These days the norm is plenty of antibiotics during childhood, animal meats that are laced with antibiotics, and overly processed food that starves your healthy gut bacteria of critical nutrients.
Unfortunately, whether in large or small amounts, antibiotics kill all bacteria. Even the good. They also promote the growth of harmful yeast, like Candida.
The result is that you get heavier as you age. And as the generations go by, you see more and more children struggling with weight loss. If you doubt whether gut bacteria can make you fat or lean—listen to science.
In 2006, researchers moved the gut bacteria from a fat mouse into a skinny mouse. Without changing diet, the skinny mouse began to grow obese. Simply because it now carried the same bacteria as the obese mouse.
This doesn’t mean you can catch obesity like you can a cold. But it does mean that there’s more to weight loss than diet.
Weight loss happens when the gut is full of healthy gut bacteria.
If you would like to start taking care of your healthy gut bacteria and rebuilding your inner ecosystem, I recommend that you:
- Eat plenty of fermented foods.
Fermented foods are not made with vinegar. They contain living probiotic bacteria and yeast.
You can make your own fermented foods at home, like coconut water kefir. You may even be able to find freshly packaged fermented foods at your local natural foods market or farmer’s market.
- Eat plenty of fiber-rich foods.
Fiber-rich foods feed healthy communities of good bacteria. This includes hearty green vegetables like kale and broccoli, starchy vegetables like winter squash, and grain-like seeds such as quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, and millet.
Once you begin eating fermented and fiber-rich foods, you’ll not only loose weight. You will also see other signs of wellness like clear skin, energy that lasts throughout the day, a robust immune system, and an upbeat mood.
As you add good bacteria back into your diet and support them with fiber-rich foods, your health (and waistline) will dramatically change.
SOURCES:
1. Turnbaugh, P. J., Ley, R. E., Mahowald, M. A., Magrini, V., Mardis, E. R., & Gordon, J. I. (2006). An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest. Nature, 444(7122), 1027-131.