If like me you've found that strangely you weigh more after Christmas than you did before...and you can't think of any reason why this might be ....(other than the excess of chocolates, Christmas cake, mince pies and Baileys you consumed in the course of two weeks....or was that just me?) it turns out that simple gluttony may not be the only factor at work in causing weight gain.
The Christmas Edition of the New Scientist carried a story which claims that "Evidence is mounting that bacteria play a central role in causing obesity" and gives details of a Chinese research teams findings that suggest that the presence in the gut of obese people of a bacteria called Enterobacter may play a key causative role in obesity.
In short they fed a morbidly obese volunteer a diet that was designed to inhibit Enterobacter growth by changing the pH in the colon. The volunteer last 51kg over 23 weeks compared with a weight loss by people who have had bariatic surgery of 49kg. They tested for the presence of Enterobacter before and after - before the diet started it made up 35% of gut flora;by the end of the diet it was reduced to negligible levels.
Then research moved to a set of unlucky mice: the researchers fed mice samples of the gut bacteria from the volunteer to see whether Enterobacter was a cause or result of his obesity. They found that mice with his new bacteria growing in their guts gained significantly more weight on a high fat diet than a control group of mice on the same high fat diet. Research continues but the Chinese team have suggested that "Treatment with an appropriate diet aiming to reduce levels of Enterobacter could be a cheaper and more effective aid to weight loss in future than surgery". And stating the obvious - laying off the mince pies in future wouldn't hurt either ...
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