You have followed slimming diets but with no results? What if your microbiota was responsible? Numerous studies around the world have shown that the microbiota of an overweight person is poorly diversified and that the concentration of different microorganisms is poorly distributed. By acting on the microbiota while rebalancing the diet, the results are amazing. Explanation.

The importance of the microbiota

"Our digestive tract is home to as many as 1012 to 1014 microorganisms, which is 2 to 10 times more than the number of cells that make up our bodies. This collection of bacteria, viruses, parasites and non-pathogenic fungi constitutes our intestinal microbiota (or gut flora). " (1)

At present, the intestinal microbiota has not finished revealing all its secrets. Researchers are increasingly interested in the role of this flora in the development of certain diseases (cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, psychiatric, digestive, etc.). They have realized that a "healthy" microbiota is a diversified microbiota. Did you know that all this little world can weigh from 1 to 5kg of your weight? Incredible, isn't it? This underlines the importance of taking care of it because the intestinal flora allows among other things :

• the synthesis of many vitamins

• digestion and breakdown of food

• modulation of the immune response

• the absence of fatty acids, magnesium, calcium etc...

• neutralization of toxic substances

and all the consequences that follow...

The balance of the microbiota is fragile and several factors can alter its quality

• drug treatment: antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, chemotherapy

• pathogenic micro-organisms 

• transit disorders: constipation, diarrhea 

• a denatured diet

• sedentary lifestyle 

• chronic physical and/or emotional stress

• an inadequate diet low in fiber and high in nitrogenous products (red meat)

Bacteria are categorized into two genera:

• bifidobacterium : bifidobacterium bifidus, bifidobacterium lactis, bifidobacterium longum, bifidobacterium breve...

• Lactobacillus: lactobacillus reuteri, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei, and lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus rhamnosus... 

A difference in microbiota in overweight people

When we look closely at the composition of the intestinal flora of overweight people, we notice that the intra-intestinal life has adapted to the food to be digested. Thus, we find more flora allowing the degradation of carbohydrates and lipids, which consequently leads to an increase in the assimilation (and therefore the storage) of sugars and fatty acids. 

Depending on the quality of your microbiota, a particular diet is associated

This is what a study has explored... Jens Nielsen's research team at Chalmers University of Technology has developed a mathematical computing platform to determine how different patients will respond to a dietary change based on the state of their gut microbiota.

This highlighted the fact that depending on the extent of diversification of the microbiota, the subject responded more or less quickly to the modification of his diet to lose weight and the improvement of the health of the people with a poorly diversified microbiota was measurable in the blood tests.

"In patients with low gut microbiota diversity, however, the content of other substances that typically indicate health risks was also reduced in the individuals' blood and stool. A discrepancy appeared in relation to patients who had a gut microbiota with greater "biological diversity." Their health status was not affected to the same extent. " (3)

Restore a quality and diversified microbiota

All studies agree: a quality microbiota is a diversified microbiota. To lose weight, you need a varied diet, rich in prebiotics that feed the intestinal bacteria:

• fiber: raw or lightly cooked fruits and vegetables

• lacto-fermented products: komboucha, miso, kefir, sauerkraut etc...

However, in order to restore the intestinal ecosystem, sometimes food is not enough. It is therefore necessary to re-seed with probiotics. These are complexes of different strains of bacteria that can colonize the intestinal lumen. 

What the research says

"However, it is known that these metabolic diseases (diabetes and obesity) are characterized by chronic inflammation in which the microbiota is involved.

Thus, an increase in fat in the usual diet increases the proportion of gram-negative bacteria. Consequently, it increases the presence of inflammatory LPS locally and then, after passage of the LPS into the bloodstream, into the liver, adipose tissue, muscle tissue... The low-grade inflammation that chronically sets up in these tissues promotes insulin resistance prior to diabetes and obesity. In axenic mice, the implantation of microbiota from obese mice rapidly causes significant weight gain.

[...]

The idea today is to develop personalized strategies, in which the intake of prebiotics, probiotics or symbiotics is adapted to the patient's individual specificities. In the longer term, preventive treatments could be developed to prevent the occurrence of these diseases. " (2)

Sources:

(1) and (2): https://www.inserm.fr/information-en-sante/dossiers-information/microbiote-intestinal-flore-intestinale

(3) http://www.ican-institute.org/nos-bacteries-intestinales-determinent-le-meilleur-regime-pour-perdre-du-poids/