Battling the holiday bulge — with bacteria?

Battling the holiday bulge — with bacteria?

"There's new research that suggests it may not be what you eat that makes you fat, but what eats what you eat.

According to two studies in the journal Nature obese mice — and people — had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind. They both had a lower percentage of a family of bacteria called Bacteroidetes and more of a type of bacteria called Firmicutes. But the researchers aren't quite sure if the Firmicutes make people fat or if people who are obese grow more of that type of bacteria.

The researchers found that when lean mice with clean guts were given lots of Firmicutes, they got twice as fat and took in more calories from the same amount of food than mice with the more normal bacteria ratio.

So perhaps some time in the future, when the holiday binge is over for yet another year, gym memberships won't top the list of people wanting to lose weight. Maybe it'll be a heapin' helping of bacteria."