Research has shown that changes in our bacterial population can affect how well we absorb foods like fats and carbs, including how well our body utilizes calories. [2] The wrong kinds of bacteria are capable of increasing the amount of calories we extract from food by boosting fat absorption. Just like the mice, we could be eating less or the same amount of food as the person next to us and still gain weight.

There’s a Leak In Here!
Another factor is the state of your intestinal lining. This lining shields the gut from invaders, and keeps your good bacteria inside the gut where they belong. Should this lining be jeopardized, it could become “permeable” or “leaky”, allowing substances like undigested, inflammatory food particles in and bacteria out into the body. Once the bacteria get out, our immune system perceives them as a threat, and starts attacking the gut. As long as the gut lining remains open and damaged, this cycle will continue on and lead to devastating consequences. [3]
This state, which is known either as Leaky Gut or Intestinal Permeability, can affect your weight. Like I mentioned before, this state involves inflammation. Both in the intestines and the rest of the body. Inflammation has been tied to obesity and weight gain, so if you’re currently undergoing the consequences of leaky gut and are struggling to keep off the pounds on top of that, then healing and fixing the intestinal lining should be a top priority. [4]

The Insulin Factor
Speaking of inflammation, obesity and type 2 diabetes both have ties to it. And one of the key players in their ties is the hormone insulin. It turns out that there’s research to suggest that obese subjects (human this time!) have a different population of bacteria than lean subjects. On top of that, the bacteria from the obese subjects were able to influence how well (or in this case, poorly) their body responded to insulin. [5]

S.O.S!
With this information in mind, let’s go over what you can do to reverse the effects of both intestinal permeability/leaky gut and bacteria. Here’s a simple game plan to help you get started!

1)    F-O-O-D
Inviting good bacteria in to keep the wrong kinds out is crucially dependent on your diet. And I don’t mean paleo, vegan, keto, or calorie-restriction. I’m talking about FOOD. No matter what kind of diet you subscribe to, it all boils down to the type of foods you eat. You could be a vegetarian and eat nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches and cookies. You could be keto and eat nothing but pastrami and string cheese. Quality is the keyword here! Focusing on whole foods from nature is going to be the foundation when it comes to restoring your gut. (Here’s a look into some more foods for a healthy gut!)

2)    Stress Less 
Did you know that stress impacts your gut? Indeed it does! It’s not all in your head- it’s in your gut, too. Stress can literally shut down digestion, and prevent you from properly breaking down food. The longer you remain in a stressed out state, the less efficient you become at digestion. This can lead to intestinal permeability/leaky gut in the long term, inviting in inflammation and more opportunistic bacteria. I’ve got a few articles on tackling stress, which you can read HERE and HERE.

3)    Probiotics to the Rescue!
Need some help? Call in the guards! Sometimes, we need a little extra love from bacteria, and that’s where supplements come into play. Supplementing with probiotics in the short term can act as an investment in your gut health for the long term- provided you do it correctly. You cannot simply pop in a pill and expect miracles to happen. The bacteria from probiotic supplements are transient, meaning they only stick around for a short while before saying adios. However, if you treat them like the seeds of a plant, then you may encourage a healthy garden. To do this requires going back to my first tip: diet. What do bacteria love to eat? FIBER! Think veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, and even fermented foods! That is fertilizer for good bacteria. So in addition to probiotic supplements, be sure to consume a bacteria-friendly diet! (PS- if you need help on choosing a probiotic supplement, check out my video HERE for some great info!)

4)    Test, Don’t Guess
If all else fails, then I highly recommend you go see a doctor. Should you be suffering from nutrient deficiencies, frequent gas or bloating, cycling diarrhea and constipation, fatigue, and weight gain altogether, then it’s high time you talk to the doc. He or she can then run the proper tests to see what’s going down in your gut and help you to fix things up. I know it’s not always fun, but when there’s a cluster of symptoms nagging at you every day, you need all the help you can get. If you can see a functional medicine practitioner, even better, since they’ve gone through additional training on gut health.

Sources:
[1] http://www.pnas.org/content/101/44/15718.long 
[2] https://emb.carnegiescience.edu/news/gut-bacteria-increase-fat-absorption 
[3] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/leaky-gut-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-you-2017092212451 
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5507106/ 
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705322/