Probiotic bacteria could keep us slim
Found on New Scientist on Saturday, 19 January 2008
Jeremy Nicholson of Imperial College London and his collegues fed strains of "probiotic" Lactobacillus to mice whose gut microbes had been replaced by those that usually live in the human gut. These mice had different bile acids from the norm - favouring enzymes that reduce the amount of fat digested. "More fat is available for the microbes, and you then 'poo' the microbes out," says Nicholson.
The changes may only reduce fat absorption by a little, but this could have an impact on obesity if sustained over several years.
Even if it works, it's still a bad idea to cure the symptoms instead of dealing with the cause. Yes, people are obese, but that's not because they lack some bacteria; it's because they won't stop eating fat fast food and chips all the time. While some people may have a health problem leading to obesity, most just don't want to accept the fact that their way of living is the cause for turning into a fat person.