What Does Your Gut Microbiome Have to Do With Obesity, GLP-1s & Bariatric Surgery?

<p>What Does Your Gut Microbiome Have to Do With Obesity, GLP-1s &amp; Bariatric Surgery?</p><p>Can your <strong>gut microbiome affect obesity, weight loss, GLP-1 medications, or metabolic &amp; bariatric surgery outcomes?</strong> And can what you eat actually change how many calories your body absorbs?</p><p>In this episode of <em>Weight &amp; Measure with Mike and Zach</em>, we sit down with <strong>Karen D. Corbin, PhD, RD</strong>, Associate Investigator at AdventHealth Translational Research Institute, for a deep dive into the rapidly evolving science of the <strong>gut microbiome, obesity, metabolism, GLP-1 based medications, and metabolic &amp; bariatric surgery</strong>.</p><p>Dr. Corbin starts with the basics: What is the gut microbiome? Is there actually such a thing as “good” and “bad” gut bacteria? What makes a microbiome healthy? And how do diet, fiber, resistant starch, genetics, hormones, environment, and medications shape the trillions of microorganisms living in our gut?</p><p>Then we get into the obesity science.</p><p>Dr. Corbin explains research examining how the gut microbiome may influence <strong>energy balance and calorie absorption</strong>, including her team&#39;s controlled feeding study comparing a Western diet with a “microbiome enhancer diet.” Participants eating the microbiome-focused diet absorbed, on average, <strong>116 fewer calories per day</strong>, with some individuals showing substantially larger differences in unabsorbed energy.</p><p>We also explore the questions many people using obesity treatments are asking:</p><p><strong>Does your gut microbiome change when you take a GLP-1 medication? Could your microbiome influence how well a GLP-1 works? Why do two people taking the same medication sometimes experience different weight-loss responses? What happens to the microbiome after sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, or other metabolic &amp; bariatric surgery?</strong></p><p>Dr. Corbin explains why much of the research connecting <strong>GLP-1 medications and the microbiome</strong> still comes from animal models, what scientists need to demonstrate in humans, and why separating the effects of medication, weight loss, diet, GI transit, and metabolic improvements is so difficult.</p><p>We also tackle the idea of <strong>“GLP-1 receptor sensitivity.”</strong> Is GLP-1 resistance actually an established phenomenon? Could genetic differences in the GLP-1 receptor affect treatment response? And have supplements and gut-he