Gut Microbe May be Responsible for Your Weight Gain

Currently, researchers worldwide are studying the contribution of the gut microbiota (the 100 trillion bacteria that reside in our gut) to human health and disease. In the United States, the Human Microbiome Project is making a dent in this broad field of study, with...

Antibiotic Use Leads to Obesity by Way of the Gut

In the 1950s began the widespread use of low-dose antibiotics as growth promoters in the agricultural industry. The discovery was much by accident, but ended up quite profitable: Farmers gave cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, and turkeys low doses of antibiotics and...

Obesogens—Why We Get Fat

Obesogens—a term coined by Bruce Blumberg, a biology professor at the University of California, Irvine in 2006—are dietary, pharmaceutical, or industrial compounds that alter metabolic processes and predispose some people to gain weight. Simply put, obesogens are...

Low Vitamin D? Expect Weight Gain

Vitamin D has received a lot of attention over the last few years, and for good reason. The negative health effects that have been associated with low vitamin D levels make up a long list, indeed. Dr. Smith wrote a great blog on vitamin D a couple winters ago with an...