- Weight Loss Buzz
- Posts
- Weight Loss Tip: Could good Gut Health help you manage your weight?
Weight Loss Tip: Could good Gut Health help you manage your weight?
We spoke to Gemma Stuart, the founder of Gut Wealth to find out more about the connection of looking after your gut for better weight management
Katie
December 07, 2023
This week we take a look at the connection between good gut health and weigh management. We spoke to Gemma Stuart, the founder of Gut Wealth, the digestive health supplement, to find out more about the connection of looking after your gut for better weight management. We asked her questions like “how does your gut affect your health?” and “can improving gut health help you to lose weight?”
Gemma Stuart, Founder Gut Wealth
According to Gemma:
Your gut system is responsible for digesting your food and starts at your mouth and ends at your bum - so it's everything from chewing to pooing! When you think of your gut, you might imagine a large organ with the sole purpose of removing the waste you produce from the foods you eat but research has shown that the gut is a complex metabolic powerhouse that is vital for your overall health.
The gut system is a series of small and large tubes that digest your food and remove waste.
Gemma shared: “There are lots of ways your gut can tell you it’s not working well, including bloated stomach, upset stomach, bloating, bellyache, going to the toilet too often or not enough, excess gas, and discomfort. And paying attention to these signals because you only get one body so you have to be the CEO of what’s going on for you.”
So, what part does the gut play in your weight?
Gemma says:
We've known for a century that bacteria live in our intestines, but we've assumed that they did little to affect our health. We thought that they were just mooching off of us — taking advantage of the warmth and nutrients in our gut. In the past decade, however, remarkable breakthroughs have allowed scientists to count and characterise the genes in our gut bacteria. The results have been astonishing.
Our gut bacteria have 250 to 800 times more genes than we have human genes. Even more remarkable, these bacterial genes make substances that get into our bloodstream, affecting our body chemistry - helping us have energy, heal, fight infections and live well. From this, we can see that the community or what we described as a city of bacteria in our gut could be affecting our health.
Making sure that your gut microbiome has enough ‘good stuff’ to thrive is crucial to your health and weight control. Several studies show the more diverse our gut microbiome is and fibre intake have lower long-term weight gain.
Your gut microbiome can help or hinder weight loss - and this opens up the possibility to try to alter the gut microbiome to help weight loss.
For example - the largest nutrition and gut microbiome study in the world found 15 “good” gut bugs associated with better health outcomes and 15 “bad” gut bugs linked with worse health, including excess weight.
This groundbreaking research highlights the connections between people’s food choices, their gut bugs, and their overall health and weight.
Scientists have also found that people with obesity have very different and often fewer bacteria in their guts, compared with people with a moderate weight. This area of science is being developed even more and in a different study, mice received a collection of gut bugs from people with obesity. The mice put on weight and fat, and their metabolism and gut microbiomes changed.
So, what does all this mean for your weight management journey?
Gemma went on to add:
Your gut is like a bustling city of bacteria, and they play a role in your body chemistry, affecting everything from your energy levels to your ability to heal and fight off infections. It's not just about digestion – your gut is the most underrated focus in many of our wellbeing activities - maybe because we can’t see it.
If your gut is sending out distress signals like a bloated stomach, upset stomach, or excessive bathroom trips, it's time to pay attention. As Gemma puts it, "You only get one body, so you have to be the CEO of what’s going on for you."
Now, let's talk weight.
Turns out, your gut microbiome, the community of bacteria living in your digestive system, is a key player in the weight management game. Gemma breaks it down: "Research has shown that a diverse gut microbiome, fueled by a healthy dose of fiber, is linked to lower long-term weight gain."
In fact, the world's largest nutrition and gut microbiome study uncovered a fascinating correlation – 15 "good" gut bugs associated with better health outcomes and 15 "bad" gut bugs linked with worse health, including excess weight. This groundbreaking research underscores the intricate dance between our food choices, gut bugs, and overall health.
Further studies reveal that individuals battling obesity have a different and often reduced population of gut bacteria compared to those with a moderate weight. In a quirky twist, mice injected with gut bugs from people with obesity experienced weight gain, altered metabolism, and changes in their gut microbiomes.
The bottom line? Your gut isn't just the captain of digestion; it's a major influencer in the weight management arena. Nurture your gut microbiome with a balanced, fibre-rich diet, and who knows, you might just be fostering the right bacterial community to support your wellness journey. So, here's to a thriving gut and a healthier, happier you!
You can find out more about Gut Wealth products to help you improve your gut health here. Thanks Gemma - for this super useful roundup of how gut health impacts weight!
We hope you’ve found this weight loss tip useful, please subscribe for free to Weight Loss Buzz for weekly updates, news, tips and tricks on all things weight loss.