Gut Bacteria Prevents Obesity

Breaking news from North America’s most prestigious scientific journal called Nature regarding obesity. Scientists have discovered that gut microbes play a significant role in obesity! In fact, scientist found that the “good flora” (flora is science word for bacteria) in obese individuals intestines actually played a role in their weight gain. Have no fear though, this can be reversed 🙂

gut bacteria and obesity

What are gut/intestinal bacteria?

Well, they are the kind of bacteria that help you stay healthy and build up strong immunity (i.e. help fight off the flu and come to your aid when you feel worn down or a bug coming on). The ever-so-popular yogurt, Activa actually contains good flora bacteria called acidophillis and bifidobacteria. If you don’t like Activa, you can always take acidophillis or bifidobacteria as a supplement. It can be found at your local health food or grocery store, such as Natures Emporium (refer to main banner link above). Note: I provided a link to the one I take everyday below – you can buy it on Amazon in five seconds – super easy and great deal!

How Was Gut Bacteria Linked To Obesity? Prove It!

Scientists from a research group at Washington University in Missouri took gut bacteria from four sets of human twins (one twin being obese and the other thin), and put the bacteria into mice bred to be germ-free. Interestingly, the mice that were given bacteria from an obese twin quickly gained weight, even though all the mice ate about the same amount of food.

What Happens When You Intermingle the Lean Mice with the Obese Mice?

Answer: The Mice All Became LEAN!

One interesting result found was when the scientists intermingled the obese and lean mice, they all became LEAN. At first, they knew the mice would exchange microbes and were just genuinely interested to find out what would happen. Surprisingly, the obese mice who were originally injected with “obese human gut bacteria” started to become thin like their neighbouring lean mice in the cage.

Apparently, the gut-bacteria in “lean mice/people” is much more diverse and is able to colonize a lot better than the less-diverse bacteria found in the guy of obese people. Thus arose the question as to “why isn’t there a lean epidemic in America??” The answer came down to diet.

Gut Bacteria Work In Your Favour To Keep You Slim When Presented With The Right Diet

If you want your bodies “good gut flora/bacteria” to work in your favour  (i.e. colonies to be very diverse) and ultimately KEEP YOU SLIM, you have to present them with the most optimal environment. These bacteria will do there job correctly IF you don’t put too much crap in your body. Scientist found they responded best in terms of keeping weight off and working for your body overall when you eat a diet low in saturated fat.

When the mice were fed a diet low in saturated fat and high in fruit and vegetables, the transfer of gut microbes from mice with the lean type to those with the obese type still occurred. Hence, a human that ate along the same lines would still have their gut bacteria working IN THEIR FAVOUR to keep them slim.

On the contrary, when the mice were given a high-fat, low-vegetable diet this did not happen, and mice with the obese-type bacteria gained weight. “There’s an intricate relationship between our diet and how our gut bugs work,” says Gordon. “You have to have the right ingredients.”

Conclusion: Gut Bacteria Keeps You SLIM and Stops Working When You Eat High Saturated Fatty Foods

Moral of the story is to make sure to get lots of good bacteria and don’t eat foods high in saturated fat. Hence, eat lots of yogurt or take probiotics (i.e  acidophillus and bifidobacteria supplements) as they can play a role in both maintaining your weight and shedding those unwanted pounds.

Reference

Nature. Bacteria From Lean Cage-Mates Help Mice Stay Slim. Brian Owens. (09-05-13). Available: http://www.nature.com/news/bacteria-from-lean-cage-mates-help-mice-stay-slim-1.13693

Revolutionary Weight Loss and Detox Drink – A “TeaTox”

While healthy eating is our birthright, for many of us it seems like taking the plunge into eating a whole foods-based diet is the equivalent to traveling to some distant land. But it doesn’t have to be such a scary or foreign experience.

Have you heard of a “teatox”?

It is the new buzz word for getting healthy, ridding those unwanted toxins out of your body and shedding a few pounds in the process. A “teatox” is basically a tea that acts as a detox aid for your body. Ultra Slender Tea has a great organic, 100% natural detox that is worth trying if you are interested. Many people say it has helped them loose up to 10 pounds and completely clear their skin!

Let’s face it, most diets are too complicated and not-practical! Consumers need more safe, simple, realistic and pleasurable (yes!) transitions into healthy living and eating. Often, because “detox diets” remove all the sugary, fatty, chemical-laden, artificial stuff from the diet, they get called a detox or a cleanse.

Why is detoxification important?

When our bodies become “toxic,” it means that our natural means of ushering out metabolic waste from normal human metabolism, environmental pollution, and what has become known as the Standard North American Diet (or SAD diet – funny, right!) has exceeded the threshold for what the body’s innate detoxification system can tolerate on its own. With this toxic load, every system in the human body can become affected. From our head to our toes and everything in between, toxicity makes us sick!

When to know if you need a “Teatox” / proper detox cleanse?

Usually a constellation of complaints helps you determine whether or not you are toxic and to what extent you need to cleanse. Some examples of what might infer a toxic system are:

  • Constipation
  • Persistent headaches, muscle aches and muscle fatigue
  • Eating a lot of swordfish, tuna, shark etc.
  • Your exercising but have no results to show for it
  • Several mercury fillings and dental amalgams
  • Food allergies
  • Stubborn weight loss
  • Hormonal imbalances and consistent use of hormone replacement treatments such as birth control or creams like progesterone.
  • Consistent use of ibuprofen or acetaminophen
  • Skin abnormalities such as acne, rosacea or eczema
  • A lifetime of consuming the SAD Diet

If you are interested, Eco-Savy highly recommends “Ultra Slender Tea’s” detox. It is 100% organic and uses natural herbs …including yummy juniper berries, cinnamon and licorice (amongst many ingredients). Learn more here.

ultra slender tea, skinny tea

Dr.Oz Recommends Green Coffee Bean Diet

There is a new natural diet on the market and it’s worth talking about. It is called The Green Coffee Bean diet!

What are “green coffee beans”??

Well, green coffee refers to the raw or unroasted seeds (beans) of Coffea fruits. These beans are dried, roasted, ground and brewed to produce coffee.

Why do “green coffee beans” aid in weight loss??

Coffee is most known for its taste and ability to get you moving faster in the morning as a result of its caffeine content. However, coffee’s ability to control how fast your body absorbs sugar (i.e. glycemic control) and thus weight control is attributed to other components. These “other ingredients” include chlorogenic acid, quinides, lignans and trigonelline; all of which have been shown to improve glucose metabolism in animal studies.

The component in Green Coffee Beans that is most discussed is the chlorogenic acid. Chlorogenic acid actually inhibits an enzyme called glucose-6-phosphatase . This enzyme is responsible to the formation of sugar in the liver. In other words, the chlorogenic acid in coffee may be responsible, or at least partially responsible for the reduced risk of glycemic disorders, like diabetes, with long-term coffee exposure.

Supporting Scientific Literature For Green Coffee Beans

Green Coffee Beans for use in weight loss have been backed by scientific literature. In a more recent scientific study published in 2012 in the Journal of Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity, researchers followed a group of 16 adults whose diets where supplemented with a special green extract of chlorogenic acids (i.e. key ingredient in the Green Coffee Bean). Note that all 16 adults were considered obese with a BMI greater than 25.

 

Each person in the above study was given a different dosages of chlorogenic acids – either 700 or 1050mg/day for 12 weeks. Shockingly, the subjects on average lost almost 18 pounds! This was equates to 10% of their overall body weight and 4.4% of their overall body fat.

Dr.Oz Puts The “Green Coffee Bean” Diet To The Test!

So you are probably wondering where Dr. Oz fits into all of this. Well, he wanted to test this product to see if it actually worked and the results were great! Indeed, the Dr.Oz show’s medical unit enlisted 100 women between the age of 25 and 45 on this diet. Note that none of the women were breast feeding or pregnant, and had NO medical problems.

Each participant received either the green coffee bean extract or a placebo pill and were instructed to take one 400mg capsule, three times a DAY, 30 minutes before each meal. Also, it is important to mention that no participants knew which pill they were given and were instructed not to change their diet. The Dr. Oz show even made them keep a food journal to learn what these women were eating.

The results were very good. The women who tool the green coffee bean extract lost, on average 2 lbs. This is a very healthy weight loss number and signifies that no water weight was loss, just fat.

Dr. Oz has mentioned many times that he does not support brands, just products. Many companies do sell this product which is why he recommends it.

Eco-Savy stands strong behind this “natural” weight loss supplement which is why it is featured on our blog this week. We hope you get the same success our staff has achieved with this product.

If you are interested in the product, you can order it right here on our website by clicking the link below. We have found one of the best manufacturers of the Green Coffee Bean and strongly recommend you buy it if you are having trouble losing weight.