Micronutrients & recovery
In obese adolescents, elevated levels of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Actinomyces are associated with increased energy recovery from unabsorbed carbohydrates, contributing to obesity phenotypes.
For obese adolescents, gut bacteria play a specific role in extracting energy from food. High levels of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii may mean your body is extracting more calories from carbohydrates than expected. This suggests that dietary strategies focusing on carbohydrate quality and quantity might need to be tailored specifically for adolescents, distinct from adult approaches.
The presence of F. prausnitzii in the gut of obese adolescents may lead to increased energy recovery from unabsorbed carbohydrate that would not otherwise contribute to dietary energy intake (Balamurugan et al., 2010).
Why this rating
Observational study with a small sample size (n=69) and cross-sectional design; associations are strong but causality is not proven.
Source
Gut Microbiota Markers in Obese Adolescent and Adult Patients: Age-Dependent Differential Patterns
Federica Del Chierico et al. · Frontiers in Microbiology · 2018
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