If you’re struggling to lose weight, this could be why
Weight loss hit a wall? This could be to blame
Weight loss hit a wall? This could be to blame
If you’re putting in the hard yards by hitting the gym and eating well, but your body weight is just not shifting, it could all be due to the bugs in your gut.
A new study has suggested that people who have an easier time losing weight have more of a certain type of bacteria in their gut, while people who have difficulty shedding the kilos have another type of bacteria.
Published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the study involved 26 overweight adults who were instructed to follow a low-calorie, nutrient-dense diet and get in around 10,000 steps a day.
The results? After three months on the plan, it was found that only nine of the 26 subjects had successfully lost five per cent or more of their body weight.
However, a stool sample analysis showed that the people who lost the most weight had more of a specific type of gut bacteria called ‘Phascolarctobacterium’. The other participants, who did not lose at least five per cent of their body weight, had a type of bacteria called ‘Dialister’.
Dr. Purna Kashyap, co-author of the study at the Mayo Clinic, told Newsweek, “The potential use is to develop personalised strategies for weight loss based on an individual’s gut bacterial makeup rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. The good part is, unlike our genes we can in fact manipulate the gut bacteria by using probiotics and diet.”
“So people need to keep in mind, if they are following a weight loss regimen and in spite of doing everything right are unable to lose weight, this may be because the weight loss program is not the right one based on their gut microbiome,” Kashyap explains.
While we’d all love to be able to pop down to the store and nab ourselves some of that Phascolarctobacterium to speed up our weight loss process, it’s not actually possible to do this (sigh), so Kashyap says it’s best to start working on improving your gut health.
While it’s important to note that there is no quick fix to improve your gut health, here are a few things you can do to get your gut health back on track.
What do you think of this study? Let us know in the comment section below.
Main image credit: Getty
Erin Docherty is a Beauty Writer for BEAUTYcrew, Beauty Editor for Women's Health magazine and a Grooming Writer for Men's Health magazine. She has a keen interest in cosmeceutical skin care and is currently working on minimising her 9-step skin care routine – because ain’t nobody got time for that. When she’s not writing about the latest beauty news, or applying copious amounts of serum, you can find her spending all her money in Sephora.
