Bacteria Promote Fat Absorption - Intestinal Flora Is A Possible Cause Of Obesity

Obesity has not only become a serious problem in broad sections of the population since the prescribed rest breaks to combat the corona pandemic. Germany is well on its way to becoming one of the most important countries in the world and challenging the USA for its title in this regard.

No wonder, then, that research into the causes of overweight and obesity is being heavily promoted in the hope of one day being able to effectively combat obesity and its complications. In addition to classic research approaches, which essentially revolve around excess calories and lack of exercise, researchers have increasingly been focusing on intestinal flora in recent years.

Intestinal Flora Is Partly Responsible For Obesity

Our intestinal flora is its own biotope, which is made up of billions of different microorganisms and enters into diverse mutual relationships with its host, humans.Modern research has consistently shown that bacteria, fungi and other protozoa from the natural intestinal flora can change practically all areas of human life. This starts with the utilization of food and ends with the influence on the psyche.

In addition, microbiologists from Potsdam have been able to experimentally prove that a single bacterium from this intestinal flora can even cause obesity. So is there such a thing as fateful excess weight for which the individual is not responsible?

Fattening Bacteria Increases The Number Of Fat Transporters In The Intestine

There is a consensus among microbiologists who study the human intestine that the composition of the intestinal flora determines the way food is utilized in the digestive tract.

This also applies to the absorption of fat and fatty acids from food into the bloodstream. The intestinal bacterium with the scientific name Clostridium Ramosum can influence the absorption of fat and thus calories from the intestine into the blood via an intelligent, self-reinforcing mechanism. To do this, it stimulates the synthesis of a messenger substance that is important for the transport of fat in intestinal cells, which in turn promotes the formation of fat transporters in the cells, which ultimately means increased fat absorption from the intestine.

If all of this takes place within a normal nutritional framework, this mechanism probably has no negative consequences for body weight. However, if the diet is quite high in fat, the bacterium Clostridium ramosum feels particularly comfortable and multiplies disproportionately, which as a result also increases fat absorption.

A small bacterium in the intestinal flora, through its own multiplication, ensures that when food is very fatty, a disproportionate amount of fat is absorbed from the intestine into the blood and the risk of obesity increases.

Is This All Just Microbiological Theory Or Does It Also Apply To Humans?

It is much more than just theory. Although the basic experiments were carried out on mice, researchers also found evidence in humans that the fattening bacteria Clostridium ramosum from the intestinal flora regulates fat absorption. They detected an above-average number of fattening bacteria in the intestines of overweight people. It is therefore likely that a shift in the intestinal flora towards more Clostridium ramosum is also partly responsible for obesity in humans.

However, this is not fateful and cannot be used as an excuse for being overweight, as the proliferation of fattening bacteria can be stopped by a consciously low-fat diet.

Conclusion

Low-fat diets are good for weight loss. This is not only due to the lower number of calories in the food, but also obviously due to the fat absorption mediated by intestinal bacteria.The fattening intestinal bacteria do not have optimal living conditions on a low-fat diet and cannot multiply as much.