Have you ever tried dieting and found that those fruits, veggies and whole wheat toasts just never work? A new study lead by Arne Astrup, head of the department of nutrition, exercise and sports at the University of Copenhagen, offers a possible explanation.
According to the study, testing a human fecal sample can reveal whether or not a person is likely to lose weight by following the typical dietary recommendations of fruit, vegetables, fiber and whole grain content. Why? It all has to do with the millions and trillions of bacteria in the human gut.
Also known as gut flora, the diverse group of microorganisms that live in our digestive tracts make up the largest community of bacteria and the greatest number of species concentrated in any one area of the body.
They are essential to human survival, because while we provide them with a safe habitat and a constant supply of food, they are responsible for fermenting and metabolizing what we eat. They also synthesize important nutrients such as vitamin B and K.
In fact, dysregulation in gut flora causes a multitude of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, as well as obesity.
Given that more than two in three American adults are considered overweight or obese, scientists have spent years looking into whether intestinal bacteria can be manipulated to treat obesity. Until now, they had not found anything promising.
What Astrup and his team recently discovered is a breakthrough that shines some light on the role gut flora can play in regulating weight and losing weight.
That role is clear — the ratio between two groups of intestinal bacteria, namely Prevotella bacteria and Bacteroides, was found to be crucial in determining whether overweight people lost weight after being on a special “New Nordic Diet” that follows the national dietary recommendations of Denmark, which includes large amounts of fruits, vegetables, fibers and whole grain.
The study, consisting of 54 subjects, had 31 of them eat the New Nordic Diet for 26 weeks and the other 23 subjects eat an Average Danish Diet. On average, those on the New Nordic Diet lost 3.5 kg, while those on the Average Danish Diet lost an average of 1.7 kg.
The subjects were then divided by levels of intestinal bacteria. People with a high proportions of Prevotella compared to Bacteroides lost 3.5 kg more in 26 weeks when they ate the New Nordic Diet compared to people with similar intestinal bacteria proportions but ate the Average Danish Diet.
Contrastingly, the subjects with a low ratio of Prevotella to Bacteroides did not lose any more weight on the New Nordic Diet than they did on the Average Danish Diet. Approximately half of the world’s population has a high proportion of Prevotella compared to Bacteroides.
So for 50 percent of the human population, eating more fruit, vegetables, fibers and whole grains may not result in a change in body weight at all.
This study demonstrates that what may work for some people may not work for all, and those health magazines saying that they know the perfect diet that results in weight loss may be correct for some individuals but, for many others, they won’t be.
The future of medicine and therapy promises personalization, adapting treatment methods to each individual patient and their specific cases.
The results of this study point out that personalized guidance is the most effective weight loss strategy and is the best solution to the rising numbers of obesity and related health issues.
Biomarkers in fecal samples or blood samples directly from the body have the potential to play an immensely important role in nutritional guidance because they allow healthcare professionals to tailor guidance and treatment to each individual.
“This is a major step forward in personalized nutritional guidance. Guidance based on this knowledge of intestinal bacteria will most likely be more effective than the ‘one size fits all’ approach that often characterises dietary recommendations and dietary guidance,” Assistant Professor Mads Fiil Hjorth said, according to ScienceDaily.
