What's On Your Breath - And What Could It Mean For Your Body Weight?

It is increasingly recognized that the bacteria that grow in our guts (and yes, they are in there - around a kilogram of them in each of us!) have an impact on our overall metabolism and risk of obesity.  A new study shows that the type of gases in your breath (reflecting the type of bacteria you have in your gut) are associated with body weight.

The study looked at nearly 800 individuals, and classified them according to whether they had high levels of methane, hydrogen, both, or neither on breath testing.  They found that those who had higher methane and hydrogen on their breath had higher body mass index, and higher body fat percent, than the other groups.

The authors hypothesize that the high methane, high hydrogen breath is due to colonization with a bacteria called M smithii, a bacteria that may make food calories more available for absorption from our intestines.

Another lesson that it is so much more than calories in/calories out that factors in to our body weight.

Dr Sue Pedersen www.drsue.ca © 2013 

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