

Certain bacteria may help ward off obesity - RyanMcGreal
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-gut-bacteria-obesity-20130906,0,194428.story

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CodeCube
Very cool to read ... by the end of the article thought I found myself saying,
"well?", as if expecting them to tell me what I could eat to foster the
"correct" type of bacteria. Of course, it seems that we're still at the
beginning of this kind of research, so there are no well established answers
yet.

~~~
oblique63
I'm glad there's finally some evidence to support this theory, but it's not
exactly a new line of thinking. There's already been literature published
based around the correlation between gut flora and obesity, and one book that
stands out and has actionable tips is 'The Diet Cure' [1]. I admittedly
haven't got around to implementing it yet myself, but the concepts make sense.
Either way, it was originally written in the late 90's, so I wouldn't expect
it to be thoroughly modern in its reasoning and nomenclature with regards to
these microbiome developments, but it's something...

[1] [http://amzn.com/0143120859](http://amzn.com/0143120859)

~~~
kafkaesque
I've subconsciously been putting this into practice probably, i.e., eating a
'clean diet', or foods that promote 'good' bacteria. I never talk about it,
though, because it sounded very much like pseudoscience (until recently, I
guess?). Just not enough samples or controlled groups for meaningful data to
be interpreted. Strangely enough, I find this to be true for a lot of things
in nutrition/diet.

Madonna is one of the biggest proponents of this diet who is famous:
[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-08/madonna-s-secret-
fo...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-08/madonna-s-secret-for-
longevity-seen-aiding-bacteria-boom.html)

The article mentions probiotics, and so does the LA Times article, but there
are also 'natural'/whole foods Madonna consumes, which are recommended by her
nutritionist, who she works closely with.

~~~
gngeal
_I never talk about it, though, because it sounded very much like
pseudoscience (until recently, I guess?)._

Changing the gut bacteria doesn't, but trying to do it through diet probably
does.

~~~
kafkaesque
Admittedly, I'm not too well read on it. So I have a lot of questions
unanswered. I'm sure many feel this way: there are times when I wish I could
read and understand so many things, but between work, learning to program and
my family duties, I feel like I fall behind all the time in other areas.

Thanks for the feedback, by the way.

------
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bayesianhorse
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------
waqf
So will tapeworms. Be careful what you wish for.

~~~
Groxx
That's a very good point. It's awfully similar, though hopefully the lean-
bacteria won't have as many bad side-effects :)

~~~
xionon
It's not similar at all. Your body already has several pounds worth of
bacteria in it. Hopefully, your body has zero tapeworms.

This is talking about bacteria already in a healthy person's body.

~~~
Groxx
tapeworm vs bacteria, parasite vs parasite, symbiotic or otherwise. and you
have plenty of other parasites.

edit: maybe a simpler example. Try to describe why tapeworms are different
from bacteria, without using "multicellular". both can cause harm. both eat
your food. both can result in weight loss.

~~~
xionon
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora)

Bacteria that aid in weight control don't just "eat your food," they actually
help your body break down food correctly. That's why you take a pro-biotic
after going through a round of anti-biotics - you need to re-grow your gut
flora to aid in proper digestion.

