3 ms·

No one is overweight/obese because of gut bacteria. There may be marginal effects, but it's a bit like optimizing the tires on a soccer mom's mini-van.

Lawtonfogle 11y ago
Marginal effects can add up quite quickly over a lifetime. Take someone 100 pounds overweight. That is 350000 Kcal more consumption in their lifetime than they should've had. Let's spread that over 10 years, or 35000 Kcal a year. That works out to about a 100 Kcal difference per day. Over 20 years, it would be about 50 Kcal. Now, they could've made different choices, and there are some people who stay a healthy weight by making different choices. But I would not dismiss small changes as being irrelevant because given the time scale, those changes do add up.
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- im3w1l 11y ago
  It doesn't work quite like that, because there is a negative feedback loop. When you increase in weight your metabolism goes up. If you are at a steady weight and increase your consumption by 50 kcal a day, you will reach a new steady weight where your metabolism is 50 kcal more. 50 kcal extra a day means steady state weight increases by about 3 pounds or 1.5 kg.
lsniddy 11y ago
Just because its more complicated than calories in calories out doesnt mean its not true. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-becomes-obese-after-fecal-transplant-overweight-donor http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-becomes-...
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heydenberk 11y ago
I find your metaphor agreeable but not your argument: I'd wager that many minivans are running far below optimal gas efficiency because their tires are under-inflated.
zzalpha 11y ago
No one is overweight/obese because of gut bacteria. That is an excellent baseless assertion you have there! Care to back that up with facts? Or should we just take your word for it?
wang_li 11y ago
The issue is that humans are not deterministic machines. We are often presented with internal urges and cravings. We are faced with stresses that lower our ability to maintain discipline. We have different needs, so you can't just adopt a one size fits all plan. And we do have different microbiomes that will create all sorts of issues with respect to our ability to make decisions, exercise and recover. So while it is fundamentally true that a calorie deficit will lead to weight loss, it's not trivial to create a consistent deficit while maintaining good nutrition.
AndrewDucker 11y ago
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/02/04/Woman-becomes-obese-after-fecal-transplant-from-overweight-donor/1581423067944/ http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/02/04/Woman-becomes-obes... 35 pounds gained from changing her stomach bacteria.
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Lawtonfogle 11y ago

Marginal effects can add up quite quickly over a lifetime. Take someone 100 pounds overweight. That is 350000 Kcal more consumption in their lifetime than they should've had. Let's spread that over 10 years, or 35000 Kcal a year. That works out to about a 100 Kcal difference per day. Over 20 years, it would be about 50 Kcal. Now, they could've made different choices, and there are some people who stay a healthy weight by making different choices. But I would not dismiss small changes as being irrelevant because given the time scale, those changes do add up.

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im3w1l 11y ago
It doesn't work quite like that, because there is a negative feedback loop. When you increase in weight your metabolism goes up. If you are at a steady weight and increase your consumption by 50 kcal a day, you will reach a new steady weight where your metabolism is 50 kcal more. 50 kcal extra a day means steady state weight increases by about 3 pounds or 1.5 kg.

lsniddy 11y ago

Just because its more complicated than calories in calories out doesnt mean its not true. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-becomes-obese-after-fecal-transplant-overweight-donor http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-becomes-...

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heydenberk 11y ago

I find your metaphor agreeable but not your argument: I'd wager that many minivans are running far below optimal gas efficiency because their tires are under-inflated.

zzalpha 11y ago

No one is overweight/obese because of gut bacteria. That is an excellent baseless assertion you have there! Care to back that up with facts? Or should we just take your word for it?

wang_li 11y ago

The issue is that humans are not deterministic machines. We are often presented with internal urges and cravings. We are faced with stresses that lower our ability to maintain discipline. We have different needs, so you can't just adopt a one size fits all plan. And we do have different microbiomes that will create all sorts of issues with respect to our ability to make decisions, exercise and recover. So while it is fundamentally true that a calorie deficit will lead to weight loss, it's not trivial to create a consistent deficit while maintaining good nutrition.

AndrewDucker 11y ago

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/02/04/Woman-becomes-obese-after-fecal-transplant-from-overweight-donor/1581423067944/ http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015/02/04/Woman-becomes-obes... 35 pounds gained from changing her stomach bacteria.

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