So if you’ve put on a little extra weight during the pandemic, you’re certainly not alone. Millions of us have packed on more padding in recent months, and it’s easy to see why.
If you’re like most folks, you’re likely spending much more time at home, with constant access to food. You may not be able to go to the gym, and sticking to a normal/consistent exercise routine may not be possible right now.
Add constant stress to the mix, and you have the perfect storm for weight gain… and a much steeper road to climb to shed those extra pounds.
Breaking out of this cycle won’t happen overnight, but there are some simple things you can do to slow weight gain today and jumpstart weight loss…
Your first area of focus?
Get your gut microbiome back in healthy balance.
Your Gut Bacteria Can Dictate Your Weight
Trillions of bacteria live in your gut microbiome. And they have an enormous amount of influence on your health, immune system, mood, and weight.
Your gut microbiome contains both beneficial probiotic bacteria and harmful pathogenic bacteria. In a well-balanced gut microbiome, highly diverse beneficial bacteria outnumber pathogens. When your gut is in balance, it has positive effects on your body… and that includes more effortlessly maintaining a healthy weight.
But it’s all too easy to knock your gut microbiome out of balance – a state known as “dysbiosis” where pathogenic bacteria outnumber probiotics. All it takes is a single course of antibiotics, or exposure to common pesticides (like glyphosate) in food and water, or just one sugary, fatty snack attack.
The shape of your gut microbiome – balanced or unbalanced – can decide the shape of your whole body. Research shows that:
- The gut microbiome plays an over-sized part in obesity
- Implanting obesity-causing gut bacteria into normal weight mice makes them rapidly gain weight
- Reversing dysbiosis and getting the gut microbiome back in healthy balance promotes weight loss
That’s why it can be so hard to resist cravings… It’s also why you may STILL gain weight even after you’ve instituted better diet and exercise regimens.
4 Ways Harmful Gut Bacteria Force You To Gain Weight
Your gut bacteria have more control over your weight than you realize. The trillions of microbes in your intestines can make you gain weight, AND they can make it virtually impossible to lose weight.
That’s especially true when harmful bacteria (pathogens) outnumber beneficial bacteria (probiotics). The harmful pathogens can quite literally decide what you eat… change your metabolism… even keep you feeling hungry when you’re actually full.
That may sound like science fiction, but it’s 100% true. And there’s a mountain of research to back it up. Studies show that pathogenic gut bacteria make you gain weight by:
- Shifting your metabolism so your body holds on to more calories when you eat
- Manipulating signals in your brain to make you crave the sugary, fatty foods pathogens prefer