Maintaining good health depends on eating habits, a nutritionally balanced diet, and effective weight management. Excess body fat is a major contributor to chronic disease, while obesity itself remains one of the world’s greatest public health concerns.
Nutrition and diet specialist Harika Ozkaya Yurtadur believes that imbalances in the gut microbiota can strongly influence both the onset of obesity and the progression of metabolic diseases. Re-establishing an optimal gut microbiota environment can support weight loss and improve obesity therapy.
Does Gut Flora Affect Weight Control?
Yurtadur believes that the link between the gut microbiota and obesity is broad and bidirectional. Studies suggest that changes in gut microbial populations may both promote weight gain and contribute to the consequences of obesity itself.
Although the biological pathways behind this interaction are still being investigated, current evidence suggests that interventions such as probiotics, prebiotics, and regular physical activity can improve diversity and function. These changes may support metabolic health and aid long-term weight control.
There Are 10 Times More Microorganisms Than Cells in Our Body
Yurtadur also explains the abundance of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. The gastrointestinal system contains microbial populations that greatly outnumber human cells, and their collective material exhibits a diversity far exceeding that of the human genome.
The human body contains more than 2,000 bacterial families and an estimated 15,000 to 35,000 microbial species, with the highest concentration found in the gut. These microorganisms make up the microbiota. Crucially, this ecosystem is highly dynamic, not fixed. Its composition evolves throughout life in response to development stages such as childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy, lactation, and aging. In addition, diet, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and disease continuously shape the microbial balance.
What is Dysbiosis?
According to Jurtadur, dysbiosis refers to the disruption of the natural balance of intestinal microorganisms. When the internal ecosystem is disrupted, it can affect physiological systems, especially communication along the gut-brain axis.
Through immune responses, neural signaling, and metabolic regulation, dysbiosis affects hunger signals, energy expenditure, and fat accumulation. Such disruptions can contribute to the development of obesity, as well as a wider range of metabolic complications associated with excessive body weight gain.
High-Fat and Low-Fiber Foods Negatively Impact Microbiota
High-fat, low-fiber diets negatively impact microbiota. Obesity is a widespread chronic metabolic disorder associated with long-term health problems globally. Jurtadur pointed out that, among the many factors that influence obesity, the most common is an energy imbalance between intake and expenditure.
“Studies have shown a strong link between microbiota profiles and obesity,” she said. Yurtadur added: “Diets high in fat and low in fiber can negatively affect the gut microbiota, leading to microbial imbalance that causes obesity.
It has been observed that obese individuals have a different composition of the gut flora compared to lean and obese individuals are compared, it has been found that obese individuals have an altered gut microbiota characterized by reduced diversity (it analyses of the microbiome of obese individuals, the species Bacteroides fragilis and Lactobacillus have been reported to be higher compared to lean individuals and are associated with increased BMI; Bifidobacterium species, however, are higher in lean individuals and are negatively correlated with BMI). It has been particularly observed to have a higher amount of bacteria that increase energy production and storage.
How to Maintain Microbiota Balance?
Probiotics and prebiotics play a crucial role in maintaining balance. Yurtadur explained that by identifying interactions between the gut microbiota and obesity, it has been shown that prebiotics can alter the microbiota’s composition, thereby controlling both appetite and obesity.
She added: “Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when consumed in sufficient quantities, regulate the microbial balance in the host’s gut and have positive effects on health. Most probiotics belong to the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families. Prebiotics are nutrients that reach the large intestine without being digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract, where they stimulate the growth of certain bacterial or bacterial groups in the flora, positively affecting health.”
Foods that are sources of probiotics and prebiotics Nutrition and diet specialists Harika Jurtadur listed foods that are sources of probiotics and prebiotics:“Probiotics-rich foods that you can add to your diet include probiotic yogurt, kefir, cheese, pickles, beet juice, vinegar, boza (a traditional fermented drink) and tarhana (a fermented Turkish soup base), all of which are readily available.”
Prebiotic-rich foods that you can add to your diet include chicory, artichokes, leeks, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, bananas, garlic, wheat, barley, rye, and honey.
