"Fat" gut bacteria and "thin" gut bacteria

[LNN]

Interesting NYT article that really underscores the importance of what sort of bacteria we're nurturing thru diet and any particular probiotic blends we use...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/health/gut-bacteria-from-thin-humans-can-slim-mice-down.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

Gut Bacteria From Thin Humans Can Slim Mice Down By GINA KOLATA Published: September 5, 2013

The trillions of bacteria that live in the gut — helping digest foods, making some vitamins, making amino acids — may help determine if a person is fat or thin.

Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon, left, and Vanessa K. Ridaura are two members of a scientific team whose research shows a connection between human gut bacteria and obesity.

 

The evidence is from a novel experiment involving mice and humans that is part of a growing fascination with gut bacteria and their role in health and diseases like irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. In this case, the focus was on obesity. Researchers found pairs of human twins in which one was obese and the other lean. They transferred gut bacteria from these twins into mice and watched what happened. The mice with bacteria from fat twins grew fat; those that got bacteria from lean twins stayed lean.

 

The study, published online Thursday by the journal Science, is “pretty striking,” said Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, an obesity researcher and the dean of the Harvard Medical School, who was not involved with the study. “It’s a very powerful set of experiments.”

 

Michael Fischbach of the University of California, San Francisco, who also was not involved with the study, called it “the clearest evidence to date that gut bacteria can help cause obesity.”

Edited September 7, 2013 by Sheila Rogers
Sorry but can't post full article due to copyright issues. Please use links.

[MomWithOCDSon]

So, where can I get some of that "skinny" bacteria, is what I'm wondering? :-)

[nicklemama]

I'd like some of that as long as I don't have to get it from feces! Lol.

[MomWithOCDSon]

I'd like some of that as long as I don't have to get it from feces! Lol.

I guess I thought that went without saying! ;-)

[nicklemama]

Just making sure, lol!

[SSS]

I'm so out there, I read it and thought:

Did they check the 'thin bacteria' for parasites?

[pr40]

I am not sure why this is presented as news when the fact has been known for a while.

I was doing some reading on quite extensive research about Bacteroides (esp fragilis) which are this thin bacteria and they are quite fascinating.

First, they also seem immune to abx. Second, they seem to be able to transfer these immunity genes to other bacteria passing through the gut. Third, in the gut they are beneficial, but anywhere else they create abscess and are quite dangerous. When you die of sepsis after a routine stomach surgery, for instance, usually bacteroids are to blame.

And so on.

Science that ends up on the front pages is like other things that end up on the front pages, a tip of an ice-berg.

 

[EAMom]

With the mice it seemed they needed a low fat diet to keep the "skinny mouse gut bacteria"

 

"The fat mice that got food high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables kept the gut bacteria from the fat twins and remained fat. The thin twins’ gut bacteria took over only when the mice got pellets that were rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/health/gut-bacteria-from-thin-humans-can-slim-mice-down.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&partner=rss&emc=rss

[lynn]

You know, I knew there had to be a catch somewhere. I'd like the bacteria where you can have ice cream every day and stay thin (DH apparently has it, why not me?)

[SSS]

With the mice it seemed they needed a low fat diet to keep the "skinny mouse gut bacteria"

 

"The fat mice that got food high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables kept the gut bacteria from the fat twins and remained fat. The thin twins gut bacteria took over only when the mice got pellets that were rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/health/gut-bacteria-from-thin-humans-can-slim-mice-down.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&partner=rss&emc=rss

**when I pull up the study link, it has this:

'Results and Discussion

The intact uncultured and culturable bacterial component of Ob co-twins fecal microbiota conveyed significantly greater increases in body mass and adiposity than those of Ln communities. Differences in body composition were correlated with differences in fermentation of short-chain fatty acids (increased in Ln), metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (increased in Ob), and microbial transformation of bile acid species (increased in Ln and correlated with down-regulation of host farnesoid X receptor signaling). Cohousing Ln and Ob mice prevented development of increased adiposity and body mass in Ob cage mates and transformed their microbiotas metabolic profile to a leanlike state. Transformation correlated with invasion of members of Bacteroidales from Ln into Ob microbiota. Invasion and phenotypic rescue were diet-dependent and occurred with the diet representing the lower tertile of U.S. consumption of saturated fats, and upper tertile of fruits and vegetables, but not with the diet representing the upper tertile of saturated fats, and lower tertile of fruit and vegetable consumption. These results reveal that transmissible and modifiable interactions between diet and microbiota influence host biology.'

 

I thought that said it didn't matter the diet? Otherwise, kind of obvious?

Edited September 9, 2013 by S & S

[SSS]

Never mind, I think I got it.

If you are overweight but have a diet low in fats/ higher in fruits and veggies,

the transfer of 'thin bacteria' could help you lose weight, keep eating the way you were.

If your diet is high in fats,

'thin bacteria transfer' won't work.