Kefir Kommunity

No one likes to think about bacteria crawling around inside our stomachs, but the fact is, they’re there, and they’re not going away anytime soon. Normally, the bacteria are the good kind helping our bodies run smoothly and efficiently. Certain bacteria even help determines if the food you eat is stored as fat or burned off for energy. But according to a new study, the food you eat can affect these weight-related bacteria, in turn making it harder to shed pounds. The really scary thing? The change can happen with just one meal, meaning, as ThatsFit.com put it, “even if you normally eat nothing but salads, one junk food binge may cause a serious shift in your body making it easier to pack on the pounds.”

Researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis found that obese individuals tend to have elevated levels of a type of stomach bacteria called Firmicutes in their stomach and intestines. On the other hand, thinner people have more of the Bacteroidetes strain. When the researchers injected thin mice with human stomach bacteria taken from fat mice, the skinny minnies gained weight, despite the fact they were noshing on low-fat foods. Even worse, one the fat-causing bacteria was injected, it made the weight that much harder to lose.

Why are we writing about chubby mice at kefir.com? It turns out, kefir may be a solid defense against this type of bacteria-induced weight gain.

Registered Dietitian and nutritionist Tara Gidus told ThatsFit.com that "probiotics could have an exciting role in changing the flora in the gut. We already know they benefit gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome. There is also some research that shows they may boost the immune system." And while Gidus thinks it’s too early to start suggesting people take probiotics solely for weight loss purposes, it certainly couldn’t hurt to start sipping some calcium-rich kefir every morning.