Can a Healthy Gut Help Solve the Obesity Epidemic?

The gut microbiome has become a popular topic among the general public. In response, multiple microbiome-targeted foods, supplements, and even beauty products have hit retailers' shelves.

But is there clinical evidence that the gut microbiome is a causal driver of obesity? And if it is, what is the best way to target it to elicit health benefits?

Karen D. Corbin, PhD, RD

The physiologic impact of the gut microbiome is key to deciphering its potential benefits for human health. The term "gut microbiota" refers to the bacteria, yeast, fungi, viruses, and bacteriophages that inhabit the human colon. The term "gut microbiome" is similar but refers to the genetic makeup of those organisms. Bacteria greatly outnumber other microbes in the gut and are the most well studied in response to human phenotypes (Ursell et al; Berg et al).

As far as the various types of products your patients might encounter, there are three main types. Probiotics contain live microorganisms that may provide health benefits. Prebiotics are foods that reach the gut microbiota and can be utilized by those microorganisms. Postbiotics refers to metabolites secreted by microorganisms that are known to have a physiologic impact.

The products are everywhere, your patients are encountering them, but what does the science say?