Our intestinal flora has a great deal of influence on our weight loss success. You can use a trick to support the work of the good intestinal bacteria.
There is quite a lot going on in our intestines: The intestinal flora consists of a multitude of different bacteria with different tasks. But some of these bacteria can be quite frustrating: Firmicutes bacteria, for example. In much earlier times, when we were still hungry and had little to eat in general, these bacteria were very useful. They draw as much energy as they possibly can from the food and provide us with it.
Firmicutes bacteria as the enemy of our Libra
Today the whole thing looks a little different – we have a huge selection of foods and no longer have to eat just one piece of bread for days. The problem: The industrially produced foods in particular are full of sugar, from which the still hard-working Firmicutes bacteria can draw a particularly large number of calories. What used to be vital now has the opposite effect: if you have too many Firmicutes bacteria in your intestine, you inadvertently ingest up to 10 percent more calories. In the worst case, this can ruin any attempt at diet from the outset.
Fight bacteria with bacteria
Fortunately, we are not completely powerless against the little fattening bacteria. The easiest way to reduce their numbers is to take away their basic food supply: Sugary foods and soft drinks as well as wheat flour products should be taboo from now on. Instead, healthy food will be on the menu in the future. These include, for example:
- fruit and vegetables
- Fish and lean meat
- Low fat dairy products
- High quality vegetable oils, e.g. B. olive or rapeseed oil
- whole grain products
This type of diet not only has the advantage that it kills the Firmicutes bacteria – it also activates their opponent, the strain of the so-called Bacteroidetes. These bacteria do not draw as much energy from food, which is why not so much can be stored. A healthy intestine needs both strains of bacteria, but it is best to have a 1: 1 ratio. Then the Firmicutes tribe cannot torpedo your attempt to lose weight. And with the low-sugar diet, you are also laying the right foundation for successful slimming – so it's worth trying!
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