diets interact with the gut microbiome. The UCSF researchers showed that calorie restriction diets change the microbiome to help with weight loss. The bacterium C. Diff may be an essential component to the weight loss observed.
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