Gut flora and healthy body condition

http://www.naturalnews.com/036331_gut_flora_weight_loss_body_fat.html

What do you guys think of this?

I think it has a lot of credibility and makes a lot of sense. It is an up and coming area of research, and as a biologist, it is quite credible to me, as well as intriguing. Can bacteria actually manipulate your cravings? A growing body of research says so. From what little I've read about it so far, it is pretty convincing.

It entered my brain space this week while reflecting on my own weight loss. My tastes for food have changed dramatically over the last two years. I went from eating a lot of meats and sugary, fatty foods to craving a diet largely consisting of fruits, vegetables beans. When I started tracking calories, I was kind of forced to alter what I ate in order to stay satisfied. Should I eat a small bowl of mac and cheese, or a giant pile of sauteed greens? Which left me more sated? After figuring that out, the weight came flying off, as many other MFP members have also experienced. Did I prefer lasagna to garbanzo beans and spinach? You bet I did.

But after a while, I realized that this was not the case anymore. That given my druthers right now, I'd much rather have those garbanzos, and that lasagna leaves me feeling like I poured sakrete down my gullet. I eat meat/animal protein about once or twice a week because I simply don't want it more than that. What? This doesn’t compute to someone who has been overweight for her entire life. Why was this time different? I dunno. I have done yo-yo dieting from the time I was in 6th grade and my mom convinced me that I was fat and icky. But I always viewed "diets" as something temporary. My venture in to MFP was the first time I was able to keep an improved eating plan in a sustainable manner, and I was able to look forward to a year from now rather than a week from now. I never looked at my watch and thought "Am I THIN YET"? The element of time was on my side.

So what about bacteria? Bacteria are demanding little things that are basically eating and pooping machines. They exist by the billions in and on our bodies--in fact, for every body cell we have, we also harbor about 5 bacterial cells. They all have a voracious metabolism, and depending on their genetic programming, they have widely diverse tastes in foods. To give a quick example of bacterial diversity, there are bacteria that eat the usual things--meat, fruits and vegetables, which is why we put food in the fridge. Cold temperatures keep them at bay. But there are also bacteria that eat gasoline, glass, salt, metals and rocks. Obviously, the metabolic needs of these vary widely!

In today's modern, germ-phobic world, the word "bacteria" comes with quite a stigma, but without bacteria in our intestines and on our skin surfaces, we would quickly perish because of these aforementioned vital metabolic processes. The vast majority of microbes are not harmful or pathogenic. As the saying goes, a few bad apples don't spoil the whole bunch. We would not be able to process many nutrients without them. They secrete enzymes that break down carbohydrates into simple sugars, for instance. They produce essential vitamins that we would otherwise not get from our foods. And a whole host of other metabolic processes.

Bacteria, like animals and plants, given the right nutrition, will flourish and multiply. Do you hear that smacking sound? That's me hitting myself on the forehead. I am a scientist! I should have thought of this a long time ago. Of COURSE it makes sense that when you eat a certain food, it favors a certain type of bacteria in your gut. Of COURSE. But only recently it dawned on me that perhaps the needs of your bacterial colonies in there are dictated by your own cravings. If your guts crave something, perhaps your brain will, too. Is that so far-fetched? I do not think it is at all. So I did some digging and bodies peer-reviewed research agree. Eating certain foods favors certain bacterial populations. But does it go the other way around? Do certain bacterial populations favor certain foods, too?

The bacteria in a thin person's gut are different than those in an overweight person's. By transferring the gut flora from a rodent of healthy weight into an obese rodent's gut, you get a significant improvement in the weight of the formerly obese rodent. Research into this area highlights bacterial populations that are associated with insulin resistance, a widely researched factor in obesity and overweight-related metabolic problems. That is pretty compelling stuff, scientifically speaking. Can simple transplantation of gut bacteria from one person to another, as distasteful as it may seem, be indicated in certain cases? Of course this is not a quick fix, and I really believe I am a living example of a person who was able to alter my own guts, but I think it could be a really valuable part of the solution to the problems associated with weight management.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this from you guys in the MFP community.