A recent study published in Thursday’s issue of the journal, Nature, found that a bacteria found in the stomach and intenstines influences your chances of gaining weight.

“In one of the two studies in Nature, Gordon and colleagues looked at what happened in mice with changes in bacteria level. When lean mice with no germs in their guts had larger ratios of Firmicutes transplanted, they got “twice as fat” and took in more calories from the same amount of food than mice with the more normal bacteria ratio, said Washington University microbiology instructor Ruth Ley, a study co-author.

It was as if one group got far more calories from the same bowl of Cheerios than the other, Gordon said.

In a study of dozen dieting people, the results also were dramatic.

Before dieting, about 3 percent of the gut bacteria in the obese participants was Bacteroidetes. But after dieting, the now normal-sized people had much higher levels of Bacteroidetes — close to 15 percent, Gordon said.

“I think that gut bacteria affects body weight,” said Virginia Commonwealth University pathology professor Richard Atkinson, who wasn’t part of the research team and is president of Obetech Obesity Research Center in Richmond. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that and they showed that.” - SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

Personally, I think this study great, but we are getting too involved in the scientific mechanicals of our current weight situation. The fact is: is that people don’t eat right, people don’t work out and because of that, most people are overweight and obese. Read more here.

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