Prebiotics May be key to Fighting Obesity

Nov. 17, 2009 - PRLog -- New research suggests that there may be "fat bacteria" living in your colon that lead to higher levels of calorie absorption, and can cause obesity even on a low-fat diet.

When researchers transferred these "fat bacteria" into mice bred without any microorganisms in their guts (germ-free mice), and fed them a Western-style diet, they recorded a rapid change in the population of gut bacteria present, compared to mice fed a low-fat diet: The mice showed an increase in body fat.

Researchers have also found that simply transplanting the microbiota from the high-fat mice into a set of germ-free mice caused the new mice to accumulate more body fat, even though they were still fed a low-fat diet.

In normal language that means all those overweight people who say "I really don't eat more than thin people" may be telling the simple truth.

The new study, published in Science Translational Medicine, also succeeded in showing that the gut microbiota can be passed on from mother to offspring. So the "fat colon" can be inherited.

The study originated when researchers successfully transferred gut bacteria from obese humans to germ-free mice, a breakthrough that allows more detailed study of the link between gut microflora and obesity.

Implications for Prebiotics

Quite simply, the Prebiotics in Prebiotin (http://www.prebiotin.com) may not only help curb appetite, but re-shape the digestive tract to favor "lean" bacteria over "fat" bacteria.

At a scientific conference in April 2008, Dr. Kieran Touhy from the University of Reading noted that obese animals have significantly lower bifidobacteria levels than their lean counterparts, which suggests potential for prebiotic fiber, since the growth of these bacteria is selectively promoted by oligofructose-enriched-inulin, the Prebiotic Fiber contained in the Prebiotin Family of Prebiotic Supplements (http://www.prebiotin.com)

Dr. Nathalie Delzenne from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and Dr. Robert Welch from the University of Ulster presented results from animal and human studies, respectively, which indicated the potential of prebiotic supplementation to regulate food intake.

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