Research
Energy balance
Gut microbiota composition differs between lean and obese individuals, with obese phenotypes showing a higher Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio, which may enhance energy harvest from the diet.
Obesity is associated with a gut microbiome that extracts more energy from food. While changing this ratio is challenging, a diet rich in fiber may support a healthier microbiome profile.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Genetically obese ob/ob mice had a 50% reduction in abundance of Bacteroidetes and a proportional increase in Firmicutes compared to their lean counterparts... obese people were shown to have lower Bacteroidetes and more Firmicutes in their distal gut than did lean control individuals.
Why this rating
Consistent findings in animals and humans, but causality is complex (diet drives microbiota vs. microbiota drives obesity).
Source
Gut microbiota as a regulator of energy homeostasis and ectopic fat deposition: mechanisms and implications for metabolic disorders
Giovanni Musso et al. · Current Opinion in Lipidology · 2010
DOI 10.1097/mol.0b013e3283347ebb
narrative_reviewCited 186×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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