Microbiological aspects

The role of the bacteria that colonize the digestive tract in the development of obesity has recently begun to come under investigation. The bacteria involved in digestion (especially of fatty acids and polysaccharides) in particular may explain why some people are more prone to gain weight than others.

In the human digestive tract, bacteria are usually members of the phylum of bacteroids or of firmicutes. In obese people, there is an abundance of firmicutes (which cause a relatively high energy absorption), which is restored by weight loss. From these results can not be completed and this imbalance is a cause of obesity or an effect.

It is necessary to adequately treat the underlying disease, if any. From here depends on the balance, by adjusting the diet. The diet must be appropriate to the activity required; therefore a diet very intensive active is very counterproductive. Should be made to make simple diets and easily maintained. The ideal is to maintain a proper diet and exercise program that does not particularly allow you to regain the lost fat and weight.

The main treatment for obesity is to reduce body fat by eating fewer calories and exercising more. In beneficial side effect of the exercise is that it increases the strength of muscles, tendons and ligaments, which helps prevent injuries from accidents and vigorous activity.

The programs of diet and exercise produced an average weight loss of about 8% of total body mass (excluding the subjects who left the program). Not all those who diet are satisfied with these results, but a loss of body mass as small as 5% can represent major health benefits.

Much more difficult to reduce body fat is to try to keep it off, 80 to 90% of those with 10% or more than their body mass lost through diet gain back all the weight between two and five years. The body has systems that maintain homeostasis at a certain level, including body weight. Therefore, keeping the weight off usually requires that exercising and eating properly is a permanent part of the lifestyle of people. Certain nutrients, such as phenylalanine, are natural appetite suppressant which can reset the level of body weight.