Are all calories created equal? Your gut microbes don’t think so.
Are all calories created equal? Your gut microbes don’t think so.
For weight loss, whether you feed your gut microbiome high- or low-quality calories makes a difference, a new study suggests
tl;dr: eat foods with a high fiber content
Referenced article:
Corbin, K.D., Carnero, E.A., Dirks, B. et al. Host-diet-gut microbiome interactions influence human energy balance: a randomized clinical trial. Nat Commun 14, 3161 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38778-x
Muchas gracias amigo
n = 17, very small sample size
The study seemed pretty intense, I imagine it's hard to find participants, not to mention funding it.
The gut microbiome has always fascinated me. I honestly never really thought about feeding the billions of microbes that have real estate in my body.
I wonder if caffeine would have a similar effect because it seems like things move more quickly through the GI tract.
Permanently Deleted
shockedpikachu.meme
The gut microbiome has always fascinated me. I honestly never really thought about feeding the billions of microbes that have real estate in my body.
I wonder if caffeine would have a similar effect because it seems like things move more quickly through the GI tract.
Nice article but it doesn't really prove that calories are not equal. The article discusses how the calories get absorbed differently, but that doesn't mean the calories have changed or disappeared. Kind of misleading title.
I suppose it depends on whether you're interested in the amount of energy contained in a food or the amount of energy a human being can obtain from the food. We're typically only interested in the latter.
Calories are not interchangeable if you're interested in nutrition (as opposed to burning things).
In this context, calories not being same does not mean there are different kinds of calories.
However calorie source could mean how it's absorbed by your body may differ. So 100 calorie chocolate may provide your body 90 calories of energy, but 100 calorie lentil could provide your body 80calories worth of energy.
Sure could use some better titles up in here.
long story. tl;dr: I had anxiety after quitting a prescription and killed my digestion with OTC meds. Fiber, enzyme supplements and protein drinks have me gaining weight again. "Cheap processed foods"? who eats this crap every day still? give me veggies raw or canned anyday. cheap
What about trans fats?
This research didn't seem to investigate trans fats, but rather the effect of unprocessed food that's high in fiber vs processed food that's low in fiber.
The last book I read that discussed fats is a bit out of date (The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease by Daniel Lieberman), but it has an interesting explanation of the differences between saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. Then the author reveals the plot twist that well... maybe the different fats don't actually make that much difference once they're in the body and that current research is still unclear.
Theyre banned in florida.
The gut microbiome has always fascinated me. I honestly never really thought about feeding the billions of microbes that have real estate in my body.
I wonder if caffeine would have a similar effect because it seems like things move more quickly through the GI tract.
The headline kinda blows. All calories are equal, but if you include the calories which are used by gut flora, our current counts are inaccurate. Not as catchy, I guess.
Meaningless distinction. The whole point is calories from the perspective of gut flora because we're interested in how the body is using those calories in this context.