How to program your gut to be lean

Our intestinal flora significantly affects our ability to lose weight. You can assist the beneficial gut bacteria in their job by using a method.

The intestinal flora, which comprises of a variety of different bacteria with various functions, is quite active in our intestines. But some of these microorganisms can cause us a lot of frustration: bacteria with firmicutes, for instance. These bacteria were quite helpful in far earlier periods, when we still wandered the country hungry and typically had little to eat. They wring as much energy out of the food as they can and give it to us.

Firmicutes bacteria as the enemy of our scales

Things are a little different now because we have access to a wide variety of meals and are no longer required to survive for days on end on just one slice of bread. The issue: Sugar is abundant in industrially manufactured foods, from which the still resourceful Firmicutes bacteria may extract a disproportionately large number of calories. What was once essential is now counterproductive: people with an excess of Firmicutes bacteria in their intestines mistakenly consume up to 10% more calories. In the worst case scenario, this might completely sabotage any diet endeavor.

Fighting bacteria with bacteria

Fortunately, we are not completely powerless against the little fattening bacteria. The easiest way to reduce their numbers is to deprive them of their nutritional basis: Sugary foods and soft drinks as well as wheat flour products should be taboo from now on. Instead, healthy food will be on the menu in the future. This includes, for example:

• Fruit and vegetables
• Fish and lean meat
• Low-fat dairy products
• High-quality vegetable oils, e.g. olive or rapeseed oil
• Whole grain products

This kind of diet not only has the benefit of getting rid of Firmicutes bacteria, but it also gets rid of their opposites, the Bacteroidetes strain. These bacteria are unable to store as much since they do not obtain as much energy from food. Both bacterial strains are necessary for a healthy gut, but ideally they should coexist in a 1:1 ratio. Consequently, the Firmicutes strain cannot thwart your efforts to lose weight. It pays to give the low-sugar diet a try because you also set yourself up for good weight loss with it.