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There may soon be a pill for obesity
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Many people dream of a miracle pill that will help them lose weight. Perhaps in the near future their dreams will come true. Scientists have managed to discover intestinal bacteria that normalize metabolism, help effectively reduce everything, but to achieve a positive result, it will be necessary to follow a certain diet.
Experts from several research centers in America have found bacteria in the intestinal flora of thin people that help normalize metabolism and prevent obesity. How diets affect human metabolism has been studied for a long time. There is a controversial opinion that intestinal microflora can contribute to obesity. It is also known that products that contain a lot of fiber (vegetables, fruits) contribute to the proliferation of beneficial bacteria.
American scientists, in the course of their research, came to the conclusion that the intestinal microflora of a slim person will help a fat person lose extra pounds. They decided to start studying the intestinal microflora and the effect of bacteria on metabolism with twins who have different builds, since in their case the metabolic disorder is not a hereditary predisposition, but is provoked by external factors, in particular nutrition. Scientists studied more than one and a half thousand female twins aged 21 to 32 years and among them identified four pairs in which the twins had a significant difference in weight. Scientists took samples of intestinal microflora from these women, which they then introduced to experimental mice that had no microflora of their own. Such animals are specially obtained and raised in sterile conditions to conduct such experiments. Three or four mice received one sample of human microflora, the rodents were kept in different cages, all rodents were fed special food with a high content of fiber and a small content of fat. During the experiment, scientists found that mice that were infused with the microflora of an obese person gained weight more quickly, while mice with a “slender” microflora remained the same size.
The difference in this case is not related to the amount of food or immunity, here the intestinal microflora was of primary importance. Slender people have enzymes that break down incoming polysaccharides faster, as well as poorly digestible starches, which contributes to weight loss, while the microflora of overweight people supports biochemical processes that lead to extra pounds.
To make sure that bacteria in the intestines can really regulate human weight, scientists conducted another experiment: they placed all the rodents in one cage. Since mice have a habit of eating each other's feces, and at the same time bacteria from the intestines, after 10 days of living together, the fat mice began to lose weight, and the "skinny" ones remained the same. This suggests that bacteria from the thin mice got into the body of the fat mice and improved metabolism, and the bacteria from the fat mice did not affect the microflora of the thin ones.
The microflora of slender mice (both humans and rodents) contains Bacteroidetes bacteria, which significantly affect metabolism, promoting weight loss, and they also prevent the reproduction of bacteria that promote obesity. During periods of cohabitation, not a single slender mouse gained excess weight.
Scientists have also found that the effect of microflora in one direction or another directly depends on nutrition. Mice are usually given food with a low fat and high carbohydrate content. When a special menu close to the human one was developed for mice, the results were as follows: Bacteroidetes bacteria did not take root in the body of obese mice that received fatty food, so the weight of the mice remained at the same level, while thin mice that ate "healthy food" (vegetables, fruits, lean meat, vegetable oil) did not change.
All these studies give hope that soon a bacterial preparation will appear that will help normalize the microflora in the intestines with appropriate nutrition, thereby helping to get rid of excess weight.
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