I don’t want to miss talking about a most important phenomenon of a human body construction and that is our gut microbiome.
gut microbiome = microorganisms + bacteria + viruses + protozoa + fungi+ their collective genetic material present in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).
About 50+% of our body mass is our microbiota. Imagine screwing around with 50% votes.
We have about 10000+ variety of microbes living inside us. It is an ecology by itself. The gut microbiota plays an important role in nutrient and mineral absorption, synthesis of enzymes, vitamins and amino acids, and production of short-chain fatty acids. So what is the deal with microbes and weight you may ask!
Here you go:
Obesity itself is associated to changes in the composition of intestinal microbiota, with a trend to an overgrowth of microorganisms more efficiently obtaining energy from diet.
Increase in fat mass is also due to microbiota participating in changes in hormonal environment, expression of genes regulating lipogenesis, insulin resistance, changes in bowel permeability, endotoxemia, interaction with bile acids, changes in the proportion of brown adipose tissue, and effects associated to use of drugs.
Lack of variety of microbiome also creates imbalance in our systems.
Strategies for healthy gut microbiome
Avoid antibiotics as much as you can. They tend to sweep our microbiota.
Alcohol in all forms deplete our microbiome (yes wine included).
Lack of variety in our food does not microbiome to survive. For example: Too much sugar = too much candida. Doesn’t allow other microbes to survive.
Fresh fruits and veggies allow the microbiome to thrive.
Stress plays tricks without microbiota. Stress free you is a great playground for your microbiota.
Age matters. This is what makes losing weight harder as we age as our microbiome decreases.
Having pre and probiotics help establish good microbiome.
🥂to microbes!
Reference:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/gut-microbiome.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/well/live/unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-microbiome.html
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