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The cause of obesity were bacteria
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Obesity is one of the most common problems of developed countries, excessive weight provokes the development of many diseases and increases the risk of premature death. The reasons for the collection of extra pounds, of course, is considered a sedentary lifestyle, malnutrition and overeating, as well as genetic predisposition.
But in recent years, it has become increasingly obvious to scientists that enterobacteria - a special class of bacteria living in the gastrointestinal tract - play an important role in the biology of humans and animals.
Scientists from Shanghai Jiaotong University came to the conclusion that bacterial infection can be to blame for obesity. The results of the research of specialists were published in the pages of the scientific journal "International Society for Microbial Ecology".
Specialists have studied the relationship between overweight and gastric infection for eight years. An important role of enterobacteria in obesity was first established after clusters of this class of bacteria were found in volunteers in large numbers, experts say.
To confirm or refute their hypothesis, Chinese scientists decided to conduct an experiment in mice.
Rodents were fattened with fatty foods and limited their mobility. One group of animals was infected with bacterium enterobacter. It turned out that only those rodents infected were gaining excess weight - they quickly started gaining kilograms. Those mice that were "clean", despite the lethal feeding and sedentary lifestyle, did not recover.
The mice were injected with bacteria for ten weeks.
"Our experiments are clear evidence that obesity may not be the result of a sedentary lifestyle, overeating or unhealthy gastronomical predilections, but of a bacterial infection," says Zhao Liping, lead author of the study, a professor at the Shanghai Jiaotong University. "Enterobacteria inhibit the process of fat splitting and lead to an imbalance in the secretion of genes responsible for controlling the metabolism, thus pushing the body to produce fats and the process of their accumulation."
Bacteria enterobacter is part of the flora in the human intestine, but can play a negative role, provoking the process of obesity. Also, in the process of research, experts have discovered that enterobacteria secrete substances that provoke immunity to insulin.
According to Professor Zhao, at least one patient suffering from obesity, he already cured. The doctor says that an overweight person, during 23 weeks lost weight and as a result was able to lose 29% of his weight. But in addition to losing weight, Dr. Zhao's patient managed to get rid of the diseases: he recovered from fatty liver and hypertension. The professor says that he managed to achieve such amazing results with the help of a diet that was aimed at inhibiting the activity of enterobacteria. A consisted of a patient's diet of traditional Chinese medicines, whole grains and prebiotics - indigestible carbohydrates.