Gut Bacteria Affects Weight Loss Efforts

We know that weight loss is complex, right?

We’ve also heard that everything we do stems from our gut, but what exactly does that mean? The gut runs almost every function in the body from digestion to absorption, to helping getting rid of waste, to balancing hormones, and it even plays a role in the health of our skin, as well as our mental health. 

So, let’s talk about diet. How does our diet affect our gut health? The foods we eat play a vital role in the make-up of our gut. Whole foods provide our body with nutrients that work to help the healthy bacteria in our gut to grow and gives us more of a diverse gut flora. Just like healthy foods affect our gut, so do unhealthy, processed foods. These unhealthy, processed foods often cause an imbalance in the gut, leading to inflammation and many chronic gut-related issues. 

You’re probably wondering what is the bacteria in my gut and how do I know if it’s good or bad? Well, Weighless MD is here to help give you a better understanding. Think of our gut microbiome as an “ecosystem of organisms.” This ecosystem helps to determine energy balance, glucose metabolism, and inflammation.

So how does our microbiome change? Our microbiome changes when our diet changes. It also changes when our stress levels are elevated, our sleep is disrupted and when our immune system becomes compromised. So, yes the gut drives our weight. There are specific bacteria strains that store calories while others burn calories.  See the ratio.  The higher amount of bacteroidetes have been associated with leaner people while the more firmacutes you have, the more likely you are to be overweight or obese.

So what they say is true, “you are what you eat.”  Eating more fruits and vegetables, beans, healthy grains feed the good bacteria while eating processed food (fake food), high amounts of sugar, unhealthy fats and proteins feed the unhealthy bacteria.  Eventually it becomes difficult to regain balance in your gut and the problem perpetuates.  The immune system is eventually affected and then you become more vulnerable to pathogenic organisms coming and staying in.  Feeding your body is actually fueling the organisms that exist within us.

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