Got Bugs?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/73357

So, I love Newsweek. Maybe not love, but I like it better than Time. Just slightly. Just because of the fonts, really. I like the content better most of the time too; I’m not all about looks. Newsweek is just easier to digest than Time.

Speaking of digesting, the above link is an interesting story about how we are basically just a huge host for microscopic bugs in our small and large intestines, our stomachs, and a few other places (guys are so lucky). Ahem. Pretty damn nasty, eh? I already spend enough time thinking about the bugs I share my bed with, the ones that party on my eyelashes, and now I have to think about the bugs in my gut? (And, yes, I do have to think about it. They’re a part of me!) We have over one trillion critters in our body helping us break down toxins, make some vitamins and tell our immune system what’s going on. (So why am I “tsk-tsked” when I tell my doctor I don’t take vitamins when I’ve got critters makin’ ‘em for me?)

Many species of microbes live in the gut and some of them are “energy extractors” (Firmicutes) and another group are “gas guzzlers” (Bacteroidetes). Obese volunteers in a study had more Firmicutes than Bacteroidetes in their guts than lean volunteers acting as controls. So, basically once these obese volunteers started to lose weight, their balance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes changed to look more like the lean volunteers. Weight loss, not diet or exercise is what changed the balance. So, scientists are pondering, if you can change this balance without having to lose weight, maybe you’ll lose weight without having to do anything. Obviously, everything is still in research stages, but probiotics (Dannon yogurt crap and other nasty yogurt products; disclosure: I don’t like yogurt) could possibly be used for weight loss if the probiotics can alter the environment in your gut. Again, just pondering. So this is another way for overweight people to lose weight without having to work for it. Brilliant? I don’t know. It is awfully tempting. I’m not overweight, but I’m close (overweight Body Mass Index (BMI) = 25; my BMI = 24). If I could let little microbes do my work for me, that would be wonderful! I could spend that time I would have been exercising on the couch, where I belong!

So, humans are basically hosts for colonies of nastiness. I think anything en masse is gross, and having things en masse in my body is just plain wrong. And gross. But, these little boogers help us and there’s nothing we can do to get them out of our bodies. I suppose we could try to throw up our stomachs and clean them off and swallow them again like frogs do, but I hate throwing up – that’s pretty gross too.