In a very long piece that is very much worth reading, New York Times writer Robin Marantz Henig relates a couple of new theories about why some people are fat, while other people with the same diet, exercise regimen, and in some cases, genes, are not.
One theory points to microbes, which, this piece reports, make up 90 percent of the cells in a human body. (Yes, gentle reader, another, more scary way to think about that is that only one in ten cells in your body are human cells.) Put simply, some microbes extract more calories from food than other microbes, so the microbiota in your gut may be delivering more or fewer calories than those of someone else’s gut. Consequently the other person can eat more food and get less fat.
The other theory is aimed at viruses, particularly some members of the adenovirus family, such as the virus known as Ad-36. The Times reports that when scientists looked at 502 people, they found that 11 percent of those who were not obese had Ad-36 antibodies, while 30 percent of those who were obese had antibodies. That difference, researchers say, is large enough to
suggest it was not just chance.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Sunday, June 1, 2025
What kind of B.S. will they come up with next?
It makes sense – bacteria (microbes) are 0.1% the size of a human cell, so a 10:1 microbial:human cell ratio amounts to ~1% of body mass being bacteria. I’ve read elsewhere (recent Nature news article) that the average person carries around an average of 3 pounds of bacteria – mostly in the digestive system – which is in rough agreement with these numbers. Three POUNDS of bacteria!
WARNING: DON’T try to get rid of them!!. You’ll need them unless you plan to live only on mother’s milk.
Again, what kind of B.B. will they come up with next. Charlie
Phew! Glad its not the 7000 calories I eat per day or the fact that I watch 4 hours of reality TV every night. Now I can sit back and wait for a cure!
LOL, that’s a good one Frank