Research
Energy balance
Altered gut microbiota in obesity increases digestible energy uptake from food through enhanced expression of nutrient transporters and fermentation enzymes, leading to increased caloric absorption.
Your gut bacteria can extract more calories from the same amount of food if they are altered. This is one reason why two people might eat the same diet but have different weights. Focusing on gut health through fiber and diverse foods might help optimize energy extraction.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Evidence has been mounting that altered gut microbiota in obese subjects exhibited more potent energy uptake properties from ingested food compared to the controls, mainly by promoting the production of nutrient transporters and various primary fermentation enzymes
Why this rating
Based on review of animal and human studies cited in the paper.
Source
The critical role of gut microbiota in obesity
Zilu Cheng et al. · Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2022
DOI 10.3389/fendo.2022.1025706
narrative_reviewCited 222×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Obesity is associated with gut dysbiosis characterized by decreased microbial diversity and an increased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, which contributes to obesity through disrupted energy homeostasis, lipid synthesis, and chronic inflammation.Moderate
- Gut microbiota alterations in obesity contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation through increased lipopolysaccharide (LPS) translocation, which triggers immune responses and insulin resistance.Moderate
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