You could be doing everything else right: eating well, getting great sleep, and covering your nutrient bases. If the numbers on the scale still won’t budge, your problem might be smaller than you think.
In fact, it could be microscopic!
The bacteria in your gut may be tiny, but they play a major role in fat loss. Those little guys outnumber the other cells in your body 10 to 1, and they’re responsible for a lot of important jobs.
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Think of the microbes in your gut’s microbiome as the tiny VIPs in a big city. Whatever they say goes! They are your:
1. Security force. Your gut flora police your immune system and defend against infection and inflammation. Keeping your gut healthy means more “good” bacteria to protect you from stomach upset, food sensitivities, vitamin deficiencies, allergies, and systemic autoimmune disease.1
2. Architects and engineers. Your gut flora construct the building blocks (precursors) of the chemicals that help determine your mood, appetite, sleep quality, and sex drive.2 Whether you have a great night out with friends or an even better one staying home with your honey, you have your gut flora to thank!
3. Air traffic control. Your stomach produces ghrelin, the hormone that signals whether you’re hungry. Imbalances in ghrelin can produce massive cravings, even when your belly is full.3 (Anyone who’s ever gone back for seconds right after dinner or had a midnight cheesecake attack knows the power that ghrelin holds!)
4. Government. While you might choose what food you eat, the tiny residents in your gut’s microbiome decide what nutrients and vitamins you actually receive! It’s their job to send what you need out to your body’s other systems. That means an unhealthy gut microbiome can translate to major health issues.4
5. Hazmat team. You know the guys in protective yellow suits who deal with hazardous materials? Your gut bacteria do the same job, helping eliminate toxins and dispose of waste that might do you harm. When they go on strike, the results can be painful, even disastrous: think leaky gut syndrome, gas and bloating, joint pain, fatigue, headaches, and trouble losing weight or keeping it off.
That last one is especially key. Like any thriving community, a healthy gut microbiome is diverse and populated by helpful residents.
Too many bad influences, and you’ll find yourself breaking down fiber quickly and absorbing more fat. The result: your weight increases, even if you cut calories.5
Those extra pounds are also much more likely to land on your waistline, increasing your chances of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic disease.6
Maintaining a healthy balance of gut flora isn’t optional. It’s absolutely necessary! That means paying special attention to your sugar impact, exposure to reactive foods, stress levels, and medication use. (For more details, check out this post.)
Time to call in reinforcements! While it’s super-important to make long-term changes to support your gut health, there’s also a powerful step you can take to IMMEDIATELY balance your gut microbiome: start eating foods that support your gut!7
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References:
1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3337124/
2 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248.php
3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27235674
4 Chassaing B, Kumar M, Baker MT, Singh V, Vijay-Kumar M. Mammalian gut immunity. Biomed J 2014;37:246-58
5 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7122/abs/nature05414.html
6 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26011912
7 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263193/
The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern. The information here is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or condition. Statements contained here have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
