Swapping Gut Bacteria

Swapping gut bacteria has helped clear infections and reduce symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and even has been shown to have a positive impact on Parkinson’s disease. Lee Kaplan and colleagues at the General Hospital in Boston have discovered that taking microbes from mice that had had gastric bypass surgery and feeding them to healthy mice resulted in a five percent body weight loss in two weeks. Wouldn't it be great to be able to just transplant some microbes and lose weight rather than having gastric bypass surgery? There’s obviously a lot we are just discovering about what goes on in a person’s “breadbasket.” I’m sure more research has to be done with this particularly weighty subject but I’m willing to lose the battle of the bulge.