Micronutrients & recovery

In obese youth, gut microbiota exhibit a higher capability to ferment carbohydrates into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) compared to lean youth, and these SCFAs serve as substrates for hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL), thereby increasing energy harvest and fat partitioning.

For obese youth, the gut microbiome may extract more energy from carbohydrates than in lean individuals by converting them into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like acetate and butyrate. These SCFAs are then used by the liver to create new fat (DNL). Simply eating 'healthy' carbs might not be enough if the gut microbiome is highly efficient at fermentation; the resulting SCFAs fuel fat storage. This suggests that interventions might need to target gut microbiota composition or fermentation rates, not just caloric intake.