We’ve been trying to figure out the cause of weight gain for decades. The science is becoming clearer


Little by little we are realizing the tremendous impact our biome has on our health and well-being. Now just link to a new study Bacteria Which resides in our body with the ability to lose weight. Or, rather, with our inability.

Millions of bacteria can be found in our intestinal tract, which are usually harmful or even beneficial to the functioning of our digestive system. However, these bacteria can sometimes release endotoxin. These are fragments of bacteria that are released when the cell membrane of these bacteria breaks down. As their name suggests, they are toxic substances, although they usually do not cause problems unless they reach the bloodstream.

But one of these potential problems is our metabolism, according to a research Conducted by a European team of expert researchers on the subject. According to the work, these endotoxins complicate a key process in our “burning” of fat.

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The root will be in adipose cells White and brown or brown.

Fat cells or adipocytes Cells that store fat, but they also play an important role in metabolizing it through their mitochondria. This is where white and brown cells differ: the former are particularly efficient at storing fat, while the latter have more mitochondria, making them more efficient at processing and converting this fat into energy.

Endotoxin Will work in conversion phase between white and brown cells, making this process difficult or impossible, thus inhibiting the body’s fat metabolism. “Gastric apparatus endotoxins reduce the metabolic activity of fat cells and their ability to transform into fat cells such as brown cells, which may be useful during weight loss,” according to the authors.

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Researchers believe that this problem occurs in people with obesity Repeatedly.

The reason is that their gastric tracts will be less elastic and therefore more “permeable” to these endotoxins, which will help them reach the bloodstream and fat cells. Researchers conducted a study (published in the newspaper BMC Medicine) in which 156 people participated, of which 63 fell into the category of obese people. 26 of them got it Bariatric surgeryOperations such as abdominal reduction or bypass Gastric

They observed it Endotoxin levels They were fewer of those who received these surgeries, which is why they indicated that these operations may produce additional benefits by allowing the fat cells to return to normal function.

We have more cells inside us that belong to our microbiota than our own cells. This data makes clear something that health experts have been confirming especially in recent years: that our microbiome is an important factor in our health.

Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes or some cancers seem to be related to the microbes that live within us. Relationships are extremely complicated, to begin with because we’re talking Millions of germs Belonging to innumerable species and a vast Differences between one person and another In the composition of our microbiota. So it is not surprising that researchers find it so difficult to establish a relationship between health and the inhabitants of our bodies.

Regardless, the relationship is so important that our existence cannot be understood without our microbiome. This is why some scientists already speak of man as a holobiont, not a single individual but an organism composed of numerous parts belonging to different species. Species from different kingdoms of life, such as lichens.

Endotoxins can be one of the many interactions that occur between our cells and these microscopic organisms. Not a particularly encouraging one, but understanding it can help us unravel this huge puzzle of interactions.

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Picture | M oktar guloglu, CC BY-SA 4.0

*An earlier version of this article was published in July 2023